My wife and I considered adopting a polyphasic sleeping routine, but decided against trying it because we'd both have to adopt it in order for it to work, but she couldn't due to the nature of her work & work environment.

You might be interested to know that the author of the piece I linked has since returned to monophasic sleep, using an early-rising pattern designed to minimise the ammount of sleep he takes. Have a browse around his blog; you might find something applicable to your situation.

Sorry to hear about the head injury I have seen how much trouble they can cause; a friend of mine received a nasty blow to the head (with a sword, long story) and he was experiencing mood swings and short-term memory problems for years

I think this is very interesting, Duncan, and if you try it please let us know what happens. I was having a conversation recently about needed quantities of sleep. If I lay down and sleep for 8 hours I have trouble waking up and might get sleepy in the afternoon and want to nap. If I am partying all night and lay down to sleep at 5am - falling into a light sleep and then getting up around 8am I am usually alert and ready to rock on into the next night. I can do this 2-3 times per week with no effects that I can see. But I am very curious about why this is possible, it makes me think I may not need to waste so much time sleeping.

It's fair to add that I have had trouble sleeping since my head injury in 1999. I am a light sleeper and have trouble falling asleep. I have found that an herbal remedy helps.

All my efforts to establish Dagnyesque sleep patterns have ended in disaster. But, my compliments to anyone who manages to pull it off.

I sleep for half an hour six times a day already. At least. I assumed everybody did.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say I woke up for half an hour six times a day.

I also sleep eight or so hours every night.

Is there something wrong with me apart from old age?

It is an intriguing idea - potentially you could gain hours of productivity every day. I first heard of it in first-year, 2004, not long after reading Nancy Kress' novel Beggars in Spain, about genetically-engineered children who don't have to sleep and eventually become a super-intelligent elite. I often have problems sleeping, so I was very interested.

I tried it out it one of the university holidays - I set times that fit with meal-times and lectures, and started attempting to sleep in half-hour naps. It worked OK at first, partly because at Weir House hostel most other people had gone home for the holidays, so I could pretty much do my own thing for a couple of a weeks. Also, I didn't have to cook, clean or study! Socially, having to go back to my room to sleep every 4 hours was kind of annoying.

The first major problem was setting my alarm properly - I was using an old alarm clock, and I would have to reset it every time I slept. When I was incredibly tired at 5 am, I sometimes wouldn't set it properly, and I would sleep for two or three hours in the morning. For the first few days I was sleepy all the time, but I still had trouble getting to sleep during the afternoon naps. It was interesting that I felt far more alert than I would have expected after only getting 2-3 hours of sleep. After 6 days I was starting to get used to it. But then the holidays ended, and the morning before lectures began I collapsed back into bed, sleeping through my 5.30 alarm and slept solidly for 7 hours. I woke up at lunchtime having missed two classes, and I felt terrible. I thought, this isn't go to work.

It's probably practically possible for some people, and it didn't have major disadvantages during the holiday period, but during the semester it would not have worked at all. It might work better if you ensured that you had other places to take a nap aside from your room, otherwise having to return every 4 hours is inconvenient. It seems to be a way to subvert your body's natural sleep mechanisms, basically tricking yourself into sleeping less. I would be worried about long-term effects if I tried it again. On the other hand, I can think of some projects you might undertake, eg writing a book, where it might be useful, assuming you didn't mind having a less than productive first week.

It was an interesting experiment. If you can, try it for a week or so. You'll learn more about your body's capabilities.

Not that I saw. One of the 'red flags' regarding polyphasic sleep is the almost total lack of studies of the actualy physiological effects.

I do know that pheonomenon well though; many years ago I worked 12 hour shifts on a factory floor, and I remember donning and later removing warm clothing as my body chilled off, totally irrespective of the ambient temperature (which as it happened was *hot*).

Do they mention if there is a change in the normal drop in body temperature that usually accompanies a full night's sleep? Shift workers are prone to "walking pneumonia" when they work during the 3-4 am hours while the body temperature is at its lowest.