Well, I guess I can say I've really done it. It's been a year, and I'm still polyphasic. I still maintain the core 3 hours midnight to 3am, which usually ends up being 12:30 to 3:30 am because I'm still a procrastinator and still not as on-time as I'd like to be.
At the six-month mark, I felt like I had reached a turning point; my waking hours were sleepier and I was more and more tired, so I added a bunch of longer nights into the schedule; I just wore out and needed it. But then over a period of a few weeks I gradually weaned them back out and into a leaner schedule again.
What's funny is that my schedule is always full; I'm thinking right now I should be working on my server project instead of spending time blogging.
But overall, I have had more time for everything in my life; extra work projects in the morning, then prayer time, then a regular work day, then more prayer time, time for friends, then time for projects and the gym. Overall, a very successful and productive schedule. Not to mention the way it has destressed the way I look at life because I just have so much more time.
I have much more to write... more coming soon.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Still Anasomnatic 6 Months Later
Just checking in with "the cloud."
Here am I, six months later, still anasomnatic (that's my term for polyphasic.) I feel at this point like I will never go back; I can't imagine a life where I have to sleep 8 hours every day. How have I fared? Here are my musings so far...
1) My sleep patterns are static, yet continue to evolve. I am still on the 3-hour core, sleeping midnight to 3 AM most days, with three 20-minute naps at roughly 8am, noon, and 6pm. As time goes on, my body become more and more adaptable and the amount of flexibility I have increases. For example, I can miss a nap entirely now and feel relatively normal after the next sleep. I have only done it 3 times so far, but it works. I can also shift my naps by up to 2 hours in either direction and feel pretty normal.
2) When my overall level of physical exertion increases dramatically in a short span of time, I need more sleep. This is consistent with pretty much any other sleep schedule, so I don't consider it a drawback or any special about my anasomnaticism. For example I, together with a friend, recently moved a houseload of furniture. The schedule was difficult, requiring long days and short nights of sleep over the period of a 3 days. I did very well, because I am used to short nights, but I absolutely required a nap at each of my scheduled times. By the third day, when we were unloading, it was 8pm and I was still hauling heavy furniture out of the truck. My strength waned, I was huffing and puffing for breath, and I became too weak to effectively help. My friend recommended I nap as per my schedule. Reclining on a half-moved couch sans cushions, I slept through all of the banging of the corrugated metal walls for 20 minutes or so, and awoke refreshed and revitalized enough to finish the move with energy to spare.
3) Caffeine has surprising effects on my anasomnatiscism. During this entire experiment, I have consistently observed that long periods of driving in the dark make me very drowsy, and nearly impossible to stay awake through. For example, a few weeks ago I began a 5-hour drive at 3:30 am, and despite having two 20-minute naps in a 3-hour space of time, and my best efforts to stay awake although sleepy behind the wheel, I was nearly asleep while driving on a highway. At that point I realized I had to change something. I got off at the very next exit and bought a couple of power drinks to get some caffeine into my system so I could complete the drive, which I did easily, being caffeinated. I fully expected to have difficulty with my next nap, but slept easily and soundly. I fully expected to not be able to sleep after having consumed caffeine, but began regularly consuming power drinks and having no difficulty sleeping at all provided I didn't consume one within one hour of going to sleep. Over the period of two weeks I started using them to wake up after arising at 3am much like anyone with their morning coffee; and at times when I felt I wanted a boost in mental acuity, which is pretty much all the time. My body rapidly became resistant to the caffeine (and to all other stimulants contained in the drinks, such as yerba matte, guarana and taurine) to the point that as of yesterday they were becoming rather ineffective at providing that lift. However, the interesting side-effect seemed to be that the boost in energy resulted in more physical energy output during my waking hours and I ended up sleeping longer; my naps started to extend by 10 minutes and my core by one or 1 1/2 hours. Given that I am becoming desensitized to the caffeine and still sleeping longer, I'm going to cut out the caffeine or at least cut it back a lot.
4) I still require an extended sleep every few weeks. Every two or three weeks, I end up sleeping 6-8 hours in a 24-hour period, usually sleeping additional hours right after my core. I wake up to my alarm, and my mind is so foggy I simply lay back down and go to sleep. After an hour or two of additional sleep, I wake up naturally and feel refreshed and ready to take on the day and that is the end of it for a couple of weeks.
5) My back seat is now a mobile hotel. I have a Celica - not the biggest of cars, but the back seats fold down. I put some camping foam on them, got a small pillow and blanket, and have it all in the back of the car. When I'm driving and it's time for a nap, I stop at a rest stop or a truck stop, climb in the back seat, lock the doors and take a really nice relaxing nap. I also take my core in there. On a few of trips to South Carolina (a 10-hour drive,) I left work at 5:30, slept in my back seat in the parking lot for my nap, then drove until midnight. At a rest stop I got my 3-hour core. The first time was a little difficult not being used to the small space, but the times after that were not a problem. I arrived around noon raring to go with all of my sleep and without a hotel bill and without the delay of sleeping in a hotel. I can't get over how easy it is now to drive those long trips with all of my sleep and with a little caffeine when I need it.
All in all... still going strong.
Here am I, six months later, still anasomnatic (that's my term for polyphasic.) I feel at this point like I will never go back; I can't imagine a life where I have to sleep 8 hours every day. How have I fared? Here are my musings so far...
1) My sleep patterns are static, yet continue to evolve. I am still on the 3-hour core, sleeping midnight to 3 AM most days, with three 20-minute naps at roughly 8am, noon, and 6pm. As time goes on, my body become more and more adaptable and the amount of flexibility I have increases. For example, I can miss a nap entirely now and feel relatively normal after the next sleep. I have only done it 3 times so far, but it works. I can also shift my naps by up to 2 hours in either direction and feel pretty normal.
2) When my overall level of physical exertion increases dramatically in a short span of time, I need more sleep. This is consistent with pretty much any other sleep schedule, so I don't consider it a drawback or any special about my anasomnaticism. For example I, together with a friend, recently moved a houseload of furniture. The schedule was difficult, requiring long days and short nights of sleep over the period of a 3 days. I did very well, because I am used to short nights, but I absolutely required a nap at each of my scheduled times. By the third day, when we were unloading, it was 8pm and I was still hauling heavy furniture out of the truck. My strength waned, I was huffing and puffing for breath, and I became too weak to effectively help. My friend recommended I nap as per my schedule. Reclining on a half-moved couch sans cushions, I slept through all of the banging of the corrugated metal walls for 20 minutes or so, and awoke refreshed and revitalized enough to finish the move with energy to spare.
3) Caffeine has surprising effects on my anasomnatiscism. During this entire experiment, I have consistently observed that long periods of driving in the dark make me very drowsy, and nearly impossible to stay awake through. For example, a few weeks ago I began a 5-hour drive at 3:30 am, and despite having two 20-minute naps in a 3-hour space of time, and my best efforts to stay awake although sleepy behind the wheel, I was nearly asleep while driving on a highway. At that point I realized I had to change something. I got off at the very next exit and bought a couple of power drinks to get some caffeine into my system so I could complete the drive, which I did easily, being caffeinated. I fully expected to have difficulty with my next nap, but slept easily and soundly. I fully expected to not be able to sleep after having consumed caffeine, but began regularly consuming power drinks and having no difficulty sleeping at all provided I didn't consume one within one hour of going to sleep. Over the period of two weeks I started using them to wake up after arising at 3am much like anyone with their morning coffee; and at times when I felt I wanted a boost in mental acuity, which is pretty much all the time. My body rapidly became resistant to the caffeine (and to all other stimulants contained in the drinks, such as yerba matte, guarana and taurine) to the point that as of yesterday they were becoming rather ineffective at providing that lift. However, the interesting side-effect seemed to be that the boost in energy resulted in more physical energy output during my waking hours and I ended up sleeping longer; my naps started to extend by 10 minutes and my core by one or 1 1/2 hours. Given that I am becoming desensitized to the caffeine and still sleeping longer, I'm going to cut out the caffeine or at least cut it back a lot.
4) I still require an extended sleep every few weeks. Every two or three weeks, I end up sleeping 6-8 hours in a 24-hour period, usually sleeping additional hours right after my core. I wake up to my alarm, and my mind is so foggy I simply lay back down and go to sleep. After an hour or two of additional sleep, I wake up naturally and feel refreshed and ready to take on the day and that is the end of it for a couple of weeks.
5) My back seat is now a mobile hotel. I have a Celica - not the biggest of cars, but the back seats fold down. I put some camping foam on them, got a small pillow and blanket, and have it all in the back of the car. When I'm driving and it's time for a nap, I stop at a rest stop or a truck stop, climb in the back seat, lock the doors and take a really nice relaxing nap. I also take my core in there. On a few of trips to South Carolina (a 10-hour drive,) I left work at 5:30, slept in my back seat in the parking lot for my nap, then drove until midnight. At a rest stop I got my 3-hour core. The first time was a little difficult not being used to the small space, but the times after that were not a problem. I arrived around noon raring to go with all of my sleep and without a hotel bill and without the delay of sleeping in a hotel. I can't get over how easy it is now to drive those long trips with all of my sleep and with a little caffeine when I need it.
All in all... still going strong.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Another 3-day Cold, and how NOT to sleep though your alarm
Since becoming polyphasic (I prefer to call it anasomnatic now), I start an inordinate number of my sentences with "If anyone had told me..." For example, behold the following paragraph.
If anyone had told me that I would be able to, within the space of a simple 20 minute nap, go from an alert awake state to that of sleeping so deeply that I would not only not be disturbed by an alarm, but also that I would reach over in my sleep, pick it up, turn it off, and then return to sleep without remembering it, I would have bet them $100 USD.
And they would have won, for that is what just happened. Alert all day; five-thirty rolled around, and since I am attending a virtual course this week I was able to simply turn around and lay on my bed for my 5:30 nap. A little while later, I awake. What happened? What time is it? Where's my alarm clock aka iPhone? I climb out of bed, look around, the other clock says 7pm. I turn around, I find my iPhone in my bed, alarm disabled. I piece together a semi-somnabulistic zombie-like state, where I awake but am not conscious, manage to pick up, look at and turn off the iPhone alarm, then put it back down beside me in bed and with the disturbance rectified, I slip back into blissful unconsciousness.
Lesson to be learned: even for a nap, I now need multiple alarms. Since I have become a little lazy in getting up in the mornings, on my iPhone I have been setting several alarms to go off in succession, each about 1 to 5 minutes apart. It has worked; if I don't get up on the first one, I usually get up on the second or third. But I set up to 10 of them more and more widely spaced right up until the time I absolutely must get up for example, to go to work.
I now need to do this for my naps.
And is this healthy? I would argue that it is. I just went through another 3-day long cold; that's two colds since I have been anasomnatic, and my colds up until now have always been 2 weeks long.
If anyone had told me that less sleep could be healthier...
If anyone had told me that I would be able to, within the space of a simple 20 minute nap, go from an alert awake state to that of sleeping so deeply that I would not only not be disturbed by an alarm, but also that I would reach over in my sleep, pick it up, turn it off, and then return to sleep without remembering it, I would have bet them $100 USD.
And they would have won, for that is what just happened. Alert all day; five-thirty rolled around, and since I am attending a virtual course this week I was able to simply turn around and lay on my bed for my 5:30 nap. A little while later, I awake. What happened? What time is it? Where's my alarm clock aka iPhone? I climb out of bed, look around, the other clock says 7pm. I turn around, I find my iPhone in my bed, alarm disabled. I piece together a semi-somnabulistic zombie-like state, where I awake but am not conscious, manage to pick up, look at and turn off the iPhone alarm, then put it back down beside me in bed and with the disturbance rectified, I slip back into blissful unconsciousness.
Lesson to be learned: even for a nap, I now need multiple alarms. Since I have become a little lazy in getting up in the mornings, on my iPhone I have been setting several alarms to go off in succession, each about 1 to 5 minutes apart. It has worked; if I don't get up on the first one, I usually get up on the second or third. But I set up to 10 of them more and more widely spaced right up until the time I absolutely must get up for example, to go to work.
I now need to do this for my naps.
And is this healthy? I would argue that it is. I just went through another 3-day long cold; that's two colds since I have been anasomnatic, and my colds up until now have always been 2 weeks long.
If anyone had told me that less sleep could be healthier...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Normal Anasomnatic Life & The Mythical 8 Hours of Sleep a Night
My normal anasomnatic life - I like calling it that instead of polyphasicl Polyphasic makes me sound more like high-voltage power generation module than an almost-human being. It's getting more and more interesting. Way back at the beginning, one of the things I loved about being poly..., er, anasomnatic is that I am so relaxed because I have so much time. That is still somewhat true, although I seem to have now filled every nook and cranny of the 20 waking hours I have each day, and am running out of time again. If only there were a way... oh never mind.
My entire life I have felt that there should be 28 hours in a day - it just seemed like it would be the right length of time. If there were, I would have 4 more waking hours each day, and have the time to really enjoy my life outside of work. Well my idle fantasy has come true, with a bonus hour on top of it, plus the potential for 2 additional hours in a day. The most amazing part about it is, when I tell people about anasomaticsicm, they don't try it! Some say they like sleep too much. Some say they are concerned about the negative effects. I personally think we are in the dark ages of understanding sleep, because my personal experience in this experiment is contrary to everything I know and have been taught about sleep. A lot less is better somehow, but in small doses spread over a longer period of time. When I think about it, it makes more sense; how would a caveman have slept a nice full 8 hours a night? They didn't have comfy mattresses, and even with waterbeds a lot of people can't stay comfortable enough to sleep for 8 hours at a stretch. Just because it's dark, should we assume we should be asleep? Or are there good reasons for a caveman to be awake in the middle of the night, like watching for predators, or tending to a fire, or looking after a baby. Speaking of babies, they don't get born sleeping 8 hours in a night. They have to be trained to sleep that way. Even with all of our inculcation into the mythical 8-hours of sleep per night, how many people you know actually fall asleep each night and wake up 8 hours later? I can't think of one right now - almost everyone wakes up at least once to go to the bathroom during the night, or becomes restless in their sleep in the night.
I did sleep 8 hours the night before last; I had been feeling tired throughout the day for the 3 days prior. I believe it was because I was getting lazy with my schedule, missing naps by two hours in some cases, so naturally it had an effect. It's nice to know that I'm not tied into a rigorous schedule; I can always let a nap slide and then catch up later with some extra core sleep if I wish. The drama in other anasomnatic's blogs around ensuring that naps must be taken exactly on a schedule seems exaggerated now; this was very important at the beginning, but in my fourth month of anasomnatiscism, my body has well-adjusted and is forgiving. And it would make sense that it should be, the caveman didn't have a watch and couldn't stick to a rigorous schedule, so I would think the strict schedule is simply a way to retrain one's body back to a norm of taking multiple deep, short, sleep periods in a single day.
I drove from Baltimore MD, to Charleston SC last nite. I took a nap under a desk at work at 6, left work at 7 and drove until midnight. Napped at a rest area in the backseat for 20 minutes, and then drove until I couldn't stay awake any longer, which was about 3:30. Napped for another 20 minutes again in the back seat at another rest area, then tried to continue. The combination of darkness and my own lack of physical movement conspired against me, and I had to stop at 4:30 for a longer sleep. I slept for 2 hours in the back of the car, awaking alert and refreshed at 6:30 am, ready to finish the trip. One and one-half hours later, I was at the SO's, and wide awake the entire time. I took my usual 8am 20-minute nap, and I was ready for a normal day. I spent the morning at the auction house in WoW while working on a pet project, and now it is time for my noon nap. Nite.
My entire life I have felt that there should be 28 hours in a day - it just seemed like it would be the right length of time. If there were, I would have 4 more waking hours each day, and have the time to really enjoy my life outside of work. Well my idle fantasy has come true, with a bonus hour on top of it, plus the potential for 2 additional hours in a day. The most amazing part about it is, when I tell people about anasomaticsicm, they don't try it! Some say they like sleep too much. Some say they are concerned about the negative effects. I personally think we are in the dark ages of understanding sleep, because my personal experience in this experiment is contrary to everything I know and have been taught about sleep. A lot less is better somehow, but in small doses spread over a longer period of time. When I think about it, it makes more sense; how would a caveman have slept a nice full 8 hours a night? They didn't have comfy mattresses, and even with waterbeds a lot of people can't stay comfortable enough to sleep for 8 hours at a stretch. Just because it's dark, should we assume we should be asleep? Or are there good reasons for a caveman to be awake in the middle of the night, like watching for predators, or tending to a fire, or looking after a baby. Speaking of babies, they don't get born sleeping 8 hours in a night. They have to be trained to sleep that way. Even with all of our inculcation into the mythical 8-hours of sleep per night, how many people you know actually fall asleep each night and wake up 8 hours later? I can't think of one right now - almost everyone wakes up at least once to go to the bathroom during the night, or becomes restless in their sleep in the night.
I did sleep 8 hours the night before last; I had been feeling tired throughout the day for the 3 days prior. I believe it was because I was getting lazy with my schedule, missing naps by two hours in some cases, so naturally it had an effect. It's nice to know that I'm not tied into a rigorous schedule; I can always let a nap slide and then catch up later with some extra core sleep if I wish. The drama in other anasomnatic's blogs around ensuring that naps must be taken exactly on a schedule seems exaggerated now; this was very important at the beginning, but in my fourth month of anasomnatiscism, my body has well-adjusted and is forgiving. And it would make sense that it should be, the caveman didn't have a watch and couldn't stick to a rigorous schedule, so I would think the strict schedule is simply a way to retrain one's body back to a norm of taking multiple deep, short, sleep periods in a single day.
