[simonjoe]

I've used this sleep schedule before. It's extremely liberating, if only a little lonely at the beginning of each week.

It's not hard to switch back and forth as long as you use one of the bedtimes that's normal for both schedules and just wake up with an alarm when you're supposed to on the new one.

The best thing about it was that I was actually tired (on the 20/8 variation) when it was time to go to bed, and I usually woke up a few minutes before my alarm starting on about the third day. These two phenomena never happen with any variation on a 24 hour day that I've tried. I was more productive (got my normal work done; started cycling regularly again; wrote more; and was averaging 2-3 books per week) and happier. I can't think of anything bad to say about it except that the last few hours of each "day" are a bit sluggish. I'm convinced that helped me sleep.

The only reason that I went off it was because my girlfriend has a fairly restrictive (yet changing) schedule. I was looking at not seeing her at all for a week if I continued it.

I should say that if I just go to bed when I'm tired, my body defaults to something pretty close to a 28-hour day regardless of light levels and the other people I've known to try it had negative experiences.

[bryanlarsen]

Yes, my experience was very similar. The nice thing about the schedule was that going to bed and waking up were very easy and natural, so it was easy to switch to the schedule. I went off of it when I went back to school and couldn't make it work. I would have liked to have the girlfriend excuse. :)

One really nice aspect of the system is that I was fully awake on Friday/Saturday night. I was learning how to dance at the time, being awake made that a lot easier.

On another note: this was a schedule I followed when I was in my early twenties. Now that I'm in my late 30's, following a conventional schedule is a LOT easier -- I'd never be able do this now.

[simonjoe]

Maybe that'll happen to me eventually. It wasn't a 28-hour cycle, certainly, but I've been on the overdrive until crash sleep schedule basically since I was born.

I don't see any end in sight. I have to stay up for almost 48 hours every few weeks when I actually have commitments (like a job) in the morning as a reset. It's annoying.