Day 5

8:58am Awoke at 7:30am to my alarm after 2 1/2 hours sleep. Not wanting to get out of bed because I like laying in bed with my SO, even when he is asleep. I lazed in bed until 8am, drifting in and out. Got up at 8am. Mentally noted that my mind cleared gradually and surely as I got ready for the day. Mind is functioning with great intent and focus. Skin is tighter, energy is normal; change that - above normal. I seem to have rolled back the clock on my mind and body. I did not expect skin to tighten, nor my mind to operate as effectively as it did as when I was child. I recall that when I was pre-teen, my consciousness was always like a tool that I directed, as if I were two people - one the observer and the second the functional mind. I have that functionality back today. I had often remembered that capability with fondness prior to this experiment, today, I have it back; it is remarkable. In addition, I have lost body fat but not muscle. Perhaps the two are related. I cannot attribute this entire process to the cessation of caffeine intake, because I have gone without caffeine for stretches of weeks at time without this mental clarity, nor noticeable bodily changes.

I feel like I have stumbled onto a tremendous revitalization technique even more powerful than fasting. It would be interesting to combine both - but I will leave that for the future.

I am seeing progress each day; this is in contrast the to other polyphasic diaries I have read where there is always a great struggle during the initial one or two weeks with sleep deprivation, a lack of focus and tendency to oversleep uncontrollably at random times. These people set their sleep and nap times rigidly from day one and attempt to stick with it through thick and thin. My approach has been to ease into it, cutting my core sleep by an hour or half-hour per night, and napping when sleepy, but never for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time. Perhaps this is a more natural way to do this; one that encourages the body's desire for a polyphasic sleep pattern without denying it when it tells you it needs sleep. In turn, my body has rewarded me with gradually increasing mental clarity and gradually increasing physical energy. Mind you that these elements come and go, and I do get hazy and physically tired several times throughout the day. It seems the peaks are higher and the valleys are lower, which seems more natural to me. Prior to this experiment, I never wanted to go to sleep when I should have to get eight hours of sleep for the next day because I was almost never tired. Now I am tired before I sleep, and alert within minutes of waking. What a joy!

I am awake when people go to bed, and awake when they get up. I am more focused and more productive. I have more time, less stress and enjoy my life more because I have the time to laze around and still do a lot each day. I feel a little superhuman.

Side-note: chocolate contains caffeine and I have been eating chocolate each day. I will cease to see if this enables me to fall asleep quicker when I nap. I find it currently takes me 2 to 10 minutes to go right out.

5:40pm - I took a nap at noon - 22 minutes - went out like a light. No trouble waking up. I took another nap at 2:30pm, no trouble at all. Woke feeling refreshed. Still alert and energetic at 5:40 and have studied most of the afternoon.

1:19am - Watched two movies between 8 and midnight - I really should have napped between them - felt flushed and drowsy during the second one. Was developing a slight headache - might have been due to caffeine withdrawal since I haven't had one yet, but I'm inclined to think it was lack of sleep because I had a couple of cups of tea today. Napped immediately after the moview at around midnight. Woke up after about 18 minutes. Just got up - feel great now. Note: lung congestion has not returned, but there is still a tiny bit present. I took a second decongestant. However, I have recovered much quicker this time than the last time I got lung congestion in South Carolina. The last time it took 2 weeks to completely disappear. How odd. Could it be that too much sleep is bad for my health? And by too much, I mean 7 to 8 hours per night?

Studied and then napped at 3:30am for 20 minutes. Tried to watch another movie, but was too sleepy. Retired at 5:30am.