Beyond the Fadiman 1/3/1, microdosers use a handful of other calendars: every-other-day (often a fixed Monday/Wednesday/Friday), the evening Nightcap, and a long tail of personalized variations tied to menstrual cycles, work patterns, or medication timing. The differences between them come down to two trade-offs — how much rest-day contrast a schedule creates for self-comparison, and how much tolerance might creep in over a long run — plus a steep gradient in how much each has been studied. The honest summary is that this is a comparison of conventions: no two microdosing schedules have been tested against each other in a controlled trial, the more frequent calendars rest on the same unproven foundation as the rest, and the personalized variations are frankly anecdotal. This page lays out the trade-offs so the choices are legible — not so one schedule can be crowned.
The variable that the calendars trade on
Every schedule is a different answer to one tension. Dose too often, and two things are expected to happen: tolerance builds, because the 5-HT2A receptor system adapts quickly to repeated activation, [1] Peer-reviewed Psychedelics doi:10.1124/pr.115.011478 and the rest days that let a person compare dose against non-dose shrink or vanish. Dose too rarely, and the routine loses whatever rhythm makes it a practice at all. The named calendars sit at different points along that line, and surveys confirm that real-world practice is genuinely diverse — people use a range of frequencies rather than converging on one. [2] Observational Adults who microdose psychedelics report health related motivations and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to non-microdosers doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01811-4
Two points about timing also matter for understanding the calendars. Psilocin clears the body relatively quickly, so doses don’t accumulate the way a long-half-life drug would — which is part of why frequency and timing are discussed in terms of receptor adaptation and daily rhythm rather than steady build-up. And because a person almost always knows which days are dose days, the “contrast” any schedule creates is also the channel through which expectation enters, a problem the self-blinding evidence makes concrete. [3] Clinical trial Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing doi:10.7554/eLife.62878
Every-other-day (Monday/Wednesday/Friday)
The every-other-day schedule doses with a single rest day between dose days, frequently fixed to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday calendar so the routine is easy to remember. Its appeal is simplicity: a steady, predictable pattern that fits a work week.
The trade-offs are the mirror image of that simplicity. With only one rest day between doses rather than two, there are fewer clean non-dose days to compare against, so the within-person contrast is weaker than under the Fadiman schedule. And because dosing is more frequent, the theoretical risk of tolerance creeping up over an extended run is higher — the receptor system gets less time between activations. [1] Peer-reviewed Psychedelics doi:10.1124/pr.115.011478 Neither of these is a documented failure of the schedule; they are predictions from the rationale. As with everything in this cluster, every-other-day has never been tested against the Fadiman calendar, so the comparison is one of plausibility, not outcome. [4] Peer-reviewed Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research doi:10.1177/0269881119857204
The Nightcap (evening dosing)
The Nightcap moves the dose to the evening, typically a few hours before sleep, rather than the morning. People reach for it for two reasons: some find daytime dosing too activating and prefer to let any effect unfold toward the end of the day, and some are specifically interested in sleep-adjacent effects.
The evidence here is the thinnest of any timing convention. There is some research on full-dose psilocybin and sleep, but that is a different intervention at a different dose; sub-perceptual evening timing has barely been studied at all. [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706 The Nightcap therefore sits at an early, largely anecdotal tier — a reasonable thing for a practitioner to try, with essentially no controlled data on whether the timing change does anything. Reported time-of-day effects are best read as a mixture of genuine daily rhythm and expectation, not as established pharmacology. [3] Clinical trial Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing doi:10.7554/eLife.62878
Personalized variations
The widest category is also the least evidenced: schedules adapted to a person’s own circumstances — timed around a menstrual cycle, fitted to a demanding work pattern, or spaced to avoid clashing with medication. These are entirely in the anecdotal tier. There is no research base for any of them, and they should be understood as untested personal customizations rather than protocols with evidence behind them. [4] Peer-reviewed Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research doi:10.1177/0269881119857204 A person is, of course, free to make such adjustments; the point is only that “I adapted the schedule to my cycle” describes a personal choice, not a validated method. Where a variation touches medication timing, that is a matter for a prescribing clinician, not a scheduling tip.
