Difference between revisions of "Spamayl"

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{{tooshort}}A highly [[Flexing|flexible]] [[Nap only|nap-only]] [[Template:Polyphasic Sleep Schedules|schedule]], the main idea of which is taking a short [[Naps|nap]] whenever tired throughout a day. Usually has a total sleep time close to 3 hours.{{SPAMAYL}}
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{{TNT|tooshort}}{{TNT|Spamayl}}
== History ==
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Spamayl is a highly [[flexing|flexible]] [[Nap only|nap-only]] [[schedule]]<ref name="rasmus" />, with its main idea being taking a short [[nap]] whenever tired throughout the day.  
SPAMAYL is an abbreviation of “'''Sleep Polyphasically As Much As You Like'''”, one of the 4 "-AMAYL" polyphasic schedules. Originally proposed by '''Rasmus''', who reportedly stayed on the schedule for 1.5 years, SPAMAYL is intended to be the first "-AMAYL" polyphasic schedule with hyper flexibility in sleep times, following the body's need for rest to place the naps accordingly. The original design of the schedule exclusively uses 20m naps. Recently, it is also sometimes referred to as U7 or U8 (Uberman with 7 or 8 naps).
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== Origin ==
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Spamayl is an abbreviation of "Sleep polyphasically as much as you like". It is one of the 4 "-amayl" flexible schedules. It was originally proposed by a forum user Rasmus in a 2010 forum [https://web.archive.org/web/20120120020801/http://trypolyphasic.com/forum/topic/154/spamayl-plan-discussion/ post], who reportedly stayed on the schedule for one and a half years. Spamayl is the oldest Amayl schedule, which allows taking a varying amount of naps, as opposed to flexible versions of regular schedules. The original design of the schedule exclusively uses 20-minute naps, though variants with longer naps have later been attempted.
  
The birth of this schedule eventually led to the creations of 3 other "-AMAYL" schedules, while the sleep principles still apply - sleep when tired enough. Another premise of the schedule is to hover around a somewhat consistent total sleep time from day to day, to ensure that the naps can become more stable and the pattern of tiredness can be more easily detected.  
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This schedule later inspired 3 other Amayl schedules, which contain cores to fulfill the required SWS, while still adhering to the principle of sleeping when needed.  
  
== Lifestyle Considerations ==
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== Mechanism ==
SPAMAYL fits those with self-employment, working from home, but is also possible for programming jobs, having stable daily schedules. For those who have gotten used to 20m naps, there is allegedly no limit in SPAMAYL’s flexibility. Another niche SPAMAYL can have is that individuals (with normal sleep requirements) who are in desperate need of extra wake time and flexibility of sleep times can practice SPAMAYL for a short time (e.g, a couple days, some weeks). Examples include '''new parents''' who need to spend a lot of wake time on watch for their babies, and the unpredictable events can make SPAMAYL a temporarily good candidate to attempt.  
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{{further|Nap only#Mechanism}}
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The schedule is based on the adaptation to a habit of 20-minute naps. Since there are no core sleeps, all necessary [[SWS]] and [[REM]] must come from the naps. As with [[Uberman]] and [[Dymaxion]], the intense sleep pressures makes the circadian [[sleep peaks]] less important than on other schedules. Experienced nappers can achieve a fast onset of REM or SWS in their nap, even for naps that are not strictly scheduled.  
  
