Due to a hectic schedule my sleep routine has been anything but routine. I can see why people end up going back to monophasic sleeping. There have been days where it just isn't possible to get away for 20 minutes to sleep. Many days it may by possible, but just not convenient. I have had to teach a class that demanded all my time during the day. The company I work for recently moved in a whirlwind weekend which didn't really accommodate nap times. I have had to travel to teach.
My sweet wife is very supportive, so my 9pm nap time is almost always available. The only problem is that when I haven't taken my other naps during the day, my 20 minute nap tends to become a long night's sleep. I hate that! I think I will just skip my 9pm when I haven't gotten the other naps.
The last 10 days have been extremely inconsistent. My sleep is haphazard. I hope that the coming weeks will settle down and I can get a routine back.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Days 25-30
This week was not very accommodating to a polyphasic sleep schedule. A couple things threw me off. First of all, I was teaching a computer security class that took every spare moment of class time to cover all of the material. That made the 4pm nap impossible. My lunch naps were thrown out the window when my car started having problems on Tuesday. If it sits in the cold for too long it has a hard time starting. So I spent my lunches trying to work on the car.
I ended up going to bed at the same time as the kids a couple times this week. That was the whole reason I started this new sleep schedule was to be able to stay up later than my kids! So, this coming week looks much more accommodating to polyphasic sleeping. I am up early now. If I get my naps today I will be able to stay up until 1am again and get back on track. I guess I like the flexibility that I have with my sleeping now. Sleeping used to dictate to me when it happened. Now I can take control of when I sleep (depending on my schedule).
I ended up going to bed at the same time as the kids a couple times this week. That was the whole reason I started this new sleep schedule was to be able to stay up later than my kids! So, this coming week looks much more accommodating to polyphasic sleeping. I am up early now. If I get my naps today I will be able to stay up until 1am again and get back on track. I guess I like the flexibility that I have with my sleeping now. Sleeping used to dictate to me when it happened. Now I can take control of when I sleep (depending on my schedule).
Monday, February 9, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Days 22-24
Well I would like to say I have been a dedicated polyphasic sleeper, but this weekend was about the most monophasic I have slept since I started this adventure.
Thursday night I got to bed a 1ish and then didn't wake up until the sun had started to rise. I opened my eyes and realized it was getting light. AAAH! That meant I probably was late to teach seminary! Sure enough, it was already 7am and I totally missed seminary. That also meant that I slept for 6 hours. And it meant that I was even late for my work meeting! Once again I don't remember any alarm going off. I think I've grown accustomed to my alarm and must be sleeping through it?
Friday's naps didn't work too well either (maybe because I got 6 hours sleep the night before) I think my noon nap worked OK, but I didn't get my 4pm nap at all. I didn't get out of work early, and when I finally got out and tried to take a little nap, I felt like I should just go home. So I did. the 9pm nap didn't quite happen either. I did lay down for it, but I didn't fall asleep very much (if at all). So Friday night I ended up sleeping through my alarm again and didn't wake up until sunrise again. I think I got about 7 hours of sleep.
Saturday I didn't take any naps. I didn't take an 8am nap because I had barely woken up by 8am. My noon and 4pm naps didn't happen because I was just enjoying my Saturday with the fam. Friends came over in the evening and we played until midnight, so the 9pm nap didn't happen either. I was sooo tired by midnight that I didn't make it until 1am for my normal core sleep phase. Then when I woke up Sunday morning it was 9am. I got 8 hours sleep. I pretty much ended up with a "normal" sleep schedule for those couple of days.
I miss the extra time I had when I was dedicated. So, Sunday I made sure to take all my naps. They were slightly off schedule, but I got all 3 naps in. I didn't take my 8am nap, because I was still asleep :). I got a 1:30pm, a 4:30pm, and a 9:15pm nap. So I made it to 1am without much of a problem. I decided to try to get a 3 hour core, but slept through the alarm, or turned it off in my sleep or something. I woke up naturally at 5:15ish, for a 4 hour core sleep. Now I'm up writing this blog post! I'm going to have to do my morning nap at 7am instead of 8am because of work.
Thursday night I got to bed a 1ish and then didn't wake up until the sun had started to rise. I opened my eyes and realized it was getting light. AAAH! That meant I probably was late to teach seminary! Sure enough, it was already 7am and I totally missed seminary. That also meant that I slept for 6 hours. And it meant that I was even late for my work meeting! Once again I don't remember any alarm going off. I think I've grown accustomed to my alarm and must be sleeping through it?
