Guide To

Craig Ballantyne, CTT

HACKING YOUR SLEEP

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IntroductionWe all need sleep. Without it, serious health concerns begin to manifest themselves. Even

just 24 continuous hours without sleep is often enough to make most people feel like they

have had a few too many cocktails and eventually, like they took too many hits of LSD as

hallucinations begin to confuse reality and imagination.

Most of us grew up believing that we need 8 hours of sleep per night (give or take a little)

to be well-rested and productive each day. But, have you ever gotten this much sleep—

or even more—and still felt groggy, tired or otherwise not 100%?

For most people, the answer is yes.

Other times, you might only get five or six hours of sleep and wake up feeling energized

and ready for anything.

Why the difference? Well, for starters, you can definitely get too much sleep which

ultimately leads to feelings of grogginess throughout the day. But more importantly, you

probably woke up at the wrong time during your natural sleep cycle.

Effectively hacking your sleep patterns means understanding the various cycles of sleep your body experiences each night and working to maximize that sleep time. In extreme cases—using a technique known as polyphasic sleep—it is possible to sleep as little as two hours each day without feeling tired or negatively affecting your health.

Did you know that the average person spends approximately 1/3 of their life asleep?

Assuming you live to be 80 years old, that’s nearly 27 years spent in bed!

Wouldn’t it be nice to shave that down, even by just a couple hours each day? You could

literally have years of extra time throughout your life spent doing whatever you want

without any negative side effects.

In this guide, you will learn about the sleep cycle as well as a few ways to get more benefit

from your sleep every night. When done correctly, hacking your sleep leaves you feeling

energized and more productive while affording you more time each day to accomplish

any tasks you want.

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Understanding the Normal Sleep CycleBefore jumping into ways to hack sleep, it’s important to understand how normal sleep

works. Only then can you master sleep hacking and maximize both energy levels and the

number of available hours in the day.

The normal sleep cycle is broken into five stages:

• Stage One – This is a light sleep where muscle activity begins to slow down.

• Stage Two – Breathing and heart rate begin to slow and body temperature

decreases slightly.

• Stage Three – Deep sleep begins as the brain begins to generate Delta waves.

• Stage Four – A very deep sleep where breathing is slow and very rhythmic and

little to no muscle activity is present.

• Stage Five – Known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, brainwaves begin to

speed up, muscles relax and heart rate increases as breathing becomes more

rapid and shallow. This is also the stage when dreams occur.

Of the five stages, the most important is Stage Five, or REM sleep. It is during this part of the sleep cycle when the brain is able to recharge itself and is the only stage that is actually required to survive and function normally.

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This is an important point because it is the basis of hacking your sleep. As you can see from

the percentages in the diagram to the left, only 20% - 25% of the entire sleep cycle is spent

in REM sleep meaning that assuming an average sleep time of eight hours, only two hours

are spent in this integral part of the sleep cycle.

This is exactly how people can sleep for as little as two hours each day and function

completely normally (although it takes a lot of practice but more about that later).

The other parts of the sleep cycle are important for resting your body—especially if you

work hard throughout the day, but they are not essential.

Are we saying that everyone should sleep for only two hours each day? Not at all…but

think about it. If you could shave even two hours off your sleep time by eliminating some

of the less important parts of the cycle, how much more could you do in a day?

Six hours of quality sleep each night provides enough deep sleep to recharge muscles and repair cellular damage while giving your brain enough REM sleep to function properly throughout the day without feeling tired or groggy.

Each week, you would be pocketing an additional 14 hours which is the equivalent of

almost an entire extra day.

Over time, changing your sleep habits can net years of extra time. Maybe you decide to

start a new hobby, work on a side business from home or even get those house repairs

done you keep putting off.

However you decide to use this extra time, you can’t argue with the benefits that come

along with securing even just a couple additional hours every day.

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Understanding Your Sleep CycleWhile everyone’s body follows the same five stages of sleep listed above, it may be at

slightly different times for each person. In other words, one person might complete an

entire sleep cycle in 90 minutes (which is about average), but someone else’s body might

take 70 minutes—or 100 minutes—to complete a full cycle before it starts over again.