Under '''war or apocalyptic times''' where it is necessary to be on the move frequently and perform sustained operations under long periods of time without the possibility for any core sleeps ('''<u>Chapter 14 of Why We Nap</u>'''), SPAMAYL may become a very niche survival tool to at least hold on to for a short time (up to ~a couple weeks or so) until a settlement area is found. The flexibility of the schedule (including nap duration) invites more possibility for '''longer naps''' to be used to relieve more tiredness and sleep pressure. Getting some rest from naps (which become more effective over time) coupled with the adrenaline generated from the stressful situations can provide certain amount of needed vigilance in the event of severe emergencies to perform better decision-making than skipping sleep entirely. This flexibility also outclasses other nap-only schedules like Uberman, with a nap every X hours especially in the niche situations above. '''The goal is not to adapt to SPAMAYL under these circumstances''', but to use it as a way to learn to increase the body's efficiency to squeeze the most rest possible from each shuteye session, while having to stay awake and perform demanding duties for a lot of hours in the day. The brief experience with this nap-only behavior may be tempting for certain motivations behind some personal sleep experiments, without having to worry about the pressure to have to adapt.  
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Spamayl can have up to ~10 naps to be scheduled per day, which also adds up to a total sleep of 3-4 hours. If one or more naps are scheduled to be longer, then ~6 naps per day may suffice. Note that the number of naps as well as total sleep time should be relatively consistent on a day-to-day basis to ensure their quality.
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== Adaptation ==
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=== Cold turkey ===
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Though there has not been many successful adaptations, all of them so far have been achieved [[cold turkey]]. However, it is important to note that most of the sucesses come from those with greatly reduced sleep needs.
  
However, because of the nap only structure, it is important to remember that SPAMAYL may not fully support the glymphatic system's functions, which is a crucial aspect of well-being. Despite that the naps can be as long as ~60m, sleepers can still wake in SWS, interrupting the cycle as an abrupt wake. The overall intense sleep pressure to be alleviated by the naps poses a question of whether several bodily functions also have to change due to a long exposure to a sleep regime with no core sleeps. Physically active lifestyles and average sleepers most likely cannot stick to the mere 20m naps if their SPAMAYL only contains 20m naps. Exercise and nutrition also play an important role in affecting sleep architecture of each nap, thus it is necessary to closely monitor these factors as well. Regardless, the unpredictability and flexibility of the nap timing makes it difficult for the body to know what naps to insert REM and/or SWS, given that REM naps, SWS naps and mixed naps can occur at any hours in the day when they are taken. These characteristics makes SPAMAYL a very inhospitable schedule for most humans, so '''inexperienced or non-mutant polyphasic sleepers should not seek to adapt to this schedule and maintain it long-term'''.  
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The adaptation first starts with [[difficulty falling asleep]] and tiredness, as sleep quality is reduced after a sudden change of pattern. Once napping is learned, the naps become more restorative and start to yield more [[vital sleep stages]]. As a result, it becomes possible to stay awake for a longer before having to nap again. Without core sleeps, the sleep pressure on Spamayl is intense enough to force the [[repartitioning]] of vital sleep stages into the naps despite the lack of consistent timings, in contrast to other "amayl" schedules.  
  
== Why does this schedule work? ==
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Here is the schedule creator Rasmus's experience with adapation:
The schedule is based on the entrainment of 20m naps, napping for 20m when one is tired enough. Since there are no core sleeps, all necessary SWS and REM must come from the naps. Like with Uberman and Dymaxion, an SWS nap can be experienced during the REM peak, and REM nap during SWS peak. Sleep pressure is usually huge since SWS and REM have to be repartitioned into all naps, and one cannot predict which sleep type each nap can have, due to the varied number of naps each day. However, SPAMAYL is '''less hostile''' than Uberman and Dymaxion, since it can allow more than 6 or 4 naps respectively, and the extra sleep from the extra naps will help accommodate sleep need more easily, allowing for extra REM and SWS gain. However, because the naps are being moved they will contain a lower amount of SWS or REM than the naps of strict nap-only schedules, thus requiring more naps to give the same total SWS and REM sleep. It is likely that only adults with genetically reduced sleep needs will be able to accomplish this type of sleeping pattern, due to the inefficiencies of inconsistent sleep times and the very low sleep total. Experienced nappers can also achieve a fast onset of REM or SWS in their nap, with precise timing of sleep.  
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{{quote|text=You nap whenever you get even slightly sleepy (or, when you know that you won't have time to take a nap before you will get sleepy). The only exception is when you're on an upward curve- like, you napped, got up, 20 minutes later you're still a bit sleepy but definitely getting better.
  