Friday's naps didn't work too well either (maybe because I got 6 hours sleep the night before) I think my noon nap worked OK, but I didn't get my 4pm nap at all. I didn't get out of work early, and when I finally got out and tried to take a little nap, I felt like I should just go home. So I did. the 9pm nap didn't quite happen either. I did lay down for it, but I didn't fall asleep very much (if at all). So Friday night I ended up sleeping through my alarm again and didn't wake up until sunrise again. I think I got about 7 hours of sleep.
Saturday I didn't take any naps. I didn't take an 8am nap because I had barely woken up by 8am. My noon and 4pm naps didn't happen because I was just enjoying my Saturday with the fam. Friends came over in the evening and we played until midnight, so the 9pm nap didn't happen either. I was sooo tired by midnight that I didn't make it until 1am for my normal core sleep phase. Then when I woke up Sunday morning it was 9am. I got 8 hours sleep. I pretty much ended up with a "normal" sleep schedule for those couple of days.
I miss the extra time I had when I was dedicated. So, Sunday I made sure to take all my naps. They were slightly off schedule, but I got all 3 naps in. I didn't take my 8am nap, because I was still asleep :). I got a 1:30pm, a 4:30pm, and a 9:15pm nap. So I made it to 1am without much of a problem. I decided to try to get a 3 hour core, but slept through the alarm, or turned it off in my sleep or something. I woke up naturally at 5:15ish, for a 4 hour core sleep. Now I'm up writing this blog post! I'm going to have to do my morning nap at 7am instead of 8am because of work.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Days 19-21
My thought of reducing my core sleep hasn't happened. I did the one night where I got 1 1/2 hours of core sleep and one extra nap. The next night I had a headache. I don't know for sure that it was related, but I have had it happen before, when I get a little sleep deprived. So, I've kept my normal schedule of 3-5 hours core sleep and 4 naps fairly well until last night.
I'm not sure what happened but my 9pm nap turned into a core sleep phase. I didn't really get down until after 9:30. I think I didn't get the alarm reset. I woke up at about 2:30am. I figured that was 5 hours and I would get up and stay up. I have my hardest times when it's before the dawn. It's dark and everyone is asleep, so my body just says, "what in the world are you doing up at this time of day?" I stayed up for a little over an hour preparing a seminary lesson before going back down for another hour and a half nap. I was pretty tired after the nap, but I had to go teach seminary (from 6:00-6:45). I was prepared but tired. After seminary I drove home and pulled the car into the garage, laid the seat back and got a 10min nap. When I woke up I felt really good. I woke up without the alarm, it was fairly dark in the garage, and I felt like I had just gotten a nice night's sleep. I am wondering if I would have felt better for seminary with a shorter nap.
I am learning that I do pretty good with only 10 minutes nap when I wake up naturally. I don't always take the full 20 minutes. I have not been very strict with my naps. I kind of go with the flow and just sleep when I want to. I sometimes sleep longer than I want to, but I will usually sleep when I feel tired. I wonder if the lack of discipline is what derails me sometimes.
For the most part, I don't feel like this is a big experiment anymore. It's just normal for me. It feels like I've been doing this for a lot longer than 21 days.
I'm not sure what happened but my 9pm nap turned into a core sleep phase. I didn't really get down until after 9:30. I think I didn't get the alarm reset. I woke up at about 2:30am. I figured that was 5 hours and I would get up and stay up. I have my hardest times when it's before the dawn. It's dark and everyone is asleep, so my body just says, "what in the world are you doing up at this time of day?" I stayed up for a little over an hour preparing a seminary lesson before going back down for another hour and a half nap. I was pretty tired after the nap, but I had to go teach seminary (from 6:00-6:45). I was prepared but tired. After seminary I drove home and pulled the car into the garage, laid the seat back and got a 10min nap. When I woke up I felt really good. I woke up without the alarm, it was fairly dark in the garage, and I felt like I had just gotten a nice night's sleep. I am wondering if I would have felt better for seminary with a shorter nap.
I am learning that I do pretty good with only 10 minutes nap when I wake up naturally. I don't always take the full 20 minutes. I have not been very strict with my naps. I kind of go with the flow and just sleep when I want to. I sometimes sleep longer than I want to, but I will usually sleep when I feel tired. I wonder if the lack of discipline is what derails me sometimes.