I drove from Baltimore MD, to Charleston SC last nite. I took a nap under a desk at work at 6, left work at 7 and drove until midnight. Napped at a rest area in the backseat for 20 minutes, and then drove until I couldn't stay awake any longer, which was about 3:30. Napped for another 20 minutes again in the back seat at another rest area, then tried to continue. The combination of darkness and my own lack of physical movement conspired against me, and I had to stop at 4:30 for a longer sleep. I slept for 2 hours in the back of the car, awaking alert and refreshed at 6:30 am, ready to finish the trip. One and one-half hours later, I was at the SO's, and wide awake the entire time. I took my usual 8am 20-minute nap, and I was ready for a normal day. I spent the morning at the auction house in WoW while working on a pet project, and now it is time for my noon nap. Nite.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
My First Cold
Well a couple of weeks ago I got my first cold since becoming anasomnatic (that's today's alias for polyphasic . From Ancient Greek prefix ana meaning again + Latin Somnat meaning pertaining to sleep. Gosh how I hate the word polyphasic, it's inaccurate, redundant and just plain ugly sounding.)
My cold progressed quickly - more quickly by far than any I have had. I was teaching and noticed a scratch in my throat. By the next day I was hoarse, and my throat sore. The next day my I was stuffy and sneezing, and the day after my cold had cleared up almost completely. I did not change my sleep schedule, I stuck with my regular three hours' sleep a night, and my regular gym schedule as well.
It was over in three days. I have never had a cold progress so quickly. I find it remarkable that I could have gotten over it in any less time than normal. Logic dictates that with so much less sleep this cold should have progressed to laryngitis (as it has done for me every other time I got a sore throat while teaching) and should have lasted two weeks as it always does.
I can only presume that sleeping deeply and often is what helps one heal best; sleeping for long periods of time seems counter-productive now since it seems that the longer one sleeps, the lighter one sleeps.
Things get more interesting all the time.
p.s. This morning I had another optical disturbance - the wallpaper in the hotel bathroom, consisting of shape-edged high-contrast vertical strips of black, yellow and white seemed to float in my vision a few inches from my face, demanding my attention and distracting me. Blinking did not make it go away, only looking away stopped it.
My cold progressed quickly - more quickly by far than any I have had. I was teaching and noticed a scratch in my throat. By the next day I was hoarse, and my throat sore. The next day my I was stuffy and sneezing, and the day after my cold had cleared up almost completely. I did not change my sleep schedule, I stuck with my regular three hours' sleep a night, and my regular gym schedule as well.
It was over in three days. I have never had a cold progress so quickly. I find it remarkable that I could have gotten over it in any less time than normal. Logic dictates that with so much less sleep this cold should have progressed to laryngitis (as it has done for me every other time I got a sore throat while teaching) and should have lasted two weeks as it always does.
I can only presume that sleeping deeply and often is what helps one heal best; sleeping for long periods of time seems counter-productive now since it seems that the longer one sleeps, the lighter one sleeps.
Things get more interesting all the time.
p.s. This morning I had another optical disturbance - the wallpaper in the hotel bathroom, consisting of shape-edged high-contrast vertical strips of black, yellow and white seemed to float in my vision a few inches from my face, demanding my attention and distracting me. Blinking did not make it go away, only looking away stopped it.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Polyphasic Weirdities and On-Demand Hallucinations
As much as I try to feel normal on this sleeping schedule, I still encounter episodic weirdness. For example, to make myself feel normal, I go to bed at midnight and get up at 3 am. Lots of people go to bed at midnight; many get up at 3am. Yet wandering the halls at 4 am recently I felt like a private detective lurking in a long dark alleyway; or like a cop walking the beat in a precinct of one.
Along with my mucous membrane improvement (which by the way, continues, although I have accommodated the change to a great degree and no longer notice it as much), my hearing continues to retain a silky quality, making music so enjoyable, regardless of the amount of percussive content.
My eyes continue to play tricks on me - no longer sore, no longer tired, they are getting better than they have ever been. Only yesterday I was able to read the most minute print on a package of Tukmaria - with some difficulty but I did it. This is something I have not been able to do at all since having lasik surgery many years ago to correct my nearsightedness. On top of that, my eyes should be getting worse as I age - I should be getting more farsighted.
In the hotel hallway 3 days ago, I looked at my iPhone to read an article and the checkered patterned floor seemed to come right up above the iPhone in such brightness and sharp focus that I had to blink a few times to make it recede so I could read the display - but I failed. It stayed raised above the level of the display and commanded my attention with its brightness. I moved away, walking outside, and was then able to read the display.
But laying in bed after a nap two days ago, I was absent-mindedly staring at the rough-textured plaster ceiling when the surface of the plaster began to move, and flow, and shimmer and crawl and flow slowly like a living river of liquid insects. I thought for a moment that I had let my eyes wander and that had caused the vision, so I held my gaze and sharpened my focus to see if it would come more into focus or go away as I expected. With that became a beautifully sharp focused hallucination - clearly a hallucination because I knew in my mind that the ceiling was not flowing, and yet I could see it as if it were real; only my prior experience with ceilings in general told me it could not be real. I tested the extent of the hallucination by looking left, and it was less, but still observable, then up, and right, again less - it was strongest in the center. To test my theory I focused my mind to not see the hallucination, and it simply evaporated. I found myself staring at a simple, plain ceiling. To see if I could repeat it, I called for it again in my brain, and then slowly it returned over the course of 15 seconds, back with the same intensity as before. Clearly a part of my vision as if the receptors in my eyes were functioning differently on demand, but not a part of my mental perception because, to risk a pun, I could "see right through it" - it didn't fool me at all, yet I could see it in great detail. It wasn't disconcerting, nor annoying, it was really a curiosity, yet one which I did not really want to experience. So I stopped it again, and then went about cleaning myself up to see if I could easily maintain normal vision, which I did successfully without incident since. A half-hour after the incident, I tried once in the hallway to see if I could recall the hallucination in a different setting, but it didn't come back.
Just now my curiosity overcame me, and I stared at this ceiling in a new hotel to see if I could recall the hallucination. This ceiling is flat with pairs of vertical lines every 3 feet where the joins are, and this time the lines began to vibrate together and apart and the ripples that reach outware from the lines began to flow. The smooth parts of the ceiling did not move, so together with the geometric floor episode, it seems that the hallucinations are a hypersenstivity to high-contrast sharp lines.
Interesting.
Along with my mucous membrane improvement (which by the way, continues, although I have accommodated the change to a great degree and no longer notice it as much), my hearing continues to retain a silky quality, making music so enjoyable, regardless of the amount of percussive content.
My eyes continue to play tricks on me - no longer sore, no longer tired, they are getting better than they have ever been. Only yesterday I was able to read the most minute print on a package of Tukmaria - with some difficulty but I did it. This is something I have not been able to do at all since having lasik surgery many years ago to correct my nearsightedness. On top of that, my eyes should be getting worse as I age - I should be getting more farsighted.
In the hotel hallway 3 days ago, I looked at my iPhone to read an article and the checkered patterned floor seemed to come right up above the iPhone in such brightness and sharp focus that I had to blink a few times to make it recede so I could read the display - but I failed. It stayed raised above the level of the display and commanded my attention with its brightness. I moved away, walking outside, and was then able to read the display.
But laying in bed after a nap two days ago, I was absent-mindedly staring at the rough-textured plaster ceiling when the surface of the plaster began to move, and flow, and shimmer and crawl and flow slowly like a living river of liquid insects. I thought for a moment that I had let my eyes wander and that had caused the vision, so I held my gaze and sharpened my focus to see if it would come more into focus or go away as I expected. With that became a beautifully sharp focused hallucination - clearly a hallucination because I knew in my mind that the ceiling was not flowing, and yet I could see it as if it were real; only my prior experience with ceilings in general told me it could not be real. I tested the extent of the hallucination by looking left, and it was less, but still observable, then up, and right, again less - it was strongest in the center. To test my theory I focused my mind to not see the hallucination, and it simply evaporated. I found myself staring at a simple, plain ceiling. To see if I could repeat it, I called for it again in my brain, and then slowly it returned over the course of 15 seconds, back with the same intensity as before. Clearly a part of my vision as if the receptors in my eyes were functioning differently on demand, but not a part of my mental perception because, to risk a pun, I could "see right through it" - it didn't fool me at all, yet I could see it in great detail. It wasn't disconcerting, nor annoying, it was really a curiosity, yet one which I did not really want to experience. So I stopped it again, and then went about cleaning myself up to see if I could easily maintain normal vision, which I did successfully without incident since. A half-hour after the incident, I tried once in the hallway to see if I could recall the hallucination in a different setting, but it didn't come back.
Just now my curiosity overcame me, and I stared at this ceiling in a new hotel to see if I could recall the hallucination. This ceiling is flat with pairs of vertical lines every 3 feet where the joins are, and this time the lines began to vibrate together and apart and the ripples that reach outware from the lines began to flow. The smooth parts of the ceiling did not move, so together with the geometric floor episode, it seems that the hallucinations are a hypersenstivity to high-contrast sharp lines.
Interesting.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Organ Recital
This past weekend I attended an organ recital on the Great Organ at Washington National Cathedral. This organ is massive and the sound enchanting, being one of the 20 largest organs in the world. I took the opportunity to sit in the choir pews which rest between the organ's pipes scaling the walls on both sides of the pews. There were 5,000 pipes directly above me beginning 10 feet above my head and extending 3 stories upward, and another 5,000 facing me a mere 30 feet away in Gothic symmetry. Needless to say, embedded as I was in the body of the organ proper, the sound was awe-inspiring. Yet I had been touring the Cathedral since 2pm, and it was now 5:15, and the recital would progress for an hour, taking me well into my scheduled nap time. I closed my eyes to enjoy the sound, and felt the sound resonate all around me. Mid-way through the recital I also felt the grasp of my significant other's hand on my knee, I thought he was being affectionate - it surprised me in this public and conservative venue. Only later did he tell me... it was to wake me because I was snoring.
An Island of Stability
I have been remiss in updating this blog, not for a lack of time however, since I am still polyphasic and never wanting to go back.
First, I have been on a client site for 5 weeks, which requires a lot of flexibility in my sleep times during the day. So I have been on a consistent 3-hr per night schedule, with the occasional 4 or 5 hour night just because I felt like it, and on a couple of weekends I have slept 8 hours for one or two nights. I don't feel like the full nights are setbacks; in fact each time I take one and then go back to the 3-hour nights, I feel better being polyphasic than I did before. At 3 hours a night I am very well-rested each day, and my nap times vary by up to +/-2 hours without any difficulty. I call this a great success. My mental alertness and energy levels are way up.
Now an interesting observation; About a month ago I started to notice my mucous membranes all beginning to feel extremely smooth. I had a hard time figuring out what it was I was experiencing at first; I mean, who thinks about their mucous membranes, except in their nose when they are stuffed up? That is in fact where I first noticed the change - my sinuses cleared and I could feel them being more open than before. Now wait a minute - I have never in my life had a problem with my sinuses per-se, except with the odd cold or two. So for there to be an improvement there when there was never a problem in the first place to me was remarkable. (warning - this paragraph gets into bodily functions and will get weird. Please skip it if you are squeamish about reading about bodily functions.) Then I noticed other things: urinating felt, uhm, nice. Ok, I told you this would get weird. But it did, and flow was way up. BM's were effortless and - how can I say this - uhm felt smooth? Even after eating cheese.
Ok, we're over the bodily functions, but to continue on the mucous membrane track, I started to get a sweet taste in my mouth. All the time, just sitting and doing whatever, my mouth tastes sweet. It's hard to describe. All I know is that internally, linings have all improved (I didn't know they could - I was in great health before this) and it sure feels great. It is interesting to note that I have not read of this effect on anyone else's polyphasic blog, so I may be unique in this aspect. But if anyone has an allergy, it might be interesting to see if it would help it, although it did take a couple of months before this effect kicked in.
In a somehow similar vein, my hearing has changed. It is not more acute, nor less, however there is a distinct change in the quality of my hearing. Sounds seem lush, fluid, somewhat dreamy. Harshness is subdued, percussive tones are not jarring. It is so enjoyable to listen to music - it flows like a stream as the sounds mesh as if propagating through some invisible viscous fluid that does not damp it, only smooth it out.
On a different note, I bought some Ginko Biloba, a supplement which I have taken in the past that improves memory by stimulating brain circulation. It's effects had been unnoticable before, but I was hoping it would help me with alertness during the day - just in hopes of hone an even finer point on it. Well I took it for a couple of days and my concentration was sharper but then had to stop because for 3 days afterward I suffered difficulties falling asleep, and when asleep I was sleeping lightly. It made for a difficult 3 days because of the lack of sleep, so I am loath to try it again, but I am curious as to why it had such a stimulating effect on me when I did not before. Of course, alchohol and caffiene have a much more pronounced effect on me now that I am polyphasic, and I have been without them both for 6 weeks now (with the exception of an iced tea here and there which does not seem to cause me any problems) but for ginko to stimulate that greatly - odd. It isn't classified as a stimulant.
Well the experiment is becoming an addicting way of life. When I tell people that I sleep 3 hours a night (and I'm thinking that it is a lot of sleep for me) they are still astounded. Whereas I am rather over the novelness of the practice, and am simply striving each day to fine-tune it even more. My current sleeping patterns are:
- core: 3 hrs, 12midnight to 3am (start time +/- 2 hours, duration +0 to +5 hrs every 5 to 7 days)
- 3 daytime naps, 20 minutes each: 7:30am, 12noon, 6pm. (start time +/- 2 hours) Laying down while napping gives me the best rest, so I do whatever I can to find a place where I can be horizontal. I have even crawled under a desk at work - shhhhh no-one saw me lol. When necessary, napping in a chair is not too bad.
- ah-hoc naps: frequency as desired when alertness is severely degraded: 5-10 minutes duration (usually with my head on a desk, although I have laid down for a few)
Nap locations:
- bed (ahhhhh - always the best)
- back seat of car (I usually revert to this while at work) - fabulous
- under an unused desk at work (wasn't too bad)
- bathrooms (ugh - I hate doing that, but when there is no-where else, I am always able to sit down there and nap. I nap sitting up, so it is not good quality rest, but it will get me through the day.)
After experiencing the increased efficiency of this sleep schedule and now realizing how much more alert I am after a 20-minute nap, I wonder about the social stigma of napping during the day at work - how in the world did it occur? Why does it exist? If employees are allowed to take breaks, why would there not be a place to rest, I mean really rest? It is something unthought of in our culture - it is taboo. Instead, stimulants are the first choice, and completely accepted and even encouraged.
On a side note, my 60-something mother is recovering from cancer surgery, and while I was visiting her for a week (got a week to work "from home" and chose to work from their place so I could visit) I encouraged her to nap on my schedule, without cutting back on her evening sleep. The first day she couldn't nap, but within a couple of days she was napping like a pro, and the difference for her was remarkable. Her energy levels were way up, and her mood and disposition where wonderful. Then after a few days she let it slip, and I could easily see the difference between the "napping mom" and the "non-napping mom." After a few days, her napping was so good she was staying up later, and still feeling great all day - something she always loves to do. So even if you are not polyphasic, perhaps recovering from a trauma such as my mom, naps seem to serve a very important function.
Onward, upward, uhm, and then to sleep.
p.s. I love being a morning person now. It is still a little disconcerting to have to nap during the day, especially the 6pm nap is difficult to deal with, coming right after work and right before dinner it seems to make a hole in my evening, especially if people want to do something after work, but everyone at work knows my sleep schedule, and they accomodate it much more than I thought they would. I now hear from my manager "I want you to work on this over your lunch hour, after your nap." Remarkable.
First, I have been on a client site for 5 weeks, which requires a lot of flexibility in my sleep times during the day. So I have been on a consistent 3-hr per night schedule, with the occasional 4 or 5 hour night just because I felt like it, and on a couple of weekends I have slept 8 hours for one or two nights. I don't feel like the full nights are setbacks; in fact each time I take one and then go back to the 3-hour nights, I feel better being polyphasic than I did before. At 3 hours a night I am very well-rested each day, and my nap times vary by up to +/-2 hours without any difficulty. I call this a great success. My mental alertness and energy levels are way up.
Now an interesting observation; About a month ago I started to notice my mucous membranes all beginning to feel extremely smooth. I had a hard time figuring out what it was I was experiencing at first; I mean, who thinks about their mucous membranes, except in their nose when they are stuffed up? That is in fact where I first noticed the change - my sinuses cleared and I could feel them being more open than before. Now wait a minute - I have never in my life had a problem with my sinuses per-se, except with the odd cold or two. So for there to be an improvement there when there was never a problem in the first place to me was remarkable. (warning - this paragraph gets into bodily functions and will get weird. Please skip it if you are squeamish about reading about bodily functions.) Then I noticed other things: urinating felt, uhm, nice. Ok, I told you this would get weird. But it did, and flow was way up. BM's were effortless and - how can I say this - uhm felt smooth? Even after eating cheese.