SPAMAYL can also have up to ~10 naps to be scheduled per day realistically, which also adds up to a total sleep of 4h, a minimum sleep threshold of average sleepers. If one or more naps are to set for longer than 20m, then ~6-8 naps per day are sufficient to secure the minimum sleep threshold.  
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I think it depends where you come from. I started adapting directly after doing a week or two of Everyman3, so that I was already in the rhythm of sleeping every few hours, so I just continued that, more or less.
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I imagine when you're changing from monophasic, and are used to being up 16 hours apiece, it might look more like that: You're going quite a while without a nap (of course, during a usual day you don't get tired either), then you nap, nap again after an hour or so, a few times during your first polyphasic night, during the second night, when you're already very sleeping deprived, you nap quite often, maybe 15 times, and that keeps up during the next few days.
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When you're getting in a rhythm where your naps are roughly equidistant (so that you're not NOT napping during the day and all the time at night), I expect that the times you spend awake in between naps get shorter.
  
== What does it feel like once adapted? ==
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So, uhm, nap frequency might take the shape of a polynomial curve during the first few days, lol.
Rasmus said he never felt tired and once he was tired enough he would lie down and take a 20m nap. Like other schedules, REM naps give huge boost to alertness and naps are usually very deep if they are well-timed, because the schedule doesn’t offer any core sleeps. However, it is also common to feel tired occasionally if a nap is ill-timed or if one has to stay awake for too long.  
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It's no problem to nap as much as 15 times a day or so during the first couple of days or weeks, after all, even that is a reduction of several hours from your usual amount of sleep.|sign=Rasmus|source=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120114074002/http://trypolyphasic.com/forum/topic/154/spamayl-plan-discussion/page/2 trypolyphasic.com forum (2010)]}}
  
Overall, the alertness boost from the naps is enough to sustain alertness for the next hours. A nap can also be scheduled before or after a certain event comfortably, to ensure low chance for oversleeping as alertness starts to wane. Because the successful adaptations so far are from sleep mutants and heavy insomniacs, this section is written based on their anecdotes.  
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However, others noted that they usually required a longer wake gap (~1.5 hours) between naps for them to be effective and not result in difficult wakes. This allows them to be fully alert during those wake gaps, and reduces the risk of naps becoming interrupted cores, which are of much lower quality.
  
== What variations of SPAMAYL actually work? ==
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=== Flexing adaptation ===
According to Rasmus, most naps are focused in the night, because it is usually harder to stay awake at night than during daytime. Adapted Discord user '''Charlaxy''' also reported the majority of naps at night after 8-10pm through early morning before 7am. Usually, nighttime naps allow for SWS gain and make sure one gets some night sleep, and limiting daytime naps to ensure that one can have a (reasonably) comfortable social life.
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Another approach to adapt to Spamayl would be through an adaptation to a schedule with strict sleep times, for example, Uberman with 7 or 8 naps, and then learn to flex the naps, one or two at a time, and add naps when necessary. However, no one has successfully adapted to Spamayl with a this method, due to both the great difficulty of the first adaptation and the flexing process.
  
=== Longer naps ===
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== Difficulty==
[[File:SPAMAYL Long Naps.png|center|thumb|A SPAMAYL variant with mid-cycle length naps]]
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Spamayl is considered to be less hostile than Uberman and Dymaxion, since it can allow more naps, especially during the adaptation as noted by Rasmus. However, as the flexible naps tend to be less compressed, the overall time possible in vital sleep stages is likely similar. As a result, it is likely that average sleepers still will not be able to make the schedule sustainable. An [[extreme adaptation]] is still going to be required to achieve the needed repartitioning if the TST is to be below 3-4 hours, and even if successful, staying on the schedule may not be healthy. As a result, the adaptation difficulty of Spamayl is considered to be extremely hard.
Up to date, there has been more adaptation success to SPAMAYL, especially with the use of longer naps. It is worth noting that "-AMAYL" polyphasic schedules are not made to be confined to a specific sleep duration all the time, and SPAMAYL is no exception. Any sleep duration can be lengthened, as long as it remains a nap. In the above demo example, a nap can last for as long as 60m, and longer naps around dawn (simulating a '''Pronap''') can be taken advantage of before work to limit the amount of naps during the morning work hours.  
 
