Science of Uberman

The Uberman sleep schedule can seem rather unconvincing, and many would assume that it's too good to be true - let the following do some convincing.

Sleep Science

Suprisingly little is known about sleep, although it can be divided into two main stages - Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) - NREM can then be sub-divided into four stages. When discussing the principles of polyphasic sleep and the effectiveness of Uberman, we are mainly concerned with REM sleep.

REM sleep is considered to be deep sleep, and is also the sleep in which dreams occur. It is considered to be essential for human survival. In a typical night's sleep we would generally receive around 20% of that time in the REM stage, and the aim of the Uberman sleep schedule here is to replicate this time, spread throughout the day.