For the most part, I don't feel like this is a big experiment anymore. It's just normal for me. It feels like I've been doing this for a lot longer than 21 days.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Days 16-18
Once again, I am going to merge several days into one blog entry. I actually do have something that isn't just the same old stuff this time.
Friday was a normal polyphasic day. Naps on schedule all day long, no problems falling asleep, and no sleepiness throughout the day. I feel like I have totally adjusted to my nap schedule.
Friday night's core sleep was a feeble attempt at reducing my hours of sleep. I ended up "sleeping in" until about 7am. Needless to say, I didn't take my 8am nap. A 6 hour core sleep actually turned out to be an OK thing. The weekends are not as structured as weekdays, so my schedule gets pushed around. Saturday we went to visit Grandma during what normally would have been my 12pm nap. Driving home at 1:30pm after not getting my nap was a drowsy, sleepy ride (it's only a 15 minute drive, but I was ready to sleep). I finally got down for my nap at around 2pm... and decided not to worry about keeping it short. I think I slept for an hour or so. We had my niece's baptism at 4:00pm, so I got up, got ready and got going. After the baptism we were invited to spend time with the family, and stayed until about 9pm. I did get another nap after we got home. So, it turned out to be pretty much impossible to take my naps at the normal times. I only got 2 naps, instead of 4 (with one nap being extended to 1 hour).
At 1am I went down for my core sleep with the idea that I would try to keep it a little shorter... 7 hours later I was waking up at 8am. I have pretty much decided that on the weekends I am going to not worry about it too much. Weekends would seem to be the better time to get less sleep, since I don't exactly have to be mentally sharp. Due to the lack of normal nap times it turns out to be a good time to grab the extra recharge sleep phases. Church runs right through my 12pm nap time, and since I got 7 hours of sleep I didn't worry too much about trying to sneak away for a quick nap. I was able to get a nap sometime in the afternoon, and then again at around 9pm. 2 naps instead of 4. I didn't have any noticeable tiredness, until about 11:30pm. I had recorded the Super Bowl and decided to watch it then, and have a snack to keep me up during the game. I watched until half time which lined up perfectly with my 1am core sleep. BUT... I decided to take a 15 minute nap and get up to watch the rest. I was actually able to get up! Normally, I don't have the motivation to get up, but now I actually had something to give me that extra incentive (the second half!) I was pretty tired for a while after waking up, but once I got awake enough, I was OK until about 3:30am. Then I got a shortened core sleep of 1 1/2 hours. Woke up around 5am and got ready to teach seminary. For those of you who may scratch your head at that, it's an early morning Scripture study class for high-school kids. They are studying the New Testament this year, and I am substituting pretty regularly these days. We are in Romans and learned about Grace. So, that is another motivator to get less sleep.
We'll see how I do this week. Maybe I will actually shift to a shorter core sleep this week.
Friday was a normal polyphasic day. Naps on schedule all day long, no problems falling asleep, and no sleepiness throughout the day. I feel like I have totally adjusted to my nap schedule.
Friday night's core sleep was a feeble attempt at reducing my hours of sleep. I ended up "sleeping in" until about 7am. Needless to say, I didn't take my 8am nap. A 6 hour core sleep actually turned out to be an OK thing. The weekends are not as structured as weekdays, so my schedule gets pushed around. Saturday we went to visit Grandma during what normally would have been my 12pm nap. Driving home at 1:30pm after not getting my nap was a drowsy, sleepy ride (it's only a 15 minute drive, but I was ready to sleep). I finally got down for my nap at around 2pm... and decided not to worry about keeping it short. I think I slept for an hour or so. We had my niece's baptism at 4:00pm, so I got up, got ready and got going. After the baptism we were invited to spend time with the family, and stayed until about 9pm. I did get another nap after we got home. So, it turned out to be pretty much impossible to take my naps at the normal times. I only got 2 naps, instead of 4 (with one nap being extended to 1 hour).