  
The reason why such nap lengths can work is largely attributed to the '''perpetually fragmented sleep''' in the case of insomniac individuals, who cannot sleep for longer than a couple minutes in one go. It is then possible to start waking up, staying awake after a given nap duration, and wait until they are sleepy enough for the next sleep. As a result, their ever-changing nap durations persist from day to day, allowing each nap to also change accordingly from day to day, or occasionally. The versatility in such nap duration, however, is only viable for individuals with very reduced sleep duration.  
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== Lifestyle Considerations==
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{{see|Uberman#Lifestyle considerations}}
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Spamayl fits those with erratic lifestyles, but may also work for those with stable schedules. It may also be useful as an emergency schedule for those needing a lot of extra time in the short term without reliable sleep times, such as for new parents or soldiers during military operations. Compared to simply skipping all sleep, sleeping Spamayl in those situations allows maintaining a basic level of alertness and cognitive functions, which would be severely affected if sleep is totally skipped. However, it is not expected that one would be able to stay on the schedule afterwards, as a full adaptation usually takes longer and the schedule itself may not be sustainable in the long term for many individuals.
  
The above example serves to illustrate the position of a longer nap in SWS peak to ensure that more uninterrupted SWS goes into this nap, and other naps concentrated during graveyard hours to reduce the sleep pressure at nighttime. Because any naps can be changed in their duration, at any given time for any given day, there is practically no limit on how many SPAMAYL variants are viable for adapted sleepers.  
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As with other nap-only schedules, Spamayl is subject to a range of potential health concerns. The lack of long sleeps in the original proposal means that the functioning of the [[Wikipedia:Glymphatic system|Glymphatic system]] is unlikely to be optimal. Physically active individuals would also likely not be able to rely on short naps alone due to the increased SWS requirement. Even after some time on the schedule, the underlying structure of each nap is still likely to be rather unpredictable, due to the lack of fixed sleep times. Inexperienced sleepers should not attempt to adapt to this schedule.
  
== What is the best adaptation strategy? ==
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==Variations==
Because of the rare adaptations to SPAMAYL so far, the most natural method of adapting to this pattern is '''cold turkey''', from adapted sleepers. Their drastically reduced sleep requirements enable them to sleep when tired, using their broken sleep as a result of insomnia or certain genetic factors to dictate sleep time and sleep around the clock. The adaptation first starts with sleep inertia and potentially low energy level in the day as a result of a change in sleep behavior with the multiple-nap regime. Once the body gets a hang of the napping habit, the naps become more refreshing and yield more vital sleep stages. As a result, it becomes possible to stay awake for a longer period of time before having to nap again, and eventually, the effects of drowsiness generated from delaying a nap occasionally can be recovered quickly. Having no core sleeps means that the naps on SPAMAYL can be forced to finally repartition REM and SWS into each nap, unlike those on "-AMAYL" schedules with a core sleep, whose adaptations always require a prior adaptation to a strict base schedule first.  
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In the proposal by Rasmus, he mentioned that most of the naps are placed during the night, since it is usually harder to stay awake at night than in the day. Adapted [[Polyphasic Sleep Discord|Discord]] user Charlaxy also took the majority of naps between 21 and 07. Nighttime naps allow for more SWS, and help reduce the need to take naps in the day, which can be socially intrusive.
  
According to '''Rasmus''', “during adaptation one can go nap for 20m, wake up (and actually do things rather than just sitting in bed) for at least 20m and after at least 20m passed by, if one still feels sleepy they can go back to sleep for another 20m and rinse and repeat. However, this adaptation scheme by Rasmus is debatable in that humans usually need to stay awake for at least 90m (one full wake cycle) before sleeping again, otherwise the body will treat it as an '''interrupted core sleep'''. What is important is to make sure that you actually only take 20 minute naps and that you space them apart adequately, so that you’re actually being awake between them, which is a more sensible reasoning. The recommendation can therefore be made to not schedule the sleeps at a closer interval than 90 minutes between the naps.
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===Longer naps===
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{{See|Hypothetical#Spamayl-40}}[[File:Spamayl Long Naps.png|thumb|A Spamayl variant with mid-cycle length naps|alt=]]
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In recent years, there has been more successes in Spamayl with the use of longer naps. Any of the naps can be lengthened. The lengthened evening nap provides more time in SWS, and the lengthened morning nap provides more time in REM, making the schedule more easily sustainable. However, it is arguable that these longer "naps" do not technically count as naps, and should instead be considered to be shorter cores.  
  
