I slept 4.5 hours per day for a week as part of a polyphasic sleep routine. Most people follow a monophasic sleep schedule, which involves seven to eight hours of continuous sleep every night.
The routine I followed was called "Everyman," which allowed me only a 3.5-hour "core" night sleep supplemented with three 20-minute naps throughout the day.
A monophasic schedule involves four cycles of around 90 minutes of light sleep or non-rapid eye movement. The rapid eye movement or REM sleep (the restorative part of our sleep, in which we dream) occurs for a brief period of time following each cycle.
Polyphasic sleep advocates claim our brain can be tricked into entering REM sleep more quickly, avoiding the four 90-minute cycles of light sleep which they believe are not necessary.
Despite it working for people like Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison, there is little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of polyphasic sleep.
Produced and filmed by Claudia Romeo. Special thanks to Christina Sterbenz.