Ok, we're over the bodily functions, but to continue on the mucous membrane track, I started to get a sweet taste in my mouth. All the time, just sitting and doing whatever, my mouth tastes sweet. It's hard to describe. All I know is that internally, linings have all improved (I didn't know they could - I was in great health before this) and it sure feels great. It is interesting to note that I have not read of this effect on anyone else's polyphasic blog, so I may be unique in this aspect. But if anyone has an allergy, it might be interesting to see if it would help it, although it did take a couple of months before this effect kicked in.
In a somehow similar vein, my hearing has changed. It is not more acute, nor less, however there is a distinct change in the quality of my hearing. Sounds seem lush, fluid, somewhat dreamy. Harshness is subdued, percussive tones are not jarring. It is so enjoyable to listen to music - it flows like a stream as the sounds mesh as if propagating through some invisible viscous fluid that does not damp it, only smooth it out.
On a different note, I bought some Ginko Biloba, a supplement which I have taken in the past that improves memory by stimulating brain circulation. It's effects had been unnoticable before, but I was hoping it would help me with alertness during the day - just in hopes of hone an even finer point on it. Well I took it for a couple of days and my concentration was sharper but then had to stop because for 3 days afterward I suffered difficulties falling asleep, and when asleep I was sleeping lightly. It made for a difficult 3 days because of the lack of sleep, so I am loath to try it again, but I am curious as to why it had such a stimulating effect on me when I did not before. Of course, alchohol and caffiene have a much more pronounced effect on me now that I am polyphasic, and I have been without them both for 6 weeks now (with the exception of an iced tea here and there which does not seem to cause me any problems) but for ginko to stimulate that greatly - odd. It isn't classified as a stimulant.
Well the experiment is becoming an addicting way of life. When I tell people that I sleep 3 hours a night (and I'm thinking that it is a lot of sleep for me) they are still astounded. Whereas I am rather over the novelness of the practice, and am simply striving each day to fine-tune it even more. My current sleeping patterns are:
- core: 3 hrs, 12midnight to 3am (start time +/- 2 hours, duration +0 to +5 hrs every 5 to 7 days)
- 3 daytime naps, 20 minutes each: 7:30am, 12noon, 6pm. (start time +/- 2 hours) Laying down while napping gives me the best rest, so I do whatever I can to find a place where I can be horizontal. I have even crawled under a desk at work - shhhhh no-one saw me lol. When necessary, napping in a chair is not too bad.
- ah-hoc naps: frequency as desired when alertness is severely degraded: 5-10 minutes duration (usually with my head on a desk, although I have laid down for a few)
Nap locations:
- bed (ahhhhh - always the best)
- back seat of car (I usually revert to this while at work) - fabulous
- under an unused desk at work (wasn't too bad)
- bathrooms (ugh - I hate doing that, but when there is no-where else, I am always able to sit down there and nap. I nap sitting up, so it is not good quality rest, but it will get me through the day.)
After experiencing the increased efficiency of this sleep schedule and now realizing how much more alert I am after a 20-minute nap, I wonder about the social stigma of napping during the day at work - how in the world did it occur? Why does it exist? If employees are allowed to take breaks, why would there not be a place to rest, I mean really rest? It is something unthought of in our culture - it is taboo. Instead, stimulants are the first choice, and completely accepted and even encouraged.
On a side note, my 60-something mother is recovering from cancer surgery, and while I was visiting her for a week (got a week to work "from home" and chose to work from their place so I could visit) I encouraged her to nap on my schedule, without cutting back on her evening sleep. The first day she couldn't nap, but within a couple of days she was napping like a pro, and the difference for her was remarkable. Her energy levels were way up, and her mood and disposition where wonderful. Then after a few days she let it slip, and I could easily see the difference between the "napping mom" and the "non-napping mom." After a few days, her napping was so good she was staying up later, and still feeling great all day - something she always loves to do. So even if you are not polyphasic, perhaps recovering from a trauma such as my mom, naps seem to serve a very important function.
Onward, upward, uhm, and then to sleep.
p.s. I love being a morning person now. It is still a little disconcerting to have to nap during the day, especially the 6pm nap is difficult to deal with, coming right after work and right before dinner it seems to make a hole in my evening, especially if people want to do something after work, but everyone at work knows my sleep schedule, and they accomodate it much more than I thought they would. I now hear from my manager "I want you to work on this over your lunch hour, after your nap." Remarkable.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Dreaming Hallucinations
A weird thing has started happening in the last two days. When I nap, as I drift off to sleep (which happens in 2 minutes or less) I get an overlap between my dreaming and my consciousness. I think I am REM'ing very quickly because sometimes when I am very tired, as soon as I close my eyes, I am already dreaming. But I am not yet fully asleep, so I get the perception that I am hallucinating, because I feel like I am awake, but I am visually seeing and hearing my dreams, as if I were asleep. For example, yesterday as I closed my eyes to nap as a passenger in the truck, my SO turned on the radio. My conscious mind was fully aware it was a radio and simply a song, but my sleeping mind pictured everything the song described and I could visually see each scene as if I were there and I were participating in the scene as an observer. It was a country song, at one point it talked about leaving clothes on the bathroom floor. I was literally in a bathroom with stalls and tiles on the walls and floor and I could see the clothes laying on the floor. My brain added the details of tiles and stalls and a denim jacket and jeans and I can still see the picture of it in my mind.
My brain can't tell which these visions are - a dream or reality - I suppose because there is no intermediate state because I begin dreaming as soon as my eyes close. This has lead to mental confusion for me - being uncertain what is happening or has happened to me, what I have done and what I have seen or heard, because my brain recalls these events as if they were memories and not dreams. It is clear to me now what is happening and as I write this it is easy to describe the process and its effects, but I still have the memories of confusion, which are a little disconcerting. On the other hand, it seems to be an interesting effect, it occurred to me that if someone was inclined to do drugs because they would like to hallucinate could instead try this approach; it's legal and completely convincing, although the duration of my hallucinations are probably shorter, at least they are so far. Given the discipline polyphasicness takes, I doubt there will be many who opt for this route.
There is a potential positive aspect to this semi-lucid dream state - it appears to be a period of high suggestibility (as evidenced by the spontaneous visualization of the song scenes); it is a fast path to a high-grade hypnotic state in which suggestions could be made and probably have a very significant effect. I am contemplating attempting this with my SO to see if this is true.
I have also overcome the "I must lay down to nap" limitation. I can sleep in any position now it seems. I can easily sleep in a chair with my head to one side, or lay my head down on the table and sleep quickly (I only do this for 5 or 10 minute naps) or even today, as I had to do, go into a stall, sit down elbows on knees and head drooping, sleep for 5 minutes. Amazing that I can do that. Laying down is still my preferred position for a nap, but I do not have a limitation any longer on where I can do it if need be.
Oh something else odd happened two days ago. Firstly, I'll say that I got a full night's sleep - 9 hours, because my SO showed up and I wanted to spend a full night's sleep with him. That I did. I felt a little odd that day after, dizzy seems to fit but not that strong, just a slight disorientation. I continued on my nap schedule that day. Because I had a full night's sleep I let my schedule slip and it wasn't until almost 10pm that I had my 8pm nap. I put in my earplugs to nap - bad idea, because I sleep so soundly now I don't wake to my alarm when I have them in. But my Dad had the TV on so I wanted to get a nice nap and so earplugs it was. I awoke yelling loudly about an hour later. While I was asleep I felt someone pulling on my feet as it disturbed me so much I awoke violently yelling not to do that. That is my version of the story. My SO's version is that my alarm went off and woke him from his nap and it kept running for 1/2 hour so he threw a small pillow at me from the couch about 3 feet away. I didn't move, so he threw a blanket at me. No movement. He says he then touched my feet (not pulled), and that's when I went off like a madman. The only explanation I can come up with is that after having things tossed at me while sleeping, I may have started dreaming about being attacked, and then with the additional physical contact with my feet I reacted in a half-dreaming/ half-awake state. My parents were concerned about my experiment and at this point gave me advice to get more sleep. I did get more sleep last nite - 4 hours.
My brain can't tell which these visions are - a dream or reality - I suppose because there is no intermediate state because I begin dreaming as soon as my eyes close. This has lead to mental confusion for me - being uncertain what is happening or has happened to me, what I have done and what I have seen or heard, because my brain recalls these events as if they were memories and not dreams. It is clear to me now what is happening and as I write this it is easy to describe the process and its effects, but I still have the memories of confusion, which are a little disconcerting. On the other hand, it seems to be an interesting effect, it occurred to me that if someone was inclined to do drugs because they would like to hallucinate could instead try this approach; it's legal and completely convincing, although the duration of my hallucinations are probably shorter, at least they are so far. Given the discipline polyphasicness takes, I doubt there will be many who opt for this route.
There is a potential positive aspect to this semi-lucid dream state - it appears to be a period of high suggestibility (as evidenced by the spontaneous visualization of the song scenes); it is a fast path to a high-grade hypnotic state in which suggestions could be made and probably have a very significant effect. I am contemplating attempting this with my SO to see if this is true.
I have also overcome the "I must lay down to nap" limitation. I can sleep in any position now it seems. I can easily sleep in a chair with my head to one side, or lay my head down on the table and sleep quickly (I only do this for 5 or 10 minute naps) or even today, as I had to do, go into a stall, sit down elbows on knees and head drooping, sleep for 5 minutes. Amazing that I can do that. Laying down is still my preferred position for a nap, but I do not have a limitation any longer on where I can do it if need be.
Oh something else odd happened two days ago. Firstly, I'll say that I got a full night's sleep - 9 hours, because my SO showed up and I wanted to spend a full night's sleep with him. That I did. I felt a little odd that day after, dizzy seems to fit but not that strong, just a slight disorientation. I continued on my nap schedule that day. Because I had a full night's sleep I let my schedule slip and it wasn't until almost 10pm that I had my 8pm nap. I put in my earplugs to nap - bad idea, because I sleep so soundly now I don't wake to my alarm when I have them in. But my Dad had the TV on so I wanted to get a nice nap and so earplugs it was. I awoke yelling loudly about an hour later. While I was asleep I felt someone pulling on my feet as it disturbed me so much I awoke violently yelling not to do that. That is my version of the story. My SO's version is that my alarm went off and woke him from his nap and it kept running for 1/2 hour so he threw a small pillow at me from the couch about 3 feet away. I didn't move, so he threw a blanket at me. No movement. He says he then touched my feet (not pulled), and that's when I went off like a madman. The only explanation I can come up with is that after having things tossed at me while sleeping, I may have started dreaming about being attacked, and then with the additional physical contact with my feet I reacted in a half-dreaming/ half-awake state. My parents were concerned about my experiment and at this point gave me advice to get more sleep. I did get more sleep last nite - 4 hours.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Day Whatever
It's been a while - time to catch up a bit.
I'm still polyphasic (it sounds like i need to be cured of something.) I get between 1 and 3 1/2 hours core a nite, depending on how I feel. Occasionally I will sleep a little more, like 4 or 5 hours core. I have slept 8 hours only one night in the past month I think. Last night I got a luxurious 4 hours because I was doing deadlifts today and wanted to be well-rested. Guess what. It didn't help - I was down a couple of reps from last time. It might have been that I did extra warm-up on the bike, or that I needed one more day recovery from the squats two days ago - I finally got to two plates on my squats - only 3 reps, but they were deep, thighs down to parallel with the floor - and my legs were still a little sore, but it wasn't the sleep at least because my routine is improving as per normal with a setback today only. These things happen.
I routinely sleep in the back seat of my car now at work (whatever car I happen to have since I work on location and rent vehicles regularly.) I head out there at noon and get a nice 20 minute nap. I overslept one noon-time nap last week - for an hour!! The reason was that I had accidentally turned the volume all the way down on my iPhone and the alarm didn't sound. Luckily the students were all busy with an exercise and no-one cared that I was late getting back to class.
I have tried taking my core at about midnight, around 4am, and around 6. It seems to work fine no matter which of those I choose. I find I sleep longer if I take it earlier - I think I'm just susceptible to turning over and going to sleep again when I know I don't have to get up for work.
On non-work days I nap at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm, 12pm (or core), 4am (or core).
On work days I nap at 8am, 12pm, 6pm, 9:30pm, 1am (or core), 4am (or core).
Two things I have noticed consistently is that my eyes are weaker than before, and my short-term memory suffers, Both are slowly improving. It's not a wonder that my eyes are strained, I use them a lot more than I used to - it's taking a while for the muscles to build up stamina. Also, the short-term memory problem is just basic things like forgetting what I was about to say, or putting something down and forgetting where I put it - fairly normal stuff.
So the key thing to note is that my experience so far is not a static one that is pefect, fit-into-the-mold Everyman schedule. The thing that fits is the 20-minute naps. Longer than that and I am sleepy afterward. Shorter and I am not well-rested enough. I set my timer for 21 or 22 minutes to give me a couple minutes to get comfortable and drift off so that there is a 20-minute sleep period. But I don't set it for longer than that.
It is also nice to note that since starting I have not had any caffeine. I have completely lost my desire for it, since I have so much more time than before and if I were to have any it would wreck my ability to nap well, breaking my polyphasic ability and so actually slow me down because I would have fewer hours in the day. How's that for incentive? Works for me!
I'm still polyphasic (it sounds like i need to be cured of something.) I get between 1 and 3 1/2 hours core a nite, depending on how I feel. Occasionally I will sleep a little more, like 4 or 5 hours core. I have slept 8 hours only one night in the past month I think. Last night I got a luxurious 4 hours because I was doing deadlifts today and wanted to be well-rested. Guess what. It didn't help - I was down a couple of reps from last time. It might have been that I did extra warm-up on the bike, or that I needed one more day recovery from the squats two days ago - I finally got to two plates on my squats - only 3 reps, but they were deep, thighs down to parallel with the floor - and my legs were still a little sore, but it wasn't the sleep at least because my routine is improving as per normal with a setback today only. These things happen.
I routinely sleep in the back seat of my car now at work (whatever car I happen to have since I work on location and rent vehicles regularly.) I head out there at noon and get a nice 20 minute nap. I overslept one noon-time nap last week - for an hour!! The reason was that I had accidentally turned the volume all the way down on my iPhone and the alarm didn't sound. Luckily the students were all busy with an exercise and no-one cared that I was late getting back to class.
I have tried taking my core at about midnight, around 4am, and around 6. It seems to work fine no matter which of those I choose. I find I sleep longer if I take it earlier - I think I'm just susceptible to turning over and going to sleep again when I know I don't have to get up for work.
On non-work days I nap at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm, 12pm (or core), 4am (or core).
On work days I nap at 8am, 12pm, 6pm, 9:30pm, 1am (or core), 4am (or core).
Two things I have noticed consistently is that my eyes are weaker than before, and my short-term memory suffers, Both are slowly improving. It's not a wonder that my eyes are strained, I use them a lot more than I used to - it's taking a while for the muscles to build up stamina. Also, the short-term memory problem is just basic things like forgetting what I was about to say, or putting something down and forgetting where I put it - fairly normal stuff.
So the key thing to note is that my experience so far is not a static one that is pefect, fit-into-the-mold Everyman schedule. The thing that fits is the 20-minute naps. Longer than that and I am sleepy afterward. Shorter and I am not well-rested enough. I set my timer for 21 or 22 minutes to give me a couple minutes to get comfortable and drift off so that there is a 20-minute sleep period. But I don't set it for longer than that.
It is also nice to note that since starting I have not had any caffeine. I have completely lost my desire for it, since I have so much more time than before and if I were to have any it would wreck my ability to nap well, breaking my polyphasic ability and so actually slow me down because I would have fewer hours in the day. How's that for incentive? Works for me!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Day 33
Well I failed on my 2nd day of Uberman; after my 10pm nap I was toast; I couldn't stay awake; I sat on the couch and couldn't stay awake, kept waking up and dozing off again because my eyes wouldn't stay open. The next day I overslept my 8am nap and woke up at 11, plus a couple in the afternoon I wouldn't wake up from; I ended up sleeping a total of 5 1/2 hours yesterday. I felt great after I had the extra sleep - tons of energy and no ill-effects. But no harm done; I guess the Uberman is still a couple of weeks away at least.
Polyphasic is such a clumsy term - sleeping multiple times in a day is not the same thing as sleeping in multiple phases, as is implied by the term. Nor does it refer to sleep at all - it could just as easily describe the moon and it's phases. And if something has only a single phase, then it has no phases at all, so the term polyphasic is actually redundant - no wonder the term is clutzy.
Somatasomal - now there's a cool sounding term.
Polyphasic is such a clumsy term - sleeping multiple times in a day is not the same thing as sleeping in multiple phases, as is implied by the term. Nor does it refer to sleep at all - it could just as easily describe the moon and it's phases. And if something has only a single phase, then it has no phases at all, so the term polyphasic is actually redundant - no wonder the term is clutzy.
Somatasomal - now there's a cool sounding term.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Day 31
I had so much work to do last night that I ended up shooting for only 1 1/2 hours sleep. I set my clock wrong (it's a long story) and woke up after 45 minutes. I decided to just go with that and see how it went. I found it quite doable; i keep to a rigid schedule of 30 minutes sleep every 4 hours, and I was at normal functioning capacity all day.
I was very shocked that I could do it so easily - I believe it is because I have eased my way into the schedule all along the say - so I decided to jump right to the Uberman schedule today to see if I can do a day of it, or maybe two. It's 6:50 am and I'm fighting off the sleepies, but that is the way it works with most new schedules I try, so it's to be expected. The only part now is that it is very hard to wake me up and I have taken to holding my iphone in my hand while sleeping so that I can feel it vibrate and that combined with the noise is doing the job.
