(Crop from an xkcd comic.)

Last week I decided to experiment with a 28 hour day cycle. Instead of scheduling my sleep around a 24 hour day, I would schedule it around a 28 hour day with 9 hours of sleep. I would do this until I complete a full loop around the clock and return to normal sleeping times.

Everyone asks “Why? What are the benefits?”

I didn’t do it for any particular benefits; I did it because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do since my sleeping patterns naturally drift forward if left unattended, and because they already started veering forward and I figured it’d be more fun to do a full somersault forward than to slowly revert my sleep times into civilized hours.

It went something like this:

        Day         Sleep
        ------------------------
        Friday      12 am - 9 am
        Saturday    4 am  - 1 pm
        Sunday      8 am  - 5 pm
        Monday      12 pm - 9 pm
        Tuesday     4 pm  - 1 am
        Wednesday   8 pm  - 5 am
        Thursday    12 am - 9 am

Like normal sleep patterns, I veered in one direction or another by under an hour, but overall I completed the trip. My notes on the experience follow:

• Saturday, officially decided to start the process today. I am very well rested well rested, I even had trouble getting the full 9 hours of sleep tonight and had to settle with 8.5.
• Sunday, the first day being awake on opposite hours from the rest of local civilization. Everything is quiet and exciting.
• Monday, easily getting the full 9 hours of sleep, and no trouble waking up. I feel rested throughout the day.
• Wednesday, no trouble sleeping or waking up, but towards the second half of the day I was feeling tired and unable to focus, so I settled into a 45 minute nap.
• Thursday, again became tired towards the second half of the day and took a 45 minute nap.

Waking up at unusual hours was an interesting experience, although I would probably need more than 9 hours of sleep to maintain this pattern for longer periods. Or just adapt to 9 hours + short naps.

To me, sleep is very important. Getting enough sleep noticeably affects my memory, focus, and stuttering. Also, I enjoy sleep and look forward to it, and I usually get 9 hours of sleep even with a regular 24 hour sleep pattern.

If I had to push myself to spend more time awake then I would definitely prefer a 28 hour sleep pattern over polyphasic sleep or pulling all-nighters and crashing. It’s a bonus that it lasts a predictable 6 days, and I am not experiencing any problems while integrating back into a normal 24 hour sleep cycle.

In a few hours, I’m getting on a plane to the west coast for some interviews and sun. Be back in nine days!