To truly hack your sleep cycle, you need to know how often and at what intervals your

body moves between sleep cycles to calculate the ideal amount of sleep your body

requires.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you wake up feeling groggy but sometime, even

when you wake up earlier or go to bed later, you wake up feeling refreshed?

When you wake up groggy, it’s because you woke up in the middle of a deep sleep or

REM sleep cycle. During these stages, essential parts of the brain are shut

down and can take 20 minutes or more to “reboot”

upon waking. The grogginess you feel is waiting for

these parts of the brain to start functioning properly

again.

When you wake up feeling refreshed, it means

you woke up during one of the first three

(sometimes even the fourth) stages of the

sleep cycle.

With this in mind, it is easy to figure out

when you should wake up based on when

you go to sleep.

The first way to do this is simply to assume

a 90 minute sleep cycle. For example,

if you go to bed at 10 PM, ideal wake

up times would be 4 AM, 5:30 AM and

7 AM.

Once you know your exact sleep cycle,

hacking it becomes much easier.

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How to Hack Your SleepNow for the good stuff. How do you maximize the quality of your sleep? After all, studies

have proven time and again that the quality of your sleep is far more important than the

quantity of sleep you get each night.

Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule

Sorry to burst your bubble but the absolute worst thing you can do when trying to improve

sleep patterns is sleep in on your days off. Our bodies respond exceptionally well to habits

and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is the best way to train your body to maximize

the efficiency of the sleep time given.

For most people, you should go to sleep no later than 11 PM as some studies have shown

that your body releases a surge of cortisol after this time that can make falling asleep

much more difficult.

That said, everyone is different and if you consider yourself a night owl you can go to

sleep whenever you want so long as you go to bed at the same time every day.

Likewise, you need to wake up at the same time every day. This time should complement

your natural sleep cycle and fall within one of the first three stages of sleep to avoid

grogginess and to feel recharged upon waking.

Although it may seem difficult at first, it should only take your body about seven days to

get used to this new sleep pattern and many people find that after some practice, they

no longer need that annoying alarm clock next to their bed and wake up naturally every

morning on time.

Whether you go to bed at 10 PM or 2 AM, stick to a schedule and wake up at the beginning

of a new sleep cycle for best results.

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Your Bed is a Recharge Station, Not a Hangout Spot

Many of us have large, comfortable beds complete with tons of blankets, an assortment

of reading materials on the nightstand and a flat-screen TV mounted in the corner of the

room. Some people “go to bed” at 10 PM but don’t actually attempt sleep until a couple

of hours later as they become distracted watching shows or reading.

While there is nothing wrong with these activities, do them somewhere else. By training your

body to sleep—and only sleep—while in bed, you can maximize your time in bed without

distractions.

As your brain begins to associate the bed with sleeping only, you should find it easier to fall

asleep quickly and experience more periods of deep and REM sleep than you otherwise would.

More about Polyphasic Sleep

Polyphasic sleep refers to sleeping at multiple times during a 24 hour period. Believe it or

not, humans are polyphasic sleepers by nature just as every other animal in the world.

So maybe you aren’t allowed to sleep in anymore when hacking your sleep, but at least

there is nothing wrong with a nap every day (as long as it is done for the correct length of

time at the proper time of day).

The simplest way to begin a polyphasic sleeping regimen is called the “Siesta.” This refers

to a single nap of approximately 20 minutes around 8 hours after waking. Rather than

sleeping for eight hours straight during the night, you only sleep for six hours at night and

take a short nap to recharge during the day.

As your body becomes used to this schedule, you should find that during the nap, your

brain immediately falls into a REM sleep cycle; cutting out the other parts of a normal

cycle to recharge the brain quickly.

When done correctly, this means you get the same amount of REM sleep each day but

are only sleeping for 6.3 hours instead of eight. This technique alone frees up almost two

hours every day for the rest of your life.

This is exactly why companies like Google have power napping stations at work—it allows

employees to recharge quickly and studies have shown that just one 20 minute nap each

day significantly increases productivity and creativity.

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It’s important to point out that the length of the nap is extremely important. Anything

longer than 20 minutes and you run the risk of entering a full sleep cycle which leaves you

feeling groggy and probably worse than you did before the nap.

One tip that works well for some people is to drink a cup of coffee right before the nap.