7:04am - I set my time for 10 minutes and put my head down on the table and went out like a light. I'm now refreshed. These little 5 and 10 minute naps really help when I'm too fried to get anything of merit done.
BTW, I have taken to sleeping on the floor at work in the server room under a desk away from everyone using my backpack for a pillow - i have to say that simply laying down like that when i nap (as opposed to laying on a couch or the car's back seat or reclining in the car front seat) has made a huge difference in the quality of my naps. I pass out fast and sleep deep. I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and sleep on the floor a lot in the future. I'm thinking how I can make this sanitary (e.g. by wearing a nylon jacket.)
Also, I've decided to call a nap "going offline" or "taking my brain offline." It seems to capture the essence of what I'm doing - a nap is no longer accurate of what happens when I sleep for 20 minutes on this schedule - and it's kinda fun at the same time to call it "going offline".
I was very shocked that I could do it so easily - I believe it is because I have eased my way into the schedule all along the say - so I decided to jump right to the Uberman schedule today to see if I can do a day of it, or maybe two. It's 6:50 am and I'm fighting off the sleepies, but that is the way it works with most new schedules I try, so it's to be expected. The only part now is that it is very hard to wake me up and I have taken to holding my iphone in my hand while sleeping so that I can feel it vibrate and that combined with the noise is doing the job.
7:04am - I set my time for 10 minutes and put my head down on the table and went out like a light. I'm now refreshed. These little 5 and 10 minute naps really help when I'm too fried to get anything of merit done.
BTW, I have taken to sleeping on the floor at work in the server room under a desk away from everyone using my backpack for a pillow - i have to say that simply laying down like that when i nap (as opposed to laying on a couch or the car's back seat or reclining in the car front seat) has made a huge difference in the quality of my naps. I pass out fast and sleep deep. I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and sleep on the floor a lot in the future. I'm thinking how I can make this sanitary (e.g. by wearing a nylon jacket.)
Also, I've decided to call a nap "going offline" or "taking my brain offline." It seems to capture the essence of what I'm doing - a nap is no longer accurate of what happens when I sleep for 20 minutes on this schedule - and it's kinda fun at the same time to call it "going offline".
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day 28
I have achieved the groove. I sleep 2 hrs per night (between 4-6 and 5:30-7:30), and nap 20 to 30 minutes 3x a day: noon, 5:30, and 11pm. If I am late to have a nap by more than 1 hour, the next time I sleep my body refuses to wake up for at least an hour, and then I am a mess until after the next nap, but not really back to feeling good until after the 2nd nap, and the next core needs to be 3 1/2 hours to make up for it. That "late for a nap" syndrome has been described in a very similar way in other Everyman blogs on the net, and I didn't understand it until I experienced it a few times. It's roughly equivalent to pulling an all-nighter in how tired I feel after and in the way it requires catch-up sleep.
I am still absent-minded, although I think perhaps that is waning just a little. I have found it difficult the past few days to sleep at noon; my mind is racing because of work, and I recline in the car on the front seat to nap but it takes my entire nap time for my mind to slow down and I simply rest. I find it fascinating that this has provided sufficient rest to continue as if I had slept, without actually sleeping. Tonight I was working in the server room, and I tried to nap at 5:30 pm by laying my head on the desk, but I didn't fall asleep and I felt sleep-deprived, so 2 hours later I laid down on the floor under a desk and fell soundly asleep using my backpack as a pillow. Laying prone is definitely far superior to reclining in the car seat or head on desk - I will have to incorporate this somehow - perhaps I will find a little fold-up mat I can carry so that I can sleep on the floor say, in an airport or in a polyphasic-friendly office. The company I am working for right now has absolutely no qualms about me sleeping on a desk or on a coach through the day; in fact they are benefiting from it because I have free time to help out in the evenings like tonight when it is important to them, so they are all for it.
Caffeine has become an ancient memory. I no longer feel like I need it or even feel a desire for it. My mental energy is much higher now than when I was on it, and without the jittery thought process that it incurs. Of all the things that I find have improved, the smoothness of thought stands out. It is a brilliant pleasure to teach and speak and find that my thoughts never ramble or meander or jump topics like they used to. I keep a wonderful thought flow going and always wind up making a fine point on the topic.
Opposite to what I initially encountered upon my polyphasic journey, I now find that I am most alert immediately after my core sleep, and less and less alert and more and more sleepy as the day wears on into the wee hours of the morning. And that makes sense. My body is finally tired at the right time, and alert after a sleep. Unlike before I started, when I was feeling I needed energy after waking up from a night's sleep, and having energy in the evening so much that I didn't want to go so sleep. That never made sense to me; now my body feels the opposite, and that is more logical.
I am still absent-minded, although I think perhaps that is waning just a little. I have found it difficult the past few days to sleep at noon; my mind is racing because of work, and I recline in the car on the front seat to nap but it takes my entire nap time for my mind to slow down and I simply rest. I find it fascinating that this has provided sufficient rest to continue as if I had slept, without actually sleeping. Tonight I was working in the server room, and I tried to nap at 5:30 pm by laying my head on the desk, but I didn't fall asleep and I felt sleep-deprived, so 2 hours later I laid down on the floor under a desk and fell soundly asleep using my backpack as a pillow. Laying prone is definitely far superior to reclining in the car seat or head on desk - I will have to incorporate this somehow - perhaps I will find a little fold-up mat I can carry so that I can sleep on the floor say, in an airport or in a polyphasic-friendly office. The company I am working for right now has absolutely no qualms about me sleeping on a desk or on a coach through the day; in fact they are benefiting from it because I have free time to help out in the evenings like tonight when it is important to them, so they are all for it.
Caffeine has become an ancient memory. I no longer feel like I need it or even feel a desire for it. My mental energy is much higher now than when I was on it, and without the jittery thought process that it incurs. Of all the things that I find have improved, the smoothness of thought stands out. It is a brilliant pleasure to teach and speak and find that my thoughts never ramble or meander or jump topics like they used to. I keep a wonderful thought flow going and always wind up making a fine point on the topic.
Opposite to what I initially encountered upon my polyphasic journey, I now find that I am most alert immediately after my core sleep, and less and less alert and more and more sleepy as the day wears on into the wee hours of the morning. And that makes sense. My body is finally tired at the right time, and alert after a sleep. Unlike before I started, when I was feeling I needed energy after waking up from a night's sleep, and having energy in the evening so much that I didn't want to go so sleep. That never made sense to me; now my body feels the opposite, and that is more logical.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day 24
Yesterday was great until I missed my 5pm sleep by 2 1/2 hours. It was like missing an entire night's sleep. I was so groggy for the rest of the night I wasn't good for anything. Went to sleep about 3am, slept until 9am. I had 6 hours sleep, but it felt like 12.
I fell right back into my polyphasic sleep schedule - 20 minutes at 12, 5 and 11 pm. Now up at 1:12 and feeling pretty good.
I am going to try to come up with another name for the short sleeping periods - calling them naps is entirely inaccurate on this schedule. They are not optional, they are not light sleep; it downplays their importance and restorative nature. When I say I'm going to take a nap people inevitably react as if it were some luxury that can be or even should be delayed or resisted. Power nap is too cliche; somnobrevis? (From latin for brief sleep); brevisom? (sounds like a drug lol) restituo? (latin for restore/repair); renovo; somnus restituo; I will need to work on that. postulo somnus (required sleep) - that's closer.
I fell right back into my polyphasic sleep schedule - 20 minutes at 12, 5 and 11 pm. Now up at 1:12 and feeling pretty good.
I am going to try to come up with another name for the short sleeping periods - calling them naps is entirely inaccurate on this schedule. They are not optional, they are not light sleep; it downplays their importance and restorative nature. When I say I'm going to take a nap people inevitably react as if it were some luxury that can be or even should be delayed or resisted. Power nap is too cliche; somnobrevis? (From latin for brief sleep); brevisom? (sounds like a drug lol) restituo? (latin for restore/repair); renovo; somnus restituo; I will need to work on that. postulo somnus (required sleep) - that's closer.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Days 22 & 23
The last two nights I have slept just over 3 hours each night. I go to bed about 4am, get up about 7. I go out to the car at noon for a 30-minute nap, then have another 30-minute nap at about 5:30 or 6pm, and another around 10 or 11pm. This was working great for the last two days. I even woke up just before the alarm this morning, and was not drowsy. Tonight, however, I was invited to dinner with the boss so I decided to delay my 5pm nap until after dinner. That was a mistake. I was very tired throughout dinner, not really enjoying the company and unable to come up with much to say. Afterward, I ended up napping around 7pm. I fell so deeply asleep my alarm didn't wake me and had to be shaken awake an hour later. I am still a little groggy, at 11:30pm. So I seem to be falling in line with what I have read about the Everyman schedule - I can push or pull the nap times about an hour on either side of when they should occur, but more than that causes me problems.
But I have to say my energy levels earlier today were terrific and I was very clear-headed.
On that topic however, I find that although I have great focus and concentration now, I am very absent-minded. I will put something down and not know where I placed it. It's a strange combination - a seeming paradox, but it's the way I was when I was growing up, so it seems to fit in with the entire re-calibrating of my mental processes back to my teens.
So ends my first week of a normal work schedule on Everyman. It was a success; without it I would not have been able to study every night until 4am and then get up at 7am and go to work, attend meetings and teach. I should also mention that every student evaluation today mentioned how patient I was with them. This was an unexpected result - I noticed myself being very centered and deliberate in my thoughts and actions while teaching, and I felt very calm; quite different I suppose from when I was a caffeine junkie. It is true that I was impatient with with students before I began polyphasic sleeping. It's interesting that I hadn't read about added patience being a benefit of this way of sleeping in anyone else's blog.
Onward, forward, upward.
But I have to say my energy levels earlier today were terrific and I was very clear-headed.
On that topic however, I find that although I have great focus and concentration now, I am very absent-minded. I will put something down and not know where I placed it. It's a strange combination - a seeming paradox, but it's the way I was when I was growing up, so it seems to fit in with the entire re-calibrating of my mental processes back to my teens.
So ends my first week of a normal work schedule on Everyman. It was a success; without it I would not have been able to study every night until 4am and then get up at 7am and go to work, attend meetings and teach. I should also mention that every student evaluation today mentioned how patient I was with them. This was an unexpected result - I noticed myself being very centered and deliberate in my thoughts and actions while teaching, and I felt very calm; quite different I suppose from when I was a caffeine junkie. It is true that I was impatient with with students before I began polyphasic sleeping. It's interesting that I hadn't read about added patience being a benefit of this way of sleeping in anyone else's blog.
Onward, forward, upward.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Days 16 thru 21
I have been remiss in updating my account of my journey into polyphasicness. On day 16 I slept 5 hours that night, then 9 hours on day 17. My concentration was failing; I had a dull aching sensation in the front of my brain; I needed rest. I felt if I got some rest I might be able to continue. So I did, and then I easily slipped back into a polyphasic schedule, this time, with renewed vigor. I have been sleeping between 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 hours per night each night, depending on how I feel that I can handle the next day, but on average I would say 4 hours a night. My naps have been longer, between 20 and 40 minutes (on average 30 minutes) to help me maintain this schedule. I know this is not as concise nor as optimal as the proscribed Everyman schedule - I assume many people sleep only 4-5 hours per night and get by even without naps, but for me personally this is a huge step forward and huge improvement over my 8 hours of sleep a night I previously required. Perhaps at 50, it takes my body longer to adapt to a new way of sleeping, or perhaps it is merely my physiology. If it is physiology, then this would explain why so many people fail, and perhaps provide a recourse for them to reach Everyman, and in time, perhaps Uberman. I certainly feel more normal than I did on the first leg of my attempt (before the 9-hour night), and maybe I will continue to pare down my sleep and hone my nap technique until I can adapt to polyphasary.
I should mention that yesterday and today were my first standard workdays on a polyphasic sleep schedule. I got 5 hours of sleep the night before the first day to ensure that I had enough focus to teach competently throughout the day, then last night I got 3 1/2. I did my gym workout last night (deadlifts - weights improving) and with a 30-minute nap at noon and at about 6pm each day, plus a 40-minute nap in the evening I'm feeling quite well and happy to continue; certainly this is taking less effort than the first leg of my attempt.
To nap at work, I went to my car, reclined the driver's seat and turned on the engine to idle to provide heat (it's a little chilly in Milwaukee yet this time of year.) The first day I didn't sleep, but today sleep was easily within reach, and quite refreshing. I do believe practice makes perfect.
Another thing I should mention is that people told me I "looked like hell" during the first phase of my attempt, with bulging bags under my eyes. I have not heard that so far during my second attempt, maybe my body is adapting.
I should mention that yesterday and today were my first standard workdays on a polyphasic sleep schedule. I got 5 hours of sleep the night before the first day to ensure that I had enough focus to teach competently throughout the day, then last night I got 3 1/2. I did my gym workout last night (deadlifts - weights improving) and with a 30-minute nap at noon and at about 6pm each day, plus a 40-minute nap in the evening I'm feeling quite well and happy to continue; certainly this is taking less effort than the first leg of my attempt.
To nap at work, I went to my car, reclined the driver's seat and turned on the engine to idle to provide heat (it's a little chilly in Milwaukee yet this time of year.) The first day I didn't sleep, but today sleep was easily within reach, and quite refreshing. I do believe practice makes perfect.
Another thing I should mention is that people told me I "looked like hell" during the first phase of my attempt, with bulging bags under my eyes. I have not heard that so far during my second attempt, maybe my body is adapting.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Day 15
Yesterady was a disaster. Sleep is a funny thing - sleep deprivation had been accumulating and I wasn't really noticing it. I was just happy to be awake and productive so many hours in a day that I ignored the weird feeling in my head, just going with it, thinking I would adjust and it would be all ok. Well yesterday morning I blew up at my SO for a ridiculous reason. It was bad. I decided I needed more sleep.
What went wrong? I was following all the sleep patterns pretty much to the letter. I think my body is taking a long time to adjust - perhaps my initial assumption about going slow and easing into it is best. I slept an hour at noon, then a couple of hours in the afternoon, just easing off the schedule some and adding more sleep in. Then I went to bed at 3am and got up at 8 am this morning, just to give my brain a rest, and a chance to recuperate. I will continue to try to reduce my sleep.
Observation: on 5 hours of sleep I am well-rested, as much as 8 hours before I started this experiment. So perhaps I need to do it in phases, by cutting back on sleep, then increasing it but not to prior levels, so that I am averaging toward less sleep, and deeper sleep.
That's the plan.
What went wrong? I was following all the sleep patterns pretty much to the letter. I think my body is taking a long time to adjust - perhaps my initial assumption about going slow and easing into it is best. I slept an hour at noon, then a couple of hours in the afternoon, just easing off the schedule some and adding more sleep in. Then I went to bed at 3am and got up at 8 am this morning, just to give my brain a rest, and a chance to recuperate. I will continue to try to reduce my sleep.
Observation: on 5 hours of sleep I am well-rested, as much as 8 hours before I started this experiment. So perhaps I need to do it in phases, by cutting back on sleep, then increasing it but not to prior levels, so that I am averaging toward less sleep, and deeper sleep.
That's the plan.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Day 13
4:30am - woke spontaneously after 1.5 hours sleep. Debated whether to get up or sleep the full 3 hours. Decided to go for the 3 hours, so that I could finish getting used to that before progressing onward. Besides, I didn't know what the nap schedule would be for the 1.5 hr core sleep. Decided to look it up.
6:00am - woke to my alarm, no difficulty getting up. A little groggy
9:32am: I have had a couple of 5-minute naps to clear my head. They really help.
Note: I think I have almost adapted to the Everyman schedule. My head is now crystal-clear by 9am and I feel as mentally and physically energetic as I was on 8 hours of sleep a night pumped up on all that caffeine. I did not get sick from a lack of sleep. I sleep deeply and do not take anything to help me sleep as I did before. This is a personal breakthrough for me.
6:00am - woke to my alarm, no difficulty getting up. A little groggy
9:32am: I have had a couple of 5-minute naps to clear my head. They really help.
Note: I think I have almost adapted to the Everyman schedule. My head is now crystal-clear by 9am and I feel as mentally and physically energetic as I was on 8 hours of sleep a night pumped up on all that caffeine. I did not get sick from a lack of sleep. I sleep deeply and do not take anything to help me sleep as I did before. This is a personal breakthrough for me.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Day 12
8:00am: Turned alarm off at 6am. Laid head back down and was woken up by the SO. My eyelids felt like they were weighted down with concrete; I literally couldn't keep them open for the first 5 minutes after I got up. I wonder if it was the chamomile tea - I can understand it acting like a drug in this situation; this inability to open my eyes was beyond anything I had experienced in my life. I worked out last night too, so perhaps a combination of both. Ok, so no more chamomile tea for me for now. Although, I have to say it was nice to sleep in on a Sunday morning, I never thought I would consider sleeping 5 hours "sleeping in." But the kicker is that I feel like I've had a week's worth of sleep. Every day that I am on this schedule my sleep gets deeper and more restorative.
Note: Because I am most drowsy right after my core and for hours afterward, and most awake and alert just before it, I feel like it might be advantageous to start taking my core in the early evening, say 6pm. That way when I start back to work again a) if I oversleep I won't be late for work. This is a real possibility with the way I am unable to re-awaken easily, and b) I will be most alert for my work - teaching requires a lot of alertness.