| Schedule | Dose rhythm | Contrast data | Tolerance-creep risk | Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fadiman 1/3/1 | 1 on, 2 off | Strong (two rest days) | Lower | Most documented (observational) |
| Every-other-day (M/W/F) | 1 on, 1 off | Weaker (one rest day) | Higher over long runs | Common in surveys; untested vs others |
| Nightcap | Evening dose | Depends on base calendar | Depends on base calendar | Early; sub-perceptual timing barely studied |
| Personalized | Adapted to the individual | Variable | Variable | Anecdotal; no research base |
What a comparison can and can’t tell you
Laid side by side, the calendars differ in two understandable ways — contrast and tolerance risk — and in one decisive way: how much they’ve been studied. What the comparison cannot deliver is a ranking by effectiveness. No head-to-head trial of microdosing schedules exists, and the broader literature still has not established that microdosing produces effects beyond expectation in the first place. [4] Peer-reviewed Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research doi:10.1177/0269881119857204 [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706 So the most a person can rationally do is pick the calendar whose rationale and practicality suit them — most often the well-documented Fadiman default — while holding clearly in mind that “suits me” and “easy to follow” are not the same as “works,” and that the choice is being made in the absence of the data that would actually decide it. [6] Observational Might Microdosing Psychedelics Be Safe and Beneficial? An Initial Exploration doi:10.1080/02791072.2019.1593561
- The frequency trade-off
- More frequent dosing means weaker rest-day contrast and higher theoretical tolerance creep; less frequent dosing preserves contrast but loosens the routine. [1] Peer-reviewed Psychedelics doi:10.1124/pr.115.011478
- Every-other-day
- A simple M/W/F calendar with one rest day between doses — easy to follow, but less contrast and more tolerance risk than 1/3/1, and untested against it. [2] Observational Adults who microdose psychedelics report health related motivations and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to non-microdosers doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01811-4
- The Nightcap
- Evening dosing with minimal sub-perceptual timing evidence; an early, largely anecdotal variation. [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706
- Personalized calendars
- Adaptations to cycle, work, or medication are anecdotal with no research base; untested customizations, not validated protocols. [4] Peer-reviewed Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research doi:10.1177/0269881119857204
- No head-to-head data
- No two microdosing schedules have been compared in a controlled trial, so the choice is between rationales, not proven outcomes. [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706
Frequently asked questions
How does every-other-day dosing differ from the Fadiman 1/3/1?
Every-other-day — often a fixed Monday/Wednesday/Friday calendar — doses more frequently than the Fadiman schedule, which uses two rest days between dose days rather than one. The practical trade-offs are that an every-other-day calendar is simpler to remember but leaves fewer clear rest days for comparison, and that more frequent dosing carries a higher theoretical risk of tolerance building up over an extended run. [1] Peer-reviewed Psychedelics doi:10.1124/pr.115.011478 Neither schedule has been tested against the other, so the differences are differences in rationale, not in proven outcome. [4] Peer-reviewed Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research doi:10.1177/0269881119857204
What is the Nightcap protocol?
The Nightcap is an evening-dosing variation: the microdose is taken a few hours before sleep rather than in the morning. It is used by people who find daytime dosing too activating or who are interested in sleep-adjacent effects. The evidence base is thin — there is some research on full-dose psilocybin and sleep, but sub-perceptual timing has barely been studied, so the Nightcap sits at an early, largely anecdotal tier. [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706
Does the time of day a microdose is taken matter?
People who microdose report that timing changes how the day feels — morning dosing for daytime effects, evening for the Nightcap — but there is very little controlled evidence on sub-perceptual timing. Psilocin is cleared from the body relatively quickly, which is part of why timing is discussed at all, but how time-of-day affects outcomes at microdose levels has not been well studied. [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706 Reported timing effects should be read as preferences and expectations as much as pharmacology. [3] Clinical trial Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing doi:10.7554/eLife.62878
Are personalized schedules — adapted for menstrual cycle or work patterns — evidence-based?
No. Adapting a schedule to a menstrual cycle, a work rhythm, or medication timing is entirely in the anecdotal tier; there is no research base for these variations. [4] Peer-reviewed Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research doi:10.1177/0269881119857204 They are reasonable-sounding personal adjustments, and people are free to make them, but they should be understood as untested customizations rather than protocols with evidence behind them. Anything involving medication timing belongs with a prescribing clinician.
Which schedule is best?
There is no evidence-based answer, because no two microdosing schedules have ever been compared in a controlled trial. The schedules differ in how much rest-day contrast they create and in their theoretical tolerance risk, and the Fadiman 1/3/1 is the most documented, but “most documented” is not “most effective”. [6] Observational Might Microdosing Psychedelics Be Safe and Beneficial? An Initial Exploration doi:10.1080/02791072.2019.1593561 [5] Systematic review The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104706 The choice between calendars is a choice between rationales, made without the head-to-head data that would settle it.