Another approach to adapt to SPAMAYL would be through an adaptation to a schedule with strict sleep times, for example, Uberman with 7 or 8 naps. Then, the next step is to learn to flex the naps as part of the '''flexing adaptation''', one or two naps at a time, and add more naps when alertness and productivity start to falter, to get used to the varying number of naps. While this approach looks viable, no one has successfully adapted to SPAMAYL with a gradual adaptation method, due to the immensely difficult adaptation to a nap-only schedule as the first step, let alone learning to flex sleep on a nap-only pattern.
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==References ==
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{{reflist|refs=
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<ref name="rasmus">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120020801/http://trypolyphasic.com/forum/topic/154/spamayl-plan-discussion/ |title=Spamayl Plan + Discussion |access-date=2020-11-23}}</ref>
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}}
  
 
{{TNT|Polyphasic Sleep Schedules}}
 
{{TNT|Polyphasic Sleep Schedules}}
 
[[Category:Schedules]]
 
[[Category:Schedules]]

Latest revision as of 09:11, 17 January 2021

This is an unadvisable schedule, as its total sleep time is considered to be below the bare minimum required for most people.
Spamayl
Sleep Polyphasically As Much As You Like
chart link

Total sleepUndefined, but usually 2.5-3 hours
Proposed byRasmus
DifficultyExtremely difficult
SpecificationAny number of 20-minute naps throughout the day

Spamayl is a highly flexible nap-only schedule[1], with its main idea being taking a short nap whenever tired throughout the day.

Origin

Spamayl is an abbreviation of "Sleep polyphasically as much as you like". It is one of the 4 "-amayl" flexible schedules. It was originally proposed by a forum user Rasmus in a 2010 forum post, who reportedly stayed on the schedule for one and a half years. Spamayl is the oldest Amayl schedule, which allows taking a varying amount of naps, as opposed to flexible versions of regular schedules. The original design of the schedule exclusively uses 20-minute naps, though variants with longer naps have later been attempted.

This schedule later inspired 3 other Amayl schedules, which contain cores to fulfill the required SWS, while still adhering to the principle of sleeping when needed.

Mechanism

The schedule is based on the adaptation to a habit of 20-minute naps. Since there are no core sleeps, all necessary SWS and REM must come from the naps. As with Uberman and Dymaxion, the intense sleep pressures makes the circadian sleep peaks less important than on other schedules. Experienced nappers can achieve a fast onset of REM or SWS in their nap, even for naps that are not strictly scheduled.

Spamayl can have up to ~10 naps to be scheduled per day, which also adds up to a total sleep of 3-4 hours. If one or more naps are scheduled to be longer, then ~6 naps per day may suffice. Note that the number of naps as well as total sleep time should be relatively consistent on a day-to-day basis to ensure their quality.

Adaptation

Cold turkey

Though there has not been many successful adaptations, all of them so far have been achieved cold turkey. However, it is important to note that most of the sucesses come from those with greatly reduced sleep needs.

The adaptation first starts with difficulty falling asleep and tiredness, as sleep quality is reduced after a sudden change of pattern. Once napping is learned, the naps become more restorative and start to yield more vital sleep stages. As a result, it becomes possible to stay awake for a longer before having to nap again. Without core sleeps, the sleep pressure on Spamayl is intense enough to force the repartitioning of vital sleep stages into the naps despite the lack of consistent timings, in contrast to other "amayl" schedules.