So, potentially my schedule could be:
core: 6pm - 9pm
naps: 2am, 7am, 12noon
That way my sleepiest time would be 9 to 2, and if I won't be able to sleep at noon I can sleep 7 to 8am and then not need a nap at noon.
On travel days this schedule could present a problem but if i take a "red-eye" I will probably do really well because then I can fly overnight and be there fresh in the morning... interesting.
Napped for 20 minutes at 12, 5 and 10pm on schedule. The SO napped with me at 5 but came in half-way thru the nap, and so I basically was awake for the second half. Was much more tired in the 1-2am period - perhaps they are connected.
Have learned that a 5-minute ad-hoc nap with my head down on my desk clears my head a lot. Still haven't tried the 10-minute variation.
Retired to bed at 3am.
Note: Because I am most drowsy right after my core and for hours afterward, and most awake and alert just before it, I feel like it might be advantageous to start taking my core in the early evening, say 6pm. That way when I start back to work again a) if I oversleep I won't be late for work. This is a real possibility with the way I am unable to re-awaken easily, and b) I will be most alert for my work - teaching requires a lot of alertness.
So, potentially my schedule could be:
core: 6pm - 9pm
naps: 2am, 7am, 12noon
That way my sleepiest time would be 9 to 2, and if I won't be able to sleep at noon I can sleep 7 to 8am and then not need a nap at noon.
On travel days this schedule could present a problem but if i take a "red-eye" I will probably do really well because then I can fly overnight and be there fresh in the morning... interesting.
Napped for 20 minutes at 12, 5 and 10pm on schedule. The SO napped with me at 5 but came in half-way thru the nap, and so I basically was awake for the second half. Was much more tired in the 1-2am period - perhaps they are connected.
Have learned that a 5-minute ad-hoc nap with my head down on my desk clears my head a lot. Still haven't tried the 10-minute variation.
Retired to bed at 3am.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Day 11
6am: Awoke after 3 hours; am sleepy but my mind cleared fairly quickly to a dull haze.
Note: My difficulties with being excessively sleepy, sick, and oversleeping started at the time I cut my core to less than 3 hours. After reading this chart it seems that there are some combinations of sleep/waking patterns that do not work. I wonder if I need to jump right from 3 hrs core to 1.5 hours core? I'll try that next.
Note: Now that I'm stabilizing I feel somewhat confident that I won't get sick on this schedule, and if I do start to get sick, then I have an approach I can take and that would be to take a couple of 2-hour naps to get over it.
So I propose this schedule for me:
Core: 3-6am
Naps: 12noon, 5pm, 10pm
10:30am: so sleepy. I am determined to adhere to the schedule. Closed my eyes while sitting in the chair; woke up as my head fell backwards. Did that twice. It cleared my head a bit.
12:00noon: took my nap on time - awoke refreshed.
3:30pm: very sleepy, eyes closing. Put my head down on the desk and set my alarm for 5 minutes. Fell asleep in a few seconds, awoke in 5 minutes and now feeling sharper. This is definitely an effective technique, better than just closing my eyes until my head nods and wakes me up. I wonder if 10 minutes would have been better or worse.
5:00pm: Napped for 20 minutes, woke to alarm and then decided to sleep a little more because my throat had gotten that scratchy I'm-getting-a-cold telltale feeling a couple of hours before the nap - it was all gone upon waking after a total of 50 minutes. It seems these naps have great healing properties when extended at necessary times.
Note: Was very clear-headed from the nap all the way to my evening nap.
10:00pm: Tried to nap for 20 minutes. Couldn't drift off, possibly because of the lengthened nap at 5pm. Interesting.
11:00pm: Worked out: squats: 200(8), 220(8), 200(8), Leg press: 435(8), 480(9), 435(10). This is my normal workout and improved over last week. Was wide awake and vitalized until bedtime.
2:30am: Cup of chamomile tea.
3:00am: Went to bed.
Note: My difficulties with being excessively sleepy, sick, and oversleeping started at the time I cut my core to less than 3 hours. After reading this chart it seems that there are some combinations of sleep/waking patterns that do not work. I wonder if I need to jump right from 3 hrs core to 1.5 hours core? I'll try that next.
Note: Now that I'm stabilizing I feel somewhat confident that I won't get sick on this schedule, and if I do start to get sick, then I have an approach I can take and that would be to take a couple of 2-hour naps to get over it.
So I propose this schedule for me:
Core: 3-6am
Naps: 12noon, 5pm, 10pm
10:30am: so sleepy. I am determined to adhere to the schedule. Closed my eyes while sitting in the chair; woke up as my head fell backwards. Did that twice. It cleared my head a bit.
12:00noon: took my nap on time - awoke refreshed.
3:30pm: very sleepy, eyes closing. Put my head down on the desk and set my alarm for 5 minutes. Fell asleep in a few seconds, awoke in 5 minutes and now feeling sharper. This is definitely an effective technique, better than just closing my eyes until my head nods and wakes me up. I wonder if 10 minutes would have been better or worse.
5:00pm: Napped for 20 minutes, woke to alarm and then decided to sleep a little more because my throat had gotten that scratchy I'm-getting-a-cold telltale feeling a couple of hours before the nap - it was all gone upon waking after a total of 50 minutes. It seems these naps have great healing properties when extended at necessary times.
Note: Was very clear-headed from the nap all the way to my evening nap.
10:00pm: Tried to nap for 20 minutes. Couldn't drift off, possibly because of the lengthened nap at 5pm. Interesting.
11:00pm: Worked out: squats: 200(8), 220(8), 200(8), Leg press: 435(8), 480(9), 435(10). This is my normal workout and improved over last week. Was wide awake and vitalized until bedtime.
2:30am: Cup of chamomile tea.
3:00am: Went to bed.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Day 10
4:00am: Woke to alarm after 2 hours sleep, laid down my head for a second again and unintentionally went right out like a light.
5:00am: Awoke with great difficulty after a total of 3 hours sleep. I am so sleepy that I feel like I have been drugged. Is this good or is it indicative of a lack of sleep? Based on my previous analysis, it is good because I am sleeping so much more deeply now than I have since my 20's, and it is indicative of my body not having adjusted yet to this schedule.
6:37am: Made breakfast, was highly inefficient in the kitchen. Everything I do takes mental effort. I have some mental confusion; for instance, I had to stop and think which cupboard contained the drinking glasses; a normally autonomous action is today a puzzler.
7:00am: I am groggy and my eyes just want to close on their own. Cold air nor running in place did not help. I'll try a 20-minute nap.
7:20am: I am clearer. Funny how the first nap of the day always clears my mind. Let's see how the day plays out.
9:44am: Mind is much clearer. Got to my mail first thing this morning. This is a monumental event for me, since I am a tremendous mail-procrastinator. It usually languishes on my desk for a few days, I'll pick it up, put it down, and leave it there for a couple of weeks before I deal with it, hoping it will go away by itself. It usually doesn't. Who knew polysomnicity would help me deal with my terminal case of procrastination.
11:00am: napped for 20 minutes. Fell asleep like in about the amount of time it takes water to drain through a sieve. Dreaming was vivid and seemed to be continuous from the moment I laid down. Woke up very drowsy, again, like I have been given a dozen sleeping pills.
Note: Today is the most difficult so far. Up until today I have had reasonable through tremendous clarity throughout the day. So far today 50% of my waking time has been spent feeling like I want to go to sleep. I feel that I am either reaching some sort of barrier. Can I break through it and find something better on the other side? Should I try? What if there isn't anything better, or the barrier is impenetrable? I will find out.
4:10pm: I'm getting sick. I have a sore throat and my sinuses are swollen; difficulty breathing through my nose. I set the timer for 45 minutes to give more than double my nap length. Well, I'm not sure what happened - I remember waking up to my alarm but I don't remember if I turned it off. I awoke 2 hours later at 6:10pm. The good news is, I feel great again. Energy to spare, focus is up to normal.
Observation: I was getting sick, probable reason: my immunity levels were down, probable cause: lack of sleep. Confirmation of cause: I got sleep and am no longer exhibiting symptoms of the illness. Possible reasons for lack of sleep: a) body not yet adjusted to polysomnophasicity (ooo I like that one.) or b) It cannot adjust to polysomnosis. (-osis is a suffix expressing state, condition or process.) I'm going to disregard b), considering that I feel fantastic.
12:00pm - 20 minute nap. I was still feeling great, I could probably have gone a couple more hours without being tired, but I don't want to vary too far from the awake 4 hours/nap 20 minutes plan.
Note: I am having small difficulties with remembering things, such as when I go to do something, and then forget what I was just about to do. I haven't had this problem since my 20's. Is it something that will clear up, or is it something associated with my mental state in my 20's, and if I am reverting to my 20's mental state, then it is coming back?
3:00am: core time
5:00am: Awoke with great difficulty after a total of 3 hours sleep. I am so sleepy that I feel like I have been drugged. Is this good or is it indicative of a lack of sleep? Based on my previous analysis, it is good because I am sleeping so much more deeply now than I have since my 20's, and it is indicative of my body not having adjusted yet to this schedule.
6:37am: Made breakfast, was highly inefficient in the kitchen. Everything I do takes mental effort. I have some mental confusion; for instance, I had to stop and think which cupboard contained the drinking glasses; a normally autonomous action is today a puzzler.
7:00am: I am groggy and my eyes just want to close on their own. Cold air nor running in place did not help. I'll try a 20-minute nap.
7:20am: I am clearer. Funny how the first nap of the day always clears my mind. Let's see how the day plays out.
9:44am: Mind is much clearer. Got to my mail first thing this morning. This is a monumental event for me, since I am a tremendous mail-procrastinator. It usually languishes on my desk for a few days, I'll pick it up, put it down, and leave it there for a couple of weeks before I deal with it, hoping it will go away by itself. It usually doesn't. Who knew polysomnicity would help me deal with my terminal case of procrastination.
11:00am: napped for 20 minutes. Fell asleep like in about the amount of time it takes water to drain through a sieve. Dreaming was vivid and seemed to be continuous from the moment I laid down. Woke up very drowsy, again, like I have been given a dozen sleeping pills.
Note: Today is the most difficult so far. Up until today I have had reasonable through tremendous clarity throughout the day. So far today 50% of my waking time has been spent feeling like I want to go to sleep. I feel that I am either reaching some sort of barrier. Can I break through it and find something better on the other side? Should I try? What if there isn't anything better, or the barrier is impenetrable? I will find out.
4:10pm: I'm getting sick. I have a sore throat and my sinuses are swollen; difficulty breathing through my nose. I set the timer for 45 minutes to give more than double my nap length. Well, I'm not sure what happened - I remember waking up to my alarm but I don't remember if I turned it off. I awoke 2 hours later at 6:10pm. The good news is, I feel great again. Energy to spare, focus is up to normal.
Observation: I was getting sick, probable reason: my immunity levels were down, probable cause: lack of sleep. Confirmation of cause: I got sleep and am no longer exhibiting symptoms of the illness. Possible reasons for lack of sleep: a) body not yet adjusted to polysomnophasicity (ooo I like that one.) or b) It cannot adjust to polysomnosis. (-osis is a suffix expressing state, condition or process.) I'm going to disregard b), considering that I feel fantastic.
12:00pm - 20 minute nap. I was still feeling great, I could probably have gone a couple more hours without being tired, but I don't want to vary too far from the awake 4 hours/nap 20 minutes plan.
Note: I am having small difficulties with remembering things, such as when I go to do something, and then forget what I was just about to do. I haven't had this problem since my 20's. Is it something that will clear up, or is it something associated with my mental state in my 20's, and if I am reverting to my 20's mental state, then it is coming back?
3:00am: core time
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Day 9
3:20am: Awoke from core sleep; drowsy.
I'm spending the day driving 11 hours home to Pittsburgh, so I moved my core up to 1:30am. No problems falling asleep or staying asleep; sleep was deep and refreshing. I am not nearly as foggy now as I was after last night's core.
Note: It seems the core is easily moved hours ahead at this phase of sleep adaptation, probably due to some physical and mental fatigue due to the adjustment to polyphasia. I'm guessing it would be harder to delay it by a similar amount. Therefore a possible general rule-of-thumb for adaptees could be: taking core earlier (advancing it in the schedule) is easier than taking it later. This is the opposite of my monophasic sleep experience; it is easier to delay my sleep to later than to sleep earlier. What does that tell me? Well at this stage it tells me that I had a sleep surplus before (even though I didn't feel like it) and I have a sleep deficit now.
6:30am: tried to nap in the truck while the SO was driving. Got some rest but no sleep - the radio kept me awake.
9:10am: Took 20-minute nap as passenger while SO drives. I was out like a light, and slept deep until my alarm went off. I know I slept deeply because a) I'm very refreshed, and b) I found out after I woke up that we went through a toll plaza and I didn't even know it.
Observation: My body is adapting to the polyphasic approach by making me able to nap deeply and block everything else out. I have never been able to nap like that before in my life. Apparently, it is a skill that can be learned.
12:30am: A 20-minute nap turned into a 30-minute nap when I failed to hear my iPhone alarm or to feel it vibrate. My SO woke me up. I am napping very soundly today.
4:00pm: nearly home - am so drowsy I am dropping off to sleep, almost uncontrollable. What is interesting about this is that I went from fully awake to gripping drowsiness in about 5 minutes. The only warning I had was there was a dull feeling of fatigue in the back of my brain that built for about 20 minutes beforehand. It's good to know these episodes can occur. I have read about them in other polyphasic blogs. I closed my eyes for a few minutes to clear it up a bit, not wanting to sleep before I got home.
Note: I don't really like the term polyphasic - it doesn't contain any reference to sleep - I could just as easily be phasing in and out of this dimension with a vague term like that. Something that includes the latin roots somni-, somno-, somn-, -somnia, -somniac for sleep or dream. Polysomniac? Heh, sounds crazy, I like it. Polysomnia seems a better term, meaning multiple sleep. I can see myself saying "I have polysomnia," or "My name is Ken and I am a polysomniac." I tried "I'm polyphasic" on a couple of my friends and they thought it was a next-stage bipolar disorder, maybe one where I have multiple personalities who are all bipolar.
5:00pm: Took a one-hour nap. My throat had gotten scratchy through the day, and I felt I was coming down with my trademark sore throat/cold that has always accompanied a prolonged period of insufficient sleep. What I good idea that was. Awoke feeling like I had 8 hours sleep, and no vestiges of a cold or sore throat remain.
7:00pm: attended conference call for my job. I was as tuned in as I have ever been. Every sense bristled. This is the first time I have interacted with others from my work since I started this experiment. I was a bit of a steamroller, I'm afraid. But then again, that's what I am at work. This confirms to me that I will have no lack of verve when I go back to teaching in 2 weeks.
I'm spending the day driving 11 hours home to Pittsburgh, so I moved my core up to 1:30am. No problems falling asleep or staying asleep; sleep was deep and refreshing. I am not nearly as foggy now as I was after last night's core.
Note: It seems the core is easily moved hours ahead at this phase of sleep adaptation, probably due to some physical and mental fatigue due to the adjustment to polyphasia. I'm guessing it would be harder to delay it by a similar amount. Therefore a possible general rule-of-thumb for adaptees could be: taking core earlier (advancing it in the schedule) is easier than taking it later. This is the opposite of my monophasic sleep experience; it is easier to delay my sleep to later than to sleep earlier. What does that tell me? Well at this stage it tells me that I had a sleep surplus before (even though I didn't feel like it) and I have a sleep deficit now.
6:30am: tried to nap in the truck while the SO was driving. Got some rest but no sleep - the radio kept me awake.
9:10am: Took 20-minute nap as passenger while SO drives. I was out like a light, and slept deep until my alarm went off. I know I slept deeply because a) I'm very refreshed, and b) I found out after I woke up that we went through a toll plaza and I didn't even know it.
Observation: My body is adapting to the polyphasic approach by making me able to nap deeply and block everything else out. I have never been able to nap like that before in my life. Apparently, it is a skill that can be learned.
12:30am: A 20-minute nap turned into a 30-minute nap when I failed to hear my iPhone alarm or to feel it vibrate. My SO woke me up. I am napping very soundly today.
4:00pm: nearly home - am so drowsy I am dropping off to sleep, almost uncontrollable. What is interesting about this is that I went from fully awake to gripping drowsiness in about 5 minutes. The only warning I had was there was a dull feeling of fatigue in the back of my brain that built for about 20 minutes beforehand. It's good to know these episodes can occur. I have read about them in other polyphasic blogs. I closed my eyes for a few minutes to clear it up a bit, not wanting to sleep before I got home.
Note: I don't really like the term polyphasic - it doesn't contain any reference to sleep - I could just as easily be phasing in and out of this dimension with a vague term like that. Something that includes the latin roots somni-, somno-, somn-, -somnia, -somniac for sleep or dream. Polysomniac? Heh, sounds crazy, I like it. Polysomnia seems a better term, meaning multiple sleep. I can see myself saying "I have polysomnia," or "My name is Ken and I am a polysomniac." I tried "I'm polyphasic" on a couple of my friends and they thought it was a next-stage bipolar disorder, maybe one where I have multiple personalities who are all bipolar.
5:00pm: Took a one-hour nap. My throat had gotten scratchy through the day, and I felt I was coming down with my trademark sore throat/cold that has always accompanied a prolonged period of insufficient sleep. What I good idea that was. Awoke feeling like I had 8 hours sleep, and no vestiges of a cold or sore throat remain.