At 1am I went down for my core sleep with the idea that I would try to keep it a little shorter... 7 hours later I was waking up at 8am. I have pretty much decided that on the weekends I am going to not worry about it too much. Weekends would seem to be the better time to get less sleep, since I don't exactly have to be mentally sharp. Due to the lack of normal nap times it turns out to be a good time to grab the extra recharge sleep phases. Church runs right through my 12pm nap time, and since I got 7 hours of sleep I didn't worry too much about trying to sneak away for a quick nap. I was able to get a nap sometime in the afternoon, and then again at around 9pm. 2 naps instead of 4. I didn't have any noticeable tiredness, until about 11:30pm. I had recorded the Super Bowl and decided to watch it then, and have a snack to keep me up during the game. I watched until half time which lined up perfectly with my 1am core sleep. BUT... I decided to take a 15 minute nap and get up to watch the rest. I was actually able to get up! Normally, I don't have the motivation to get up, but now I actually had something to give me that extra incentive (the second half!) I was pretty tired for a while after waking up, but once I got awake enough, I was OK until about 3:30am. Then I got a shortened core sleep of 1 1/2 hours. Woke up around 5am and got ready to teach seminary. For those of you who may scratch your head at that, it's an early morning Scripture study class for high-school kids. They are studying the New Testament this year, and I am substituting pretty regularly these days. We are in Romans and learned about Grace. So, that is another motivator to get less sleep.
We'll see how I do this week. Maybe I will actually shift to a shorter core sleep this week.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Days 13-15
My sleeping schedule has become "normal" to me. It's hard to get excited about blogging "normal" daily stuff. So, I will probably not report every day on my latest news. I remember reading other blogs and wishing they didn't stop blogging when they did. Now that I am in the situation, I can totally see why the blog entries slowly trailed off and eventually stopped. I can see myself doing the same thing. If you blogged every day about what time YOU went to bed and woke up, and how you hit snooze, or stayed up later than you normally like to, or slept in one day: I bet it wouldn't seem like a very interesting blog to you. Are you still interested? I guess I could use my witty charm to make anything more interesting. That's it, I'm starting a daily blog about the gravel in our front yard! I guess this blog may be slightly more interesting than gravel.
Day 13's (Tuesday) naps went fine. I've really grown accustomed to my 12pm and 4pm naps in the car. I just lean the seat back, grab the stuffed animal pillow that my kids left in the car, and I'm usually rested in less than 20 minutes. That stuffed dog has the perfect size and shape. It's almost like one of those neck pillows. I park behind work to avoid too much foot traffic, but there's a parking lot for a pool hall there. The occasional person that sees me sleeping with my stuffed animal at the same time every day will just have to deal with it.
My 9pm naps are harder than sleeping in the car. The car is isolated and quiet. Laying down with the kids isn't always very quiet or peaceful. There have been several times that I never fell asleep at the 9pm nap.
My core sleep is all over the place. I have absolutely no consistency going on there. I have been in the 4-6 hours of sleep range there. Last night I was really tired by the time 1am rolled around, and ended up falling asleep without even setting an alarm! I woke up with the sun, around 7am. Just in time to get ready. In the past, I probably would have slept in till 9 and been late for work. So at least my "sleeping-in" is when I get 6 hours of sleep and wake up at 7. I decided not to take my 8am nap, seeing as how I just woke up an hour ago.
Overall, I don't keep as rigid a night schedule. My day schedule is pretty regular. Staying up until 1am every night has become normal, where I used to struggle to make it till 11pm. I like that aspect of it. Sometimes the naps are inconvenient, but overall it's worth it. I planned on doing all sorts of great things with all my extra time so I still want to work on my core sleep. If I can get it down to a consistent 3 hours, I can do some of the other things I want to do. I would like to start a blog with video tutorials on computer topics. I think that it could make me some money eventually. Right now, I choose to use my available time on other things. So, I either need more available time or to change the way I use my time.
Adding the little ad links to this blog has actually generated a few dollars. If I had a blog that naturally tied itself to computer products, I could maybe get rich and .... Probably not. But it's fun to think about.
Day 13's (Tuesday) naps went fine. I've really grown accustomed to my 12pm and 4pm naps in the car. I just lean the seat back, grab the stuffed animal pillow that my kids left in the car, and I'm usually rested in less than 20 minutes. That stuffed dog has the perfect size and shape. It's almost like one of those neck pillows. I park behind work to avoid too much foot traffic, but there's a parking lot for a pool hall there. The occasional person that sees me sleeping with my stuffed animal at the same time every day will just have to deal with it.
My 9pm naps are harder than sleeping in the car. The car is isolated and quiet. Laying down with the kids isn't always very quiet or peaceful. There have been several times that I never fell asleep at the 9pm nap.