Here is the schedule creator Rasmus's experience with adapation:

You nap whenever you get even slightly sleepy (or, when you know that you won't have time to take a nap before you will get sleepy). The only exception is when you're on an upward curve- like, you napped, got up, 20 minutes later you're still a bit sleepy but definitely getting better.

I think it depends where you come from. I started adapting directly after doing a week or two of Everyman3, so that I was already in the rhythm of sleeping every few hours, so I just continued that, more or less. I imagine when you're changing from monophasic, and are used to being up 16 hours apiece, it might look more like that: You're going quite a while without a nap (of course, during a usual day you don't get tired either), then you nap, nap again after an hour or so, a few times during your first polyphasic night, during the second night, when you're already very sleeping deprived, you nap quite often, maybe 15 times, and that keeps up during the next few days. When you're getting in a rhythm where your naps are roughly equidistant (so that you're not NOT napping during the day and all the time at night), I expect that the times you spend awake in between naps get shorter.

So, uhm, nap frequency might take the shape of a polynomial curve during the first few days, lol.

It's no problem to nap as much as 15 times a day or so during the first couple of days or weeks, after all, even that is a reduction of several hours from your usual amount of sleep.

However, others noted that they usually required a longer wake gap (~1.5 hours) between naps for them to be effective and not result in difficult wakes. This allows them to be fully alert during those wake gaps, and reduces the risk of naps becoming interrupted cores, which are of much lower quality.

Flexing adaptation

Another approach to adapt to Spamayl would be through an adaptation to a schedule with strict sleep times, for example, Uberman with 7 or 8 naps, and then learn to flex the naps, one or two at a time, and add naps when necessary. However, no one has successfully adapted to Spamayl with a this method, due to both the great difficulty of the first adaptation and the flexing process.

Difficulty

Spamayl is considered to be less hostile than Uberman and Dymaxion, since it can allow more naps, especially during the adaptation as noted by Rasmus. However, as the flexible naps tend to be less compressed, the overall time possible in vital sleep stages is likely similar. As a result, it is likely that average sleepers still will not be able to make the schedule sustainable. An extreme adaptation is still going to be required to achieve the needed repartitioning if the TST is to be below 3-4 hours, and even if successful, staying on the schedule may not be healthy. As a result, the adaptation difficulty of Spamayl is considered to be extremely hard.

Lifestyle Considerations

Spamayl fits those with erratic lifestyles, but may also work for those with stable schedules. It may also be useful as an emergency schedule for those needing a lot of extra time in the short term without reliable sleep times, such as for new parents or soldiers during military operations. Compared to simply skipping all sleep, sleeping Spamayl in those situations allows maintaining a basic level of alertness and cognitive functions, which would be severely affected if sleep is totally skipped. However, it is not expected that one would be able to stay on the schedule afterwards, as a full adaptation usually takes longer and the schedule itself may not be sustainable in the long term for many individuals.

As with other nap-only schedules, Spamayl is subject to a range of potential health concerns. The lack of long sleeps in the original proposal means that the functioning of the Glymphatic system is unlikely to be optimal. Physically active individuals would also likely not be able to rely on short naps alone due to the increased SWS requirement. Even after some time on the schedule, the underlying structure of each nap is still likely to be rather unpredictable, due to the lack of fixed sleep times. Inexperienced sleepers should not attempt to adapt to this schedule.

Variations

In the proposal by Rasmus, he mentioned that most of the naps are placed during the night, since it is usually harder to stay awake at night than in the day. Adapted Discord user Charlaxy also took the majority of naps between 21 and 07. Nighttime naps allow for more SWS, and help reduce the need to take naps in the day, which can be socially intrusive.

Longer naps

A Spamayl variant with mid-cycle length naps

In recent years, there has been more successes in Spamayl with the use of longer naps. Any of the naps can be lengthened. The lengthened evening nap provides more time in SWS, and the lengthened morning nap provides more time in REM, making the schedule more easily sustainable. However, it is arguable that these longer "naps" do not technically count as naps, and should instead be considered to be shorter cores.

References

  1. "Spamayl Plan + Discussion". Retrieved 2020-11-23.