7:00pm: attended conference call for my job. I was as tuned in as I have ever been. Every sense bristled. This is the first time I have interacted with others from my work since I started this experiment. I was a bit of a steamroller, I'm afraid. But then again, that's what I am at work. This confirms to me that I will have no lack of verve when I go back to teaching in 2 weeks.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Day 8
6:20am Slept for 2 hours. Awoke to alarm - very sleepy. Possible causes: a) missed nap previous night, or b) too much sleep ( 40 minutes + 2 hours ), or c) not enough sleep, or d) started core sleep at the wrong time, or e) worked out hard the night before + A. I'm guessing A + D + E = C.
Observation: I'm sleepiest when I wake up. Last two days I've overslept a couple of naps, and been very sleepy this morning.
Let's try a hypothesis, starting with the obvious:
a) my brain must be releasing some chemical that makes me sleepy (uhm, melatonin - duh?)
b) The more it releases at once, the sleepier I get, the deeper I sleep. If I wake up after it has done that but before my body has used it up, I am groggy for a while until the melatonin? disperses. It feels a need for deeper sleep because I have shortened my sleep periods, so it releases more hormone to drive me deep quick.
c) So in my brain's attempt to adapt to shortened sleep periods it appears to exhibit signs of a lack of sleep i.e. sleeping through alarms and excessive sleepiness upon waking.
If this is true, then this inadvertently sabotages the effort to shorten the sleep period by exhibiting symptoms of lack of sleep when I awake and making me so drowsy that I fall back asleep as soon as I shut off the alarm. Thus, excessive sleepiness upon waking is a measure of the effectiveness of the adaptation but in the reverse way - the drowsier, the more the body is adapting. I imagine another measure of the effectiveness of the adaptation is the amount of bodily and mental energy exhibited throughout the waking period. The more alert and the more energy available at peak periods, the more effective the recovery during sleep. If this theory is true, then the following characteristics should present on a par with pre-polyphasal experience:
a) Mental acuity. This would encompass all mental abilities, i.e. alertness, clarity, powers of observation, memory, and more (testable, observable)
b) Physical strength and endurance (measurable)
c) Emotional. (Subjective; observable)
d) Immune system function. (Measurable; observable)
e) Spiritual. (Subjective)
f) others?
Regarding the above, so far:
a) I ran the pool table early in the experiment, even though I don't play pool well, and haven't played in years. (Externally verifiable; witnessed) Periods of increased clarity and alertness above the baseline pre-polyphasal clarity, periods of hyper-alertness.
b) Workouts are at the expected levels. Feeling a little less endurance, but this is explainable as I am radically altering my sleep patterns fairly quickly, there is bound to be some physical wear. Perhaps this could be avoided by extending the period of adaptation.
c) Feeling calmer, less stressed, more patience.
d) No illness as of yet. This is remarkable for me because I have, in the past always gotten sick (usually a cold, sometimes turning to laryngitis) whenever I went with less than 6 hours of sleep more than a few days in a row. In fact, recovery from the lung congestion I experience each time I visit South Carolina has been rapid.
e) unchanged.
Conclusion: My body is currently adjusting from old sleep patterns to the new ones. Old ones were less than optimal because I have experienced periods of increased alertness and ability. Perhaps the new ones will not be optimal either and it is unknown if they will ultimately be better, but during the transition phase I have encountered improved sleep abilities and patterns, so there is something that has improved by what I have done.
Comment on the efforts of others to reach polyphasic sleeping by suddenly changing their sleep patterns overnight to a radically different sleep schedule: this seems to me to be more prone to failure due to the inflexibility of the technique. Reasoning: the body recovers during sleep. Less recovery time at lower levels of recovery leads to a decrease in all measures, eventually making the body desperate for more recovery. If the body is not able to adapt to the new patterns quickly enough, then the attempt at changing the sleep patterns will fail and the body will fall asleep on it's own in order to recover. Thus, the number of successes will be determined by the average ability of the general population to adapt quickly. Perhaps this is why there is a high failure rate.
11:45am : Napped for 20 minutes. Prior to that my head got clearer and clearer. Wasn't tired, but when I laid down, I left my eyes open and after a minute they naturally closed and I instantly drifted off. Now am nicely alert.
Some interesting information on sleeping in general can be found here: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026781.600-time-to-wake-up-to-the-facts-about-sleep.html
4:00pm: 20-minute nap. Awoke with a feeling of pressure behind my eyes. This feeling started a couple of days ago and comes when I don't have enough sleep.
4:40pm: 20-minute nap. I decided to do two naps with 20 minutes in between to see if I could get rid of the behind-the-eyesocket pressure. It helped. It's not disabling, simply present and indicates I am not well-rested enough. I hope it will be alleviated as I get better at napping.
8:00pm: 30-minute nap. I tried 30 minutes this time because I noticed my nasal passages are closed. I thought a little more rest might be useful. I am certainly less foggy (today my brain has been a little foggy all day) and now I am clearer.
Note: I read on a couple of other blogs (stevepavlina.com for one) that when polyphasers - or perhaps polyphasician would be more accurate - get sick, they revert to monophasic sleep to recover and then return to polyphasary. At this time I could understand the core and nap times longer, but it seems extreme to return all the way to monophasicity, especially since people who are truly sick tend to lay down a lot during the day and often sleep during the day.
10:11pm: Note: I am studying for periods of hours at a time without experiencing the mental exhaustion, frustration and re-reading necessary I have always encountered when studying a new course. It seems odd that I should feel a little sleepy and yet still have better long-term concentration. Possible explanation: I am more focused? It makes me think I should have started this experiment with baseline mental metrics using PC applications or web applications and then performed the tests over the period of adjustment.
Note: Listening to music while studying; found a new artist: Stephan Bodzin. At the time I first started to listen to his tracks they seemed to captivate my attention, almost hypnotically. The tracks were rich, deep and pulsating. Maybe the artist's sound is really that captivating, or maybe I was having an enhanced auditory experience - or maybe a combination of both. It didn't seem that I was having an enhanced experience at the time, but now reflecting back (it is 4:45 am the follwing day and I am editing this day's post) it seemed too good to be true, too real to be simply music in my ears. It was an engrossing experience; so much so that I had to stop studying and simply close my eyes and absorb the sound for a while. Now I have done that in the past - prior to polyphasia, but I can't remember getting that much enjoyment out of a track since I was a teenager. How interesting that so many of my experiences on this journey not only remind me of how I experienced my senses during that time of my life, but it seems that my senses have been revitalized and are reaching a refreshed state, as if the hands of time had been turned back on them all. The important thing for me to emphasize at this time is the nature of the enhancement seems to be in the cerebral processing of the signals, not in the receivers. To give you an analogy, it's as if my brain before polyphasia was taking analog signals and converting them to digital, discrete packets and processing each one, resulting in a someone choppy feeling and discontinuous exprience of the world, and now it is as if it is no longer converting, but processing the analog signal directly as a smooth unbroken and continious input. It is as if my brain had before been clogged like a drain, restricting the flow of information, and now is rinsed out and free-flowing.
12:10am: 20-minute nap. Awoke clear-headed.
1:30am: Core sleep: 1 hr 50 minutes.
Observation: I'm sleepiest when I wake up. Last two days I've overslept a couple of naps, and been very sleepy this morning.
Let's try a hypothesis, starting with the obvious:
a) my brain must be releasing some chemical that makes me sleepy (uhm, melatonin - duh?)
b) The more it releases at once, the sleepier I get, the deeper I sleep. If I wake up after it has done that but before my body has used it up, I am groggy for a while until the melatonin? disperses. It feels a need for deeper sleep because I have shortened my sleep periods, so it releases more hormone to drive me deep quick.
c) So in my brain's attempt to adapt to shortened sleep periods it appears to exhibit signs of a lack of sleep i.e. sleeping through alarms and excessive sleepiness upon waking.
If this is true, then this inadvertently sabotages the effort to shorten the sleep period by exhibiting symptoms of lack of sleep when I awake and making me so drowsy that I fall back asleep as soon as I shut off the alarm. Thus, excessive sleepiness upon waking is a measure of the effectiveness of the adaptation but in the reverse way - the drowsier, the more the body is adapting. I imagine another measure of the effectiveness of the adaptation is the amount of bodily and mental energy exhibited throughout the waking period. The more alert and the more energy available at peak periods, the more effective the recovery during sleep. If this theory is true, then the following characteristics should present on a par with pre-polyphasal experience:
a) Mental acuity. This would encompass all mental abilities, i.e. alertness, clarity, powers of observation, memory, and more (testable, observable)
b) Physical strength and endurance (measurable)
c) Emotional. (Subjective; observable)
d) Immune system function. (Measurable; observable)
e) Spiritual. (Subjective)
f) others?
Regarding the above, so far:
a) I ran the pool table early in the experiment, even though I don't play pool well, and haven't played in years. (Externally verifiable; witnessed) Periods of increased clarity and alertness above the baseline pre-polyphasal clarity, periods of hyper-alertness.
b) Workouts are at the expected levels. Feeling a little less endurance, but this is explainable as I am radically altering my sleep patterns fairly quickly, there is bound to be some physical wear. Perhaps this could be avoided by extending the period of adaptation.
c) Feeling calmer, less stressed, more patience.
d) No illness as of yet. This is remarkable for me because I have, in the past always gotten sick (usually a cold, sometimes turning to laryngitis) whenever I went with less than 6 hours of sleep more than a few days in a row. In fact, recovery from the lung congestion I experience each time I visit South Carolina has been rapid.
e) unchanged.
Conclusion: My body is currently adjusting from old sleep patterns to the new ones. Old ones were less than optimal because I have experienced periods of increased alertness and ability. Perhaps the new ones will not be optimal either and it is unknown if they will ultimately be better, but during the transition phase I have encountered improved sleep abilities and patterns, so there is something that has improved by what I have done.
Comment on the efforts of others to reach polyphasic sleeping by suddenly changing their sleep patterns overnight to a radically different sleep schedule: this seems to me to be more prone to failure due to the inflexibility of the technique. Reasoning: the body recovers during sleep. Less recovery time at lower levels of recovery leads to a decrease in all measures, eventually making the body desperate for more recovery. If the body is not able to adapt to the new patterns quickly enough, then the attempt at changing the sleep patterns will fail and the body will fall asleep on it's own in order to recover. Thus, the number of successes will be determined by the average ability of the general population to adapt quickly. Perhaps this is why there is a high failure rate.
11:45am : Napped for 20 minutes. Prior to that my head got clearer and clearer. Wasn't tired, but when I laid down, I left my eyes open and after a minute they naturally closed and I instantly drifted off. Now am nicely alert.
Some interesting information on sleeping in general can be found here: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026781.600-time-to-wake-up-to-the-facts-about-sleep.html
4:00pm: 20-minute nap. Awoke with a feeling of pressure behind my eyes. This feeling started a couple of days ago and comes when I don't have enough sleep.
4:40pm: 20-minute nap. I decided to do two naps with 20 minutes in between to see if I could get rid of the behind-the-eyesocket pressure. It helped. It's not disabling, simply present and indicates I am not well-rested enough. I hope it will be alleviated as I get better at napping.
8:00pm: 30-minute nap. I tried 30 minutes this time because I noticed my nasal passages are closed. I thought a little more rest might be useful. I am certainly less foggy (today my brain has been a little foggy all day) and now I am clearer.
Note: I read on a couple of other blogs (stevepavlina.com for one) that when polyphasers - or perhaps polyphasician would be more accurate - get sick, they revert to monophasic sleep to recover and then return to polyphasary. At this time I could understand the core and nap times longer, but it seems extreme to return all the way to monophasicity, especially since people who are truly sick tend to lay down a lot during the day and often sleep during the day.
10:11pm: Note: I am studying for periods of hours at a time without experiencing the mental exhaustion, frustration and re-reading necessary I have always encountered when studying a new course. It seems odd that I should feel a little sleepy and yet still have better long-term concentration. Possible explanation: I am more focused? It makes me think I should have started this experiment with baseline mental metrics using PC applications or web applications and then performed the tests over the period of adjustment.
Note: Listening to music while studying; found a new artist: Stephan Bodzin. At the time I first started to listen to his tracks they seemed to captivate my attention, almost hypnotically. The tracks were rich, deep and pulsating. Maybe the artist's sound is really that captivating, or maybe I was having an enhanced auditory experience - or maybe a combination of both. It didn't seem that I was having an enhanced experience at the time, but now reflecting back (it is 4:45 am the follwing day and I am editing this day's post) it seemed too good to be true, too real to be simply music in my ears. It was an engrossing experience; so much so that I had to stop studying and simply close my eyes and absorb the sound for a while. Now I have done that in the past - prior to polyphasia, but I can't remember getting that much enjoyment out of a track since I was a teenager. How interesting that so many of my experiences on this journey not only remind me of how I experienced my senses during that time of my life, but it seems that my senses have been revitalized and are reaching a refreshed state, as if the hands of time had been turned back on them all. The important thing for me to emphasize at this time is the nature of the enhancement seems to be in the cerebral processing of the signals, not in the receivers. To give you an analogy, it's as if my brain before polyphasia was taking analog signals and converting them to digital, discrete packets and processing each one, resulting in a someone choppy feeling and discontinuous exprience of the world, and now it is as if it is no longer converting, but processing the analog signal directly as a smooth unbroken and continious input. It is as if my brain had before been clogged like a drain, restricting the flow of information, and now is rinsed out and free-flowing.
12:10am: 20-minute nap. Awoke clear-headed.
1:30am: Core sleep: 1 hr 50 minutes.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Day 7
7:20am Woke without help from my alarm. Rolled over and fell asleep with the intent to get up in a few minutes.
7:45am Woke and got up. Core sleep: 2.5 hrs.
Today's alertness: very good.
10:30am: 20 minute nap. Decided to take it 1 hr early because I was getting just a little tired and wanted to stay alert and rested throughout today and not have another really sleepy episode like last night, even if it was caused by the alchohol.
Notes:
Another approach to getting to the Uberman schedule occurred to me: maybe I should split my core sleep into two segments, e.g. instead of a core of 2 hrs, sleep 2 1-hour cores, and then gradually reduce their duration. Perhaps one in the evening, one in the early morning. Or perhaps one in the early morning and one at noon. Or one in the early evening and one at noon. I'm trying to accomplish two things by doing this: arriving at a schedule that I can stay on while I'm working: sleep before work, at lunch, and after work, without having to take naps.
I realize now that I have had two episodes of what I will call hyper-awareness. Last night when I was bringing in firewood from the back yard, I was acutely aware of every minuscule moment passing by, as if I had high-definition consciousness. This also occurred the morning of Day 4 as well and lasted about 20 minutes. I wonder if it will happen again.
1:30pm: 20 minute nap - awoke refreshed and alert
3:30pm: 20 minute nap. I'm spacing naps a little closer together today to ensure I get enough rest. I don't want a repeat of last night.
6:30pm: 20 minute nap. Asleep in less than a minute. Awoke refreshed.
Observation: alertness higher than baseline before the experiment - lower than hyper-alertness. I'll call it elevated alertness. Occasional mild tinnitus (ringing in the ears) ... possibly an artifact of caffeine withdrawal.
10:00pm: gym, squats (warmup) 125(8), 145(8), deadlifts: 285(8) 315(7), 285(8), stiff-leg 225(8), 245(7). Observation: these are normal weights and reps for me, considering I took a week off. I feel like i have slightly less endurance; strength is unchanged.
11:00pm: blood pressure 120 over 77, heart rate 74. My normal heart rate is around 60-64. Could be due to recent workout,
12:30pm: attempted 20 minute nap. Could not sleep. Remained in bed for the entire time. I am highly stimulated - I haven't had caffeine that I know of, although I feel as stimulated as that but without the jitters. I attribute it to the workout. Animated conversation feeling a familiar caffeinated intense focus, but without the caffeine, jitters, or shortened patience; a form of heightened awareness with associated energy burst.
3:30am: attempted 20 minute nap. Awakened by my SO after 40 minutes. I either forgot to set my alarm or I awoke and shut it off. Awake for 10 minutes, decided to move my core sleep up to see how that goes. Slept for 2 hours. Awoke to alarm with difficulty.
7:45am Woke and got up. Core sleep: 2.5 hrs.
Today's alertness: very good.
10:30am: 20 minute nap. Decided to take it 1 hr early because I was getting just a little tired and wanted to stay alert and rested throughout today and not have another really sleepy episode like last night, even if it was caused by the alchohol.
Notes:
Another approach to getting to the Uberman schedule occurred to me: maybe I should split my core sleep into two segments, e.g. instead of a core of 2 hrs, sleep 2 1-hour cores, and then gradually reduce their duration. Perhaps one in the evening, one in the early morning. Or perhaps one in the early morning and one at noon. Or one in the early evening and one at noon. I'm trying to accomplish two things by doing this: arriving at a schedule that I can stay on while I'm working: sleep before work, at lunch, and after work, without having to take naps.
I realize now that I have had two episodes of what I will call hyper-awareness. Last night when I was bringing in firewood from the back yard, I was acutely aware of every minuscule moment passing by, as if I had high-definition consciousness. This also occurred the morning of Day 4 as well and lasted about 20 minutes. I wonder if it will happen again.
1:30pm: 20 minute nap - awoke refreshed and alert
3:30pm: 20 minute nap. I'm spacing naps a little closer together today to ensure I get enough rest. I don't want a repeat of last night.
6:30pm: 20 minute nap. Asleep in less than a minute. Awoke refreshed.