My core sleep is all over the place. I have absolutely no consistency going on there. I have been in the 4-6 hours of sleep range there. Last night I was really tired by the time 1am rolled around, and ended up falling asleep without even setting an alarm! I woke up with the sun, around 7am. Just in time to get ready. In the past, I probably would have slept in till 9 and been late for work. So at least my "sleeping-in" is when I get 6 hours of sleep and wake up at 7. I decided not to take my 8am nap, seeing as how I just woke up an hour ago.
Overall, I don't keep as rigid a night schedule. My day schedule is pretty regular. Staying up until 1am every night has become normal, where I used to struggle to make it till 11pm. I like that aspect of it. Sometimes the naps are inconvenient, but overall it's worth it. I planned on doing all sorts of great things with all my extra time so I still want to work on my core sleep. If I can get it down to a consistent 3 hours, I can do some of the other things I want to do. I would like to start a blog with video tutorials on computer topics. I think that it could make me some money eventually. Right now, I choose to use my available time on other things. So, I either need more available time or to change the way I use my time.
Adding the little ad links to this blog has actually generated a few dollars. If I had a blog that naturally tied itself to computer products, I could maybe get rich and .... Probably not. But it's fun to think about.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 12
As I reported I missed my 8am nap yesterday, but that's OK because I got over 7 hours of sleep going into that morning. I was able to take my 12pm and 4pm naps, but the afternoon nap was shortened because of time constraints.
My 9pm nap didn't work at all. I was not able to fall asleep. I laid there for 20 minutes and got up. I started getting yawny around midnight but managed to stay up until 1am for my core sleep. I've got to get back into my routine.
I tried to get a 3 hour core sleep, so I would have some time to do my taxes. My alarm went off at 4am but next thing I knew it was 5am and I was waking up with no alarm. Normally I have been waking up at 5:30 naturally, now it was 5:00. I had been trying to sleep in 1.5 hour increments because that's the typical sleep cycle. From 1am to 5am doesn't quite fit that, but the fact that I woke up on my own seems to indicate that I was between sleep cycles. It is now 6:45 and I feel alright. I was a little tired in the early morning hours, but I guess taxes are exciting enough to keep me going.
My 9pm nap didn't work at all. I was not able to fall asleep. I laid there for 20 minutes and got up. I started getting yawny around midnight but managed to stay up until 1am for my core sleep. I've got to get back into my routine.
I tried to get a 3 hour core sleep, so I would have some time to do my taxes. My alarm went off at 4am but next thing I knew it was 5am and I was waking up with no alarm. Normally I have been waking up at 5:30 naturally, now it was 5:00. I had been trying to sleep in 1.5 hour increments because that's the typical sleep cycle. From 1am to 5am doesn't quite fit that, but the fact that I woke up on my own seems to indicate that I was between sleep cycles. It is now 6:45 and I feel alright. I was a little tired in the early morning hours, but I guess taxes are exciting enough to keep me going.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 11
My sleep schedule has blown up this weekend! I haven't followed it at all (well maybe a little).
Sunday is the hardest day to keep my schedule, because of all the other things that are going on. Saturday was a very modified day, and then I followed it with a Sunday that didn't follow any of the rules. I did end up taking my 8am nap, with no problems whatsoever. It went exactly as it should.
Then my 12pm nap is right in the middle of church. Last week I skipped out for just a bit at the time when it was the most ideal. This week, I decided to delay the nap altogether. That made things easier at church, but harder to figure out later. I was able to get a shortened nap at 3:30pm and that was going to have to cover for my normal 12pm and my 4pm nap. It didn't quite cover, as I got pretty tired around 8:30pm. I was at my brother's house, and felt my normal "oh I'm tired, I can bet it's 8:55pm". I was a half our early (I guess it's because I took a 3:30 nap instead of 4:00). Well, I decided not to miss out on family discussions etc. I started getting a slight headache. That would happen to me quite often when I was still a monophasic sleeper, if I had to pull a late night or two. So, I guess my body was telling me to get some sleep.
We got home from my brother's around 10:00pm and I went down pretty soon after for my 9pm nap. I remember the alarm waking me, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up naturally (with no alarm) at 5:30am. I got up for a little bit and decided to sleep a little more. It didn't work so well for me. I woke up at 6am with my headache worse than it was the night before. I don't remember it hurting when I was up at 5:30. I guess I still haven't learned my lesson on getting up when I wake up naturally, and not trying to get that extra little bit.
I am going to have to skip the 8am nap too. It's Monday and I need to finish setting up my class for the week. So, the schedule has blown up! My intent is to get back to the schedule, but we'll see if I actually manage to do it or not.