Caffeine usually takes about 20 – 30 minutes to enter the bloodstream after ingestion

meaning that when the nap is over, the rush of caffeine makes you feel even more

recharged.

Do not drink coffee before a nap if you are extremely sensitive to caffeine as this could

affect your ability to fall asleep in the evening. As a general rule, avoid caffeine after 2

PM to maximize your nightly sleep cycle.

For those more adventurous among us, polyphasic sleep gets more extreme. The

“Everyman” is another polyphasic sleeping technique that allows for additional naps

each day to compensate for less core sleep time at night.

For instance, the Everyman 2-nap technique allows for 4.5 hours of core sleep and two

20-minute naps spaced throughout the day. This allows for a total sleep time of 5.2 hours

without sacrificing REM sleep.

Likewise, the Everyman 3-nap allows for three hours of core sleep (notice it always follows

the 90 minute sleep cycle) and three 20-minute naps during the day. In total, you are

sleeping for four total hours and not sacrificing REM sleep.

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For the truly determined, the “Uberman” is comprised only of six 20-minute naps each day

for a total sleep time of two hours. There are people who do this successfully but it is very

difficult to train mind and body into this extreme form of sleep hacking.

Studies have shown no long-term health risks from hacking sleep in this manner, but those

who participate in physical activity often won’t get the muscle rejuvenating benefits of

deep sleep (stages three and four) which could lead to physical problems down the road.

For most people, the “Siesta” method is perfectly achievable with little training, but the

extra ~two hours gained allows you to accomplish a lot more each day without feeling

tired, drained or otherwise not yourself.

Stick with the Plan

No matter how aggressive or conservative your sleep hacking is, it won’t be easy at first.

Your body is going to feel tired for the first week or two but if you give in at all, your hacking

attempts will be in vain.

If you take a 40-minute nap instead of a 20-minute nap, for instance, you will wake up feeling

exhausted for at least 24 hours and the training process can easily be set back by days.

Admittedly, it takes some willpower and self-discipline to start a polyphasic sleep cycle

but after a while it becomes second nature and all that will be left to do is figure out what

to do with the extra time each day you created for yourself.

Other Tips and Tricks

Successfully implementing a polyphasic sleep cycle is the single best way to get plenty of

rest while gaining precious hours every day, but there are some other things that can help

maximize the effectiveness of your sleep as well.

Research as shown that your body associates heat with being awake and cold with sleepiness. Especially if you have trouble falling asleep, consider taking a cold bath or shower shortly before bedtime.

Not only can this make falling asleep easier, but it also benefits the cardiovascular system,

and increases metabolism. Experts recommend fully submerging in cold water for 10

minutes but it takes most people some time to work up to this.

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Most of us know that eating large meals right before bed is a bad idea. Did you know,

however, that eating a small snack before bed actually allows your body to sleep more

efficiently?

A low glycemic index snack—such as an orange or a small serving of low fat yogurt—

metabolizes slowly during the night and provides the energy your body needs to recharge

with little effort. This means the body can focus more on achieving high-quality rest than

looking for energy.

Approximately one hour before bed, limit exposure to bright lights. This includes TV screens,

computer monitors and overhead lighting. If the lights in your home have a dimmer switch,

turn them down to help ease your brain into a sleepy state.

Turn off or at least dim computer monitors and TVs as you start getting ready for sleep as

well. The more you can do to slow your brain down, the faster it can enter a healthy sleep

cycle once you do fall asleep.

Speaking of light, make sure the bedroom is completely dark for the best possible sleep.

Close curtains and blinds and turn off any devices that emit light all night (such as the

cable box). Your body is extremely sensitive to light—especially blue spectrum light—and

exposure to light sources during sleep negatively impacts a healthy sleep cycle.

As a final note, it often helps to keep track of your sleep patterns and how you feel the

following day in a notebook. Note the time you fall asleep, the time you wake and how

rested you feel upon waking.

Experiment with different bed/wake times and lengths to find out your optimal sleep

pattern.

There is no denying that sleep is an essential part of our lives, but it doesn’t make sense to waste valuable time sleeping when it’s not necessary. It isn’t very difficult to add years to your life by sleeping a little less every day.

Not to mention that multiple studies have shown that

early risers tend to be more productive and make more

money—and who couldn’t use a little more of that?