Observation: alertness higher than baseline before the experiment - lower than hyper-alertness. I'll call it elevated alertness. Occasional mild tinnitus (ringing in the ears) ... possibly an artifact of caffeine withdrawal.
10:00pm: gym, squats (warmup) 125(8), 145(8), deadlifts: 285(8) 315(7), 285(8), stiff-leg 225(8), 245(7). Observation: these are normal weights and reps for me, considering I took a week off. I feel like i have slightly less endurance; strength is unchanged.
11:00pm: blood pressure 120 over 77, heart rate 74. My normal heart rate is around 60-64. Could be due to recent workout,
12:30pm: attempted 20 minute nap. Could not sleep. Remained in bed for the entire time. I am highly stimulated - I haven't had caffeine that I know of, although I feel as stimulated as that but without the jitters. I attribute it to the workout. Animated conversation feeling a familiar caffeinated intense focus, but without the caffeine, jitters, or shortened patience; a form of heightened awareness with associated energy burst.
3:30am: attempted 20 minute nap. Awakened by my SO after 40 minutes. I either forgot to set my alarm or I awoke and shut it off. Awake for 10 minutes, decided to move my core sleep up to see how that goes. Slept for 2 hours. Awoke to alarm with difficulty.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Day 6
9:27am Woke to my alarm at 8am. Slept for 2 1/2 hours. It is less effort this morning to concentrate than yesterday - I feel sleepy and more normal than yesterday. I'm looking forward to my first nap that always makes the sleepy feeling go away.
A comment on last night: watching TV was difficult last night. It was much easier to study or do pretty much anything else, probably because activity clears my thinking because I maintain brain activity, while apparently TV requires so little thought that it induces sleep. This is the reverse of my responses with a monophasic 8-hour sleep pattern. Before trying this polyphasic sleeping TV was easy and would never make me sleepy, while studying was sure to induce mental fatigue and drowsiness after a couple of hours. Interesting...
10:55, and no nap needed yet. It feels like there might be a slight headache looming, but for now it is in abeyance.
11:59am: the need for a nap came on quick and strong at 11:15. I think I might be falling into the groove - I was awake and not feeling tired until 11:15 then it was like a door opening, I just felt like I really needed to sleep. When I laid down, I set the alarm for 22 minutes to give my body 2 minutes to get to sleep and then 20 minutes of rest. As I laid my head down and closed my eyes my breathing instantly changed to a really really deep slow rhythm like I was already in a deep sleep, even though it was still a couple of minutes before my brain blinked off. I'm now awake, alert, energetic and feel great. It's odd that I always feel better after my first nap of the day than I do after I initially wake up. It could be that my body is still adjusting to a shorter core period, because I keep shortening it each day.
2:48pm: I was on hold for WoW support, and my alertness was flagging. It was going to be a 10 to 15 minute wait so I closed my eyes to see if I could rest while still staying just conscious enough to know when the support rep came on the line. I managed to get 10 minutes of refreshing rest before the rep came onto the line, and I feel comfortable I'll make it to the 4-hour mark before I need my next nap.
4:29pm: Napped for 20 minutes at 4pm. This is working out great - my naps are starting to come every 4 hours. Maybe the way to get from Everyman to Uberman is to train myself to nap 20 minutes every 4 hours with a 3-hour core, and then gradually reduce the core down to 20 minutes.
8:57pm: Napped at 7pm for 20 glorious minutes. I could have gone the four hours but my brain has been fuzzy all day and I wanted to clear it. It is clearer now.
An interesting observation is that before this experiment I couldn't nap, now whenever I lay down my head I'm deep asleep within a couple of minutes.
1:37am: Had a couple of glasses of wine at 11:30. Went for a nap at 12:30 - this was 5 hours after my last nap. Woke up an hour later at 1:30am by my SO. I remember waking up and turning off my alarm, and thinking I'll just roll over, and I guess I instantly fell asleep again. When I was awakened at 1:30 my alarm was set to 10 minutes instead of 20, so I'm not sure what happened. Did I sleep for 20 minutes and the set it for 10? or did I accidentally set it for 10 to start with, and then it wasn't enough sleep? In any case, my body is telling me I was unaware of what I was doing. The wine might have been a bad idea. I think I'll stay away from booze for now, and not go more than 4 hours between naps.
Watched an old movie with the SO - couldn't keep my eyes open. Kept drifting off and waking back up again a minute later. I really think it was the booze. No more of that for me at least for a while. Went to bed at 5:15am.
A comment on last night: watching TV was difficult last night. It was much easier to study or do pretty much anything else, probably because activity clears my thinking because I maintain brain activity, while apparently TV requires so little thought that it induces sleep. This is the reverse of my responses with a monophasic 8-hour sleep pattern. Before trying this polyphasic sleeping TV was easy and would never make me sleepy, while studying was sure to induce mental fatigue and drowsiness after a couple of hours. Interesting...
10:55, and no nap needed yet. It feels like there might be a slight headache looming, but for now it is in abeyance.
11:59am: the need for a nap came on quick and strong at 11:15. I think I might be falling into the groove - I was awake and not feeling tired until 11:15 then it was like a door opening, I just felt like I really needed to sleep. When I laid down, I set the alarm for 22 minutes to give my body 2 minutes to get to sleep and then 20 minutes of rest. As I laid my head down and closed my eyes my breathing instantly changed to a really really deep slow rhythm like I was already in a deep sleep, even though it was still a couple of minutes before my brain blinked off. I'm now awake, alert, energetic and feel great. It's odd that I always feel better after my first nap of the day than I do after I initially wake up. It could be that my body is still adjusting to a shorter core period, because I keep shortening it each day.
2:48pm: I was on hold for WoW support, and my alertness was flagging. It was going to be a 10 to 15 minute wait so I closed my eyes to see if I could rest while still staying just conscious enough to know when the support rep came on the line. I managed to get 10 minutes of refreshing rest before the rep came onto the line, and I feel comfortable I'll make it to the 4-hour mark before I need my next nap.
4:29pm: Napped for 20 minutes at 4pm. This is working out great - my naps are starting to come every 4 hours. Maybe the way to get from Everyman to Uberman is to train myself to nap 20 minutes every 4 hours with a 3-hour core, and then gradually reduce the core down to 20 minutes.
8:57pm: Napped at 7pm for 20 glorious minutes. I could have gone the four hours but my brain has been fuzzy all day and I wanted to clear it. It is clearer now.
An interesting observation is that before this experiment I couldn't nap, now whenever I lay down my head I'm deep asleep within a couple of minutes.
1:37am: Had a couple of glasses of wine at 11:30. Went for a nap at 12:30 - this was 5 hours after my last nap. Woke up an hour later at 1:30am by my SO. I remember waking up and turning off my alarm, and thinking I'll just roll over, and I guess I instantly fell asleep again. When I was awakened at 1:30 my alarm was set to 10 minutes instead of 20, so I'm not sure what happened. Did I sleep for 20 minutes and the set it for 10? or did I accidentally set it for 10 to start with, and then it wasn't enough sleep? In any case, my body is telling me I was unaware of what I was doing. The wine might have been a bad idea. I think I'll stay away from booze for now, and not go more than 4 hours between naps.
Watched an old movie with the SO - couldn't keep my eyes open. Kept drifting off and waking back up again a minute later. I really think it was the booze. No more of that for me at least for a while. Went to bed at 5:15am.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Day 4
I must be crazy. I awoke 20 minutes before the 3-hour timer went off. Thinking I should get more sleep I slept until the alarm went off. That's an old habit of mine, even though I wake up I think that I must ensure I get enough sleep so I go back to sleep and wait for the alarm. Seems to me now that I should probably get up when I wake up. I will have to remember that.
I got up at 7:20. I'm somewhat bleary-eyed, but I feel no tremors and have no hangover. I've had a glass of milk and am sipping red tea.
Went to the gun show, alert and energetic. Wasn't quiet tired but anticipated that the outing would last a couple of hours longer so at 11am I started a 20-minute nap, interrupted when Kurt and the SO appeared at the truck. Still, it helped.
Napped for 20 minutes around noon.
1:30pm: So far today: 3 1/2 hrs sleep, and feeling fine.
3:00pm: napped 20 minutes, rolled over and napped another 20 because I was feeling lazy lol
6:30pm: napped 5 minutes - was on my way to the gym and didn't have time for a full nap. Even 5 minutes seems to help.
7:15pm: lifted weights - everything normal. Bench was down a bit but I expected that because I took a week off weightlifting prior to this.
9pm: At a friend's house, took a 22-minute nap. Feel asleep quickly; slept deeply.
1am: My lungs are congested. I believe it is due to the extreme and unrelenting South Carolina humidity. I become congested each time I visit here for a few days, so I believe this is unrelated to the change in sleep patterns. Took a decongestant tablet. Set the timer for 30 minutes to give myself some extra time for sleep due to my congestion, but awoke after 15 minutes. Got up.
1:38am: My mental focus is very sharp. Studying is more productive than I can remember since my pre-teens.
5:00am: Congestion is gone. No ill-effects nor drowsiness from the decongestant. Time for my core sleep.
I got up at 7:20. I'm somewhat bleary-eyed, but I feel no tremors and have no hangover. I've had a glass of milk and am sipping red tea.
Went to the gun show, alert and energetic. Wasn't quiet tired but anticipated that the outing would last a couple of hours longer so at 11am I started a 20-minute nap, interrupted when Kurt and the SO appeared at the truck. Still, it helped.
Napped for 20 minutes around noon.
1:30pm: So far today: 3 1/2 hrs sleep, and feeling fine.
3:00pm: napped 20 minutes, rolled over and napped another 20 because I was feeling lazy lol
6:30pm: napped 5 minutes - was on my way to the gym and didn't have time for a full nap. Even 5 minutes seems to help.
7:15pm: lifted weights - everything normal. Bench was down a bit but I expected that because I took a week off weightlifting prior to this.
9pm: At a friend's house, took a 22-minute nap. Feel asleep quickly; slept deeply.
1am: My lungs are congested. I believe it is due to the extreme and unrelenting South Carolina humidity. I become congested each time I visit here for a few days, so I believe this is unrelated to the change in sleep patterns. Took a decongestant tablet. Set the timer for 30 minutes to give myself some extra time for sleep due to my congestion, but awoke after 15 minutes. Got up.
1:38am: My mental focus is very sharp. Studying is more productive than I can remember since my pre-teens.
5:00am: Congestion is gone. No ill-effects nor drowsiness from the decongestant. Time for my core sleep.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Day 3
I slept 3 hours last night, and surprisingly awoke refreshed and alert this morning at 7:30am to my alarm clock. This came as a complete surprise; I expected to be dog-tired. I kept thinking while I was showering that I am hooked - why would anyone want to sleep more? I felt much worse yesterday morning with 4 hours of sleep than today. I'm pretty sure the frequent naps have a lot to do with that.
A shower, some breakfast, and browsing the net news with a glass of warm milk at 9am - ahhh this is the life.
At 9:15 I took a 20-minute nap. Awoke feeling fine, but decided it was such a lazy day to just roll over. Ended up sleeping another hour for 1.5 hrs in total. It was a nice deep sleep and although I had some great dreams I regret it a little. I won't count it as a failure since I had the time and place and was only just relaxing and am starting out on this program, and the goal is to ease into it and have good quality sleep and feel as good on less sleep, so as long as I have that I'm happy. So so far, so good. No harm done, since I have only slept a total of 4 1/2 hours today and feel like I have slept a great 8 hours!
On re-reading my last paragraph I realize the dreams I just had were more vivid and detailed and I remember them far easier than I have since my 20's. Check. Another milestone and another great benefit to this program; I love remembering my dreams and it has been so many years since I have had detailed and vivid dreams - I really missed them and now they are back! I am all the more encouraged.
I should mention that I had blamed caffeine and power drinks for adding a couple of inches around my waist and dulling my hearing; yesterday I noticed that my pants were looser and my hearing sharper.
I got sleepy at 3 and took a 22-minute nap - didn't sleep much due to SO activity but it helped.
Sleepy again at 6pm - started to nap and SO comes in after 3 minutes, after I had started to dream. This time I got up when I woke up 3 minutes after starting my nap, and I feel rested. I think it's due to having started REM. I thought this might be worthwhile - if I have drempt and re-awake before 20 minutes is up, to just get up. I may try that again.
7pm and a 20 minute nap later - ahhhh I slept so deeply. It was quiet and I was alone. That sure helps a lot. It also helps to be very tired. I have tremors a bit.
Had another nap at 9:30 for 20 minutes - nice and deep. Then went to the clubs with the SO. Played a quick game of pool with Kurt. It was quick because I almost ran the table. I am not a good pool player - in fact I usually chase the balls around the table, but this time the game was over real quick. Kurt got 2 balls down by the time I won. Ouchie for Kurt. It may have been a fluke, but I haven't played pool in about 3 years. Hmmmmmmm.
Had a couple of Jim Bean's with ginger ale. With the buzz came a feeling that was a little surreal. Everything seemed to slow down as I sped up a bit. Seconds grew continuous and seamlessly flowed end-to-end as I observed everyone around me. I am normally impatient and bored in a bar. Last night I was in what could best be described as a stream of consciousness that flowed around and within me; I was a part of everything that was going on around me. Maybe that sounds crazy, but I wondered if maybe I had experienced the bar the way other people usually do, and that may be why I wasn't bored this time. This sure is interesting.
By 1am I needed a nap. I put it off but at 1:30 I mentioned it to my SO. He complained that there was only 30 minutes before we all left so why nap, but I figured I could be in trouble if I pushed my luck because home was an hour away so I foresaw at least 1.5 hrs before I could nap again or possibly two. I thought I would stick it out but 5 minutes later I started to fall asleep standing up, so that convinced him maybe I should nap after all. I slept in the truck laying across the seats - not comfortable, maybe that's why it took about 10 minutes to get to sleep, but after my 22-minute nap I returned, and was energized. I was frankly dubious of the efficacy of that nap because I had two drinks prior to it and I was sure I only slept 10 minutes of it, but when Kurt started to laugh because I was being witty and I was dancing around I realized the nap truly had rejuvenated me as unlikely as that seemed to my analytical mind.
In fact, we got a bite to eat at a restaurant on the way home and I got home and in bed at 4am. I gave the SO a 20-minute massage and then to sleep for 3 hours.
A shower, some breakfast, and browsing the net news with a glass of warm milk at 9am - ahhh this is the life.
At 9:15 I took a 20-minute nap. Awoke feeling fine, but decided it was such a lazy day to just roll over. Ended up sleeping another hour for 1.5 hrs in total. It was a nice deep sleep and although I had some great dreams I regret it a little. I won't count it as a failure since I had the time and place and was only just relaxing and am starting out on this program, and the goal is to ease into it and have good quality sleep and feel as good on less sleep, so as long as I have that I'm happy. So so far, so good. No harm done, since I have only slept a total of 4 1/2 hours today and feel like I have slept a great 8 hours!
On re-reading my last paragraph I realize the dreams I just had were more vivid and detailed and I remember them far easier than I have since my 20's. Check. Another milestone and another great benefit to this program; I love remembering my dreams and it has been so many years since I have had detailed and vivid dreams - I really missed them and now they are back! I am all the more encouraged.
I should mention that I had blamed caffeine and power drinks for adding a couple of inches around my waist and dulling my hearing; yesterday I noticed that my pants were looser and my hearing sharper.
I got sleepy at 3 and took a 22-minute nap - didn't sleep much due to SO activity but it helped.
Sleepy again at 6pm - started to nap and SO comes in after 3 minutes, after I had started to dream. This time I got up when I woke up 3 minutes after starting my nap, and I feel rested. I think it's due to having started REM. I thought this might be worthwhile - if I have drempt and re-awake before 20 minutes is up, to just get up. I may try that again.
7pm and a 20 minute nap later - ahhhh I slept so deeply. It was quiet and I was alone. That sure helps a lot. It also helps to be very tired. I have tremors a bit.
Had another nap at 9:30 for 20 minutes - nice and deep. Then went to the clubs with the SO. Played a quick game of pool with Kurt. It was quick because I almost ran the table. I am not a good pool player - in fact I usually chase the balls around the table, but this time the game was over real quick. Kurt got 2 balls down by the time I won. Ouchie for Kurt. It may have been a fluke, but I haven't played pool in about 3 years. Hmmmmmmm.
Had a couple of Jim Bean's with ginger ale. With the buzz came a feeling that was a little surreal. Everything seemed to slow down as I sped up a bit. Seconds grew continuous and seamlessly flowed end-to-end as I observed everyone around me. I am normally impatient and bored in a bar. Last night I was in what could best be described as a stream of consciousness that flowed around and within me; I was a part of everything that was going on around me. Maybe that sounds crazy, but I wondered if maybe I had experienced the bar the way other people usually do, and that may be why I wasn't bored this time. This sure is interesting.
By 1am I needed a nap. I put it off but at 1:30 I mentioned it to my SO. He complained that there was only 30 minutes before we all left so why nap, but I figured I could be in trouble if I pushed my luck because home was an hour away so I foresaw at least 1.5 hrs before I could nap again or possibly two. I thought I would stick it out but 5 minutes later I started to fall asleep standing up, so that convinced him maybe I should nap after all. I slept in the truck laying across the seats - not comfortable, maybe that's why it took about 10 minutes to get to sleep, but after my 22-minute nap I returned, and was energized. I was frankly dubious of the efficacy of that nap because I had two drinks prior to it and I was sure I only slept 10 minutes of it, but when Kurt started to laugh because I was being witty and I was dancing around I realized the nap truly had rejuvenated me as unlikely as that seemed to my analytical mind.
In fact, we got a bite to eat at a restaurant on the way home and I got home and in bed at 4am. I gave the SO a 20-minute massage and then to sleep for 3 hours.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Day 2
Awoke naturally (not via the alarm clock) at 8:30am, 4 hours after falling asleep. Slept well; have internal "vibrations" like I didn't get enough sleep. That is to be expected - this is my first really low-sleep night. Was alert enough to study for a while, then became drowsy at 10:30am. Had a 20-minute nap and slept very deeply; I felt like I wasn't "there" or in fact, anywhere. When the alarm went off my brain heard it but couldn't process it; I felt as if it shouldn't go off now or ever. I collected my wits and realized it was only a nap. Arose and after a couple of minutes felt fine. Made some eggs and a cup of tea to keep the caffeine headaches away.
It's now 12 and I am feeling fine. Time to study again.
2:30pm and sleepy - studying will do that. Had a 20-minute nap - did not sleep as easily or as deeply, but it still helped.
I may sleep more the first few days, but my idea is to reduce the length of time of my core sleep each day and to learn to take efficient 20-minute naps and get my body used to it. I theorize that napping more often during the day at first than is normally prescribed for the Everyman schedule should keep reducing my need for core, and make the transition easier because I anticipate not be often tired, nor feeling sleep-deprived. The goal is to make the transition smooth, healthy, and relatively painless. I theorize that if one's body is adaptable to this sleep schedule and it is truly healthier, there should be a way for one's body to convert and adapt to it without trauma such as I read about in other polyphasic diaries.
It's 5pm and I am feeling great. I am as alert as I usually am at this time of day but normally by now I've had a couple of energy drinks and at least 1500 mg of guarana and 1000 mg of yerba matte. Today I haven't had any of those, only a cup of tea to ward off the effects of caffeine withdrawal, and that has worked like a charm; no headache, no neck ache.
I napped around 8 for 20 minutes. Not deep, was awake for what seemed like the first 10 minutes of it. This may be due to the presence of my SO napping next to me and snoring and moving a little.
Was alert enough afterward, but not crisp like earlier today.
Left for the gym for weight training at 9:45pm. Tried to nap unsuccescully in the truck (as a passenger) along the way because I felt tired. However, the pause was refreshing, so again it seems even unsuccessful naps are helpful.
My workout was surprising, although I had a little less stamina, I had all of my strength, and performed my usual routine of 50/60 lb prone leg curls to warm up, then 200/220 lb squats and 435/470lb leg presses. I'm all of only 150lbs myself, so I consider it significant to be able to perform a powerlifting routine on only 4 hours of sleep. I should mention that I have tried to do so once before and abandoned the routine mid-way. I hope to be able to keep my weights up as I progress in this, my polyphasic sleep experiment.
The time is now 1:05am. Normally by this time, with only 4 hours of sleep and having spent an hour standing around while my SO spends over an hour shopping for groceries, I would be very grumpy and moody and would probably have instigated an argument by now. Surpised with myself that I am calmly waiting nearby, spending each precious moment easily studying my courseware on my iPhone, I decided to break from studying to blog this entry to document this remarkable fact. Perhaps it is due to the lack of caffiene, perhaps due to my naps, and in part I am certain due to the knowledge that I am not losing sleep, and will have plenty more time at home after my core nap,I am focused, relaxed and VERY much less stressed than usual. In fact I had no idea how stressed I was until this moment. This is a huge unexpected benefit.
I should also mention my focus better - a surprising fact at this point in my attempt at sleeping less, which is opposite to other experiences I have read, perhaps because I am easing into it and napping when I am tired instead of trying to force my body into a completely foriegn pattern overnight.
The shopping excursion pushed past my limit by about an hour - had I been at home I would have napped at about 1am. My brain was fried, I was on auto-pilot, expending minimal energy until I got home. But in retrospect, I should have gone out to the vehicle and had a nap in the middle of the shopping trip. Why didn't I think of that? I guess I must be trained that I must sleep at home in a bed. I will have to re-train my thinking - when I am tired I will look for a place to nap wherever I may be - a bench, my car, an individual bathroom with a lockable door? LOL I also should have had a quick snack or a meal - I had worked out hard, then went shopping for a couple of hours without eating or napping - I think that was an extreme combination.
Having said that, even though I felt I should eat and go to bed, I napped immediately upon my return home at about 2:45am, then ate and browsed the web, then went to bed at 4am-ish. I contemplated eating first, but thought it more in keeping with the program to nap first because I had pushed my limits at the grocery store.
It's now 12 and I am feeling fine. Time to study again.
2:30pm and sleepy - studying will do that. Had a 20-minute nap - did not sleep as easily or as deeply, but it still helped.
I may sleep more the first few days, but my idea is to reduce the length of time of my core sleep each day and to learn to take efficient 20-minute naps and get my body used to it. I theorize that napping more often during the day at first than is normally prescribed for the Everyman schedule should keep reducing my need for core, and make the transition easier because I anticipate not be often tired, nor feeling sleep-deprived. The goal is to make the transition smooth, healthy, and relatively painless. I theorize that if one's body is adaptable to this sleep schedule and it is truly healthier, there should be a way for one's body to convert and adapt to it without trauma such as I read about in other polyphasic diaries.
It's 5pm and I am feeling great. I am as alert as I usually am at this time of day but normally by now I've had a couple of energy drinks and at least 1500 mg of guarana and 1000 mg of yerba matte. Today I haven't had any of those, only a cup of tea to ward off the effects of caffeine withdrawal, and that has worked like a charm; no headache, no neck ache.
I napped around 8 for 20 minutes. Not deep, was awake for what seemed like the first 10 minutes of it. This may be due to the presence of my SO napping next to me and snoring and moving a little.
Was alert enough afterward, but not crisp like earlier today.
Left for the gym for weight training at 9:45pm. Tried to nap unsuccescully in the truck (as a passenger) along the way because I felt tired. However, the pause was refreshing, so again it seems even unsuccessful naps are helpful.
My workout was surprising, although I had a little less stamina, I had all of my strength, and performed my usual routine of 50/60 lb prone leg curls to warm up, then 200/220 lb squats and 435/470lb leg presses. I'm all of only 150lbs myself, so I consider it significant to be able to perform a powerlifting routine on only 4 hours of sleep. I should mention that I have tried to do so once before and abandoned the routine mid-way. I hope to be able to keep my weights up as I progress in this, my polyphasic sleep experiment.
The time is now 1:05am. Normally by this time, with only 4 hours of sleep and having spent an hour standing around while my SO spends over an hour shopping for groceries, I would be very grumpy and moody and would probably have instigated an argument by now. Surpised with myself that I am calmly waiting nearby, spending each precious moment easily studying my courseware on my iPhone, I decided to break from studying to blog this entry to document this remarkable fact. Perhaps it is due to the lack of caffiene, perhaps due to my naps, and in part I am certain due to the knowledge that I am not losing sleep, and will have plenty more time at home after my core nap,I am focused, relaxed and VERY much less stressed than usual. In fact I had no idea how stressed I was until this moment. This is a huge unexpected benefit.
I should also mention my focus better - a surprising fact at this point in my attempt at sleeping less, which is opposite to other experiences I have read, perhaps because I am easing into it and napping when I am tired instead of trying to force my body into a completely foriegn pattern overnight.
The shopping excursion pushed past my limit by about an hour - had I been at home I would have napped at about 1am. My brain was fried, I was on auto-pilot, expending minimal energy until I got home. But in retrospect, I should have gone out to the vehicle and had a nap in the middle of the shopping trip. Why didn't I think of that? I guess I must be trained that I must sleep at home in a bed. I will have to re-train my thinking - when I am tired I will look for a place to nap wherever I may be - a bench, my car, an individual bathroom with a lockable door? LOL I also should have had a quick snack or a meal - I had worked out hard, then went shopping for a couple of hours without eating or napping - I think that was an extreme combination.
Having said that, even though I felt I should eat and go to bed, I napped immediately upon my return home at about 2:45am, then ate and browsed the web, then went to bed at 4am-ish. I contemplated eating first, but thought it more in keeping with the program to nap first because I had pushed my limits at the grocery store.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Day 1
I will try easing into this over a few days to see if that works. Since I'm doing the Everyman schedule, it is more flexible and forgiving than the Uberman, and in my estimation, less traumatic is better, in general. I will try gradually reducing the amount I sleep each night and the more I nap during the day, while trying to keep nap times fairly consistent in time of occurrence and duration.
Yesterday could count as a warm-up day, I got 6 hours of sleep because I had to get up early to catch a flight, then I napped on the plane.
Then, last night I retired at around 12 midnight, awoke at 3am as I sometimes do in the night, but instead of rolling over to go back to sleep, I elected to remain awake for an hour. I gave my SO a massage and browsed the net on my iPhone, then went back to sleep at 4am until about 7am, then napped for 45 minutes at 7:45. Total time so far is 6 hours 45 minutes, and I am only slightly bleary-eyed.
I should also mention that I am fairly addicted to caffeine, and regularly drink 3-4 cans of energy drinks in a day, along with 1-2 1500 mg of guarana and 2-4 500mg capsules of Yerba Matte in a day. I have stopped taking all of these as of today, and will avoid all caffeine and similar stimulants such as Yerba Matte, probably for the duration of this experiment. To avoid the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal which include unpleasant headaches, difficulty concentrating and muscle pains, I have had a couple of sips of black tea and will do so each day for a couple of days, because it contains caffeine, but yet lacks the stimulating effect of coffee and similar products.
It's 2 in the afternoon now. I napped for 20 minutes at 12:30. I now feel great. I actually started dreaming 5 times during that nap, and was awake 2 minutes before the alarm went off. Because I drempt, I think I may have achieved REM sleep even only lightly. I didn't think I would be able to sleep during my nap. Perhaps it was because I laid down, covered my eyes with a shirt to make it dark and put earplugs in so it was quiet. I have slept using earplugs for 20 years now - it is my usual way of sleeping.
I next took a nap at about 5:45 for 20 minutes, as the plane was taking off. Again a surprise that I could sleep since there was a bunch of girls near the back of the plane that were anything but quiet. I think the earplugs were the reason. I had bought a face mask for sleeping to close out the light and wore it as well, I deemed it worthwhile.
I was awake and alert until landing 5 hours later. Got sleepy at 10pm Denver time, (12pm east-coast time) tried to nap in the truck while the SO drove - unsuccessful - too bumpy. I kept my eyes closed and stayed quiet though for 20 minutes anyway - it seemed to help.
Got sleepy at 3-ish, pulled the truck over and had a successful 20-minute nap. Felt refreshed and continuted home.
Was alert until 4; went to bed at 4:30.
Yesterday could count as a warm-up day, I got 6 hours of sleep because I had to get up early to catch a flight, then I napped on the plane.
Then, last night I retired at around 12 midnight, awoke at 3am as I sometimes do in the night, but instead of rolling over to go back to sleep, I elected to remain awake for an hour. I gave my SO a massage and browsed the net on my iPhone, then went back to sleep at 4am until about 7am, then napped for 45 minutes at 7:45. Total time so far is 6 hours 45 minutes, and I am only slightly bleary-eyed.
I should also mention that I am fairly addicted to caffeine, and regularly drink 3-4 cans of energy drinks in a day, along with 1-2 1500 mg of guarana and 2-4 500mg capsules of Yerba Matte in a day. I have stopped taking all of these as of today, and will avoid all caffeine and similar stimulants such as Yerba Matte, probably for the duration of this experiment. To avoid the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal which include unpleasant headaches, difficulty concentrating and muscle pains, I have had a couple of sips of black tea and will do so each day for a couple of days, because it contains caffeine, but yet lacks the stimulating effect of coffee and similar products.
It's 2 in the afternoon now. I napped for 20 minutes at 12:30. I now feel great. I actually started dreaming 5 times during that nap, and was awake 2 minutes before the alarm went off. Because I drempt, I think I may have achieved REM sleep even only lightly. I didn't think I would be able to sleep during my nap. Perhaps it was because I laid down, covered my eyes with a shirt to make it dark and put earplugs in so it was quiet. I have slept using earplugs for 20 years now - it is my usual way of sleeping.
I next took a nap at about 5:45 for 20 minutes, as the plane was taking off. Again a surprise that I could sleep since there was a bunch of girls near the back of the plane that were anything but quiet. I think the earplugs were the reason. I had bought a face mask for sleeping to close out the light and wore it as well, I deemed it worthwhile.
I was awake and alert until landing 5 hours later. Got sleepy at 10pm Denver time, (12pm east-coast time) tried to nap in the truck while the SO drove - unsuccessful - too bumpy. I kept my eyes closed and stayed quiet though for 20 minutes anyway - it seemed to help.
Got sleepy at 3-ish, pulled the truck over and had a successful 20-minute nap. Felt refreshed and continuted home.
Was alert until 4; went to bed at 4:30.
The First Post
Today I start on my polyphasic excursion. I only just came across mention of polyphasia yesterday at stevepavlina.com, polyphasic.blogspot.com, and everything2.com and did quite a bit of reading right away. Noticing that quite a number of people have written about it and tried it with success, and that some have tried it and failed, and being perfectly in tune with wanting more hours in a day since I was a child, I will try it.
Having always been a night-owl, and never having a sleep pattern that fits with others, I feel drawn to try it. I foresee a problem in that I have always felt that I need 8 hours of sleep per day, but on the other hand I can stay up until 5am without a problem when I am mentally engaged, so it has seemed to me for quite some time that a 28 or 29 hour day is what my system is tuned for.
The best results seem to be had by others with the Uberman so I would desperately like to try it. Uberman requires absolute strict adherence to sleep times for a couple of weeks until one's body has adapted, and my disposition is suited for it - I can stick to anything once I put my mind to it. However, from the writings of the failings of others, Uberman is intolerably inflexible, especially at the beginning - it seems the timing must be to the minute or one's body will revolt with a coma-like sleep that will last 4 to 5 hours or perhaps even longer. Naps that are late or missed wreak havoc with the mind and body of the adherent, so it is not conducive to a most ordinary job schedules. As I have a job as programmer my first reaction to the idea was that it would not fit into my work schedule and so was impossible for me. However there is a second polyphasic schedule known as the Everyman which consists of a core sleep period each night of 3 hours combined with 3 naps throughout the day, or a 1.5 hour nap with 4 to 5 naps throughout the day. The benefit to the Everyman schedule arises in that the nap times are more flexible and can vary up to an hour in either direction from their scheduled times, the downside being that there is more time slept each day. Since the adjustment for the Everyman is much less difficult and the failure rate lower, I will start with that one. It is less extreme and so appeals to me less, but I will think of it as a training-ground for the Uberman, which I will plan to graduate to in the future.
One problem I can foresee is that I have never been prone to napping; when I get up I want to keep going until I must sleep. I will need to adjust my thinking.
I am an instructor and programmer. As a programmer, I do not anticipate that taking a nap on the job will be an issue; whenever I work on-site I will simply tell them I am narcoleptic (or some such hooey) and require a nap at my desk at lunchtime and on breaks. People in IT are used to programmers being weird folk anyway; I have not been shaken by anyone's impression of me as being weird before; in all likelihood, this will fuel my inner oddball.
In fact, I can feel it energizing me already.
Having always been a night-owl, and never having a sleep pattern that fits with others, I feel drawn to try it. I foresee a problem in that I have always felt that I need 8 hours of sleep per day, but on the other hand I can stay up until 5am without a problem when I am mentally engaged, so it has seemed to me for quite some time that a 28 or 29 hour day is what my system is tuned for.
The best results seem to be had by others with the Uberman so I would desperately like to try it. Uberman requires absolute strict adherence to sleep times for a couple of weeks until one's body has adapted, and my disposition is suited for it - I can stick to anything once I put my mind to it. However, from the writings of the failings of others, Uberman is intolerably inflexible, especially at the beginning - it seems the timing must be to the minute or one's body will revolt with a coma-like sleep that will last 4 to 5 hours or perhaps even longer. Naps that are late or missed wreak havoc with the mind and body of the adherent, so it is not conducive to a most ordinary job schedules. As I have a job as programmer my first reaction to the idea was that it would not fit into my work schedule and so was impossible for me. However there is a second polyphasic schedule known as the Everyman which consists of a core sleep period each night of 3 hours combined with 3 naps throughout the day, or a 1.5 hour nap with 4 to 5 naps throughout the day. The benefit to the Everyman schedule arises in that the nap times are more flexible and can vary up to an hour in either direction from their scheduled times, the downside being that there is more time slept each day. Since the adjustment for the Everyman is much less difficult and the failure rate lower, I will start with that one. It is less extreme and so appeals to me less, but I will think of it as a training-ground for the Uberman, which I will plan to graduate to in the future.
One problem I can foresee is that I have never been prone to napping; when I get up I want to keep going until I must sleep. I will need to adjust my thinking.
I am an instructor and programmer. As a programmer, I do not anticipate that taking a nap on the job will be an issue; whenever I work on-site I will simply tell them I am narcoleptic (or some such hooey) and require a nap at my desk at lunchtime and on breaks. People in IT are used to programmers being weird folk anyway; I have not been shaken by anyone's impression of me as being weird before; in all likelihood, this will fuel my inner oddball.
In fact, I can feel it energizing me already.
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