Sunday is the hardest day to keep my schedule, because of all the other things that are going on. Saturday was a very modified day, and then I followed it with a Sunday that didn't follow any of the rules. I did end up taking my 8am nap, with no problems whatsoever. It went exactly as it should.
Then my 12pm nap is right in the middle of church. Last week I skipped out for just a bit at the time when it was the most ideal. This week, I decided to delay the nap altogether. That made things easier at church, but harder to figure out later. I was able to get a shortened nap at 3:30pm and that was going to have to cover for my normal 12pm and my 4pm nap. It didn't quite cover, as I got pretty tired around 8:30pm. I was at my brother's house, and felt my normal "oh I'm tired, I can bet it's 8:55pm". I was a half our early (I guess it's because I took a 3:30 nap instead of 4:00). Well, I decided not to miss out on family discussions etc. I started getting a slight headache. That would happen to me quite often when I was still a monophasic sleeper, if I had to pull a late night or two. So, I guess my body was telling me to get some sleep.
We got home from my brother's around 10:00pm and I went down pretty soon after for my 9pm nap. I remember the alarm waking me, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up naturally (with no alarm) at 5:30am. I got up for a little bit and decided to sleep a little more. It didn't work so well for me. I woke up at 6am with my headache worse than it was the night before. I don't remember it hurting when I was up at 5:30. I guess I still haven't learned my lesson on getting up when I wake up naturally, and not trying to get that extra little bit.
I am going to have to skip the 8am nap too. It's Monday and I need to finish setting up my class for the week. So, the schedule has blown up! My intent is to get back to the schedule, but we'll see if I actually manage to do it or not.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 10
I did end up making to my 1am goal last night, actually 1:30ish. I have read that some polyphasers will take a weekend every now and then to sleep as much as they can. Although it's probably referring more to the Uberman sleepers, I decided to just sleep Saturday morning. I slept from 1:30am until 7am, when my daughter woke me up to ask for some help with the Wii. Of course on schooldays she never wakes up at 7am without some extra prodding, but on a weekend she magically wakes up early! I was able to get a little more sleep in between helping the kids until about 9am, when I decided to get up. So, in all I would say I got about 6 1/2 hours of sleep. That's the most sleep I've gotten in one chunk since I've started this little experiment.
It's probably a good thing that I got that sleep, because the painting that didn't happen last weekend because of my weird schedule, happened this weekend. We had Cesar Tonini from church offer to come help us paint at 11am. He was amazing! He stayed for about 5 hours, I think, and we got everything painted that we wanted, plus a little more. I decided not to skip out on the painting efforts for my naps. So, no 12pm or 4pm nap. Then we had some friends come over for dinner and games. It was lots of fun, so my evening nap got pushed back until after 10pm. Then I took 2 naps worth while everyone else was still playing. Sorry, I didn't get to say goodbye. By the time I got up again, they had gone home.
I was then able to stay up until 1am. Again, thinking about a shorter core, I set the alarm for 4am. I actually was up at 4, but decided to get the extra hour and a half that I'm used to. I got up at my usual 5:30am and decided to blog about it. So, here I am. I feel pretty good. The sun is just starting to light up the eastern skies, and that usually helps me to feel like I should actually be up. I think I will take my 8am nap today.
It's probably a good thing that I got that sleep, because the painting that didn't happen last weekend because of my weird schedule, happened this weekend. We had Cesar Tonini from church offer to come help us paint at 11am. He was amazing! He stayed for about 5 hours, I think, and we got everything painted that we wanted, plus a little more. I decided not to skip out on the painting efforts for my naps. So, no 12pm or 4pm nap. Then we had some friends come over for dinner and games. It was lots of fun, so my evening nap got pushed back until after 10pm. Then I took 2 naps worth while everyone else was still playing. Sorry, I didn't get to say goodbye. By the time I got up again, they had gone home.
I was then able to stay up until 1am. Again, thinking about a shorter core, I set the alarm for 4am. I actually was up at 4, but decided to get the extra hour and a half that I'm used to. I got up at my usual 5:30am and decided to blog about it. So, here I am. I feel pretty good. The sun is just starting to light up the eastern skies, and that usually helps me to feel like I should actually be up. I think I will take my 8am nap today.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 8-9
After a not-so-fun attempt at Uberman, I have settled back into the Everyman quite nicely. I didn't get any extra sleep to make up for the sleep deprived Wednesday that I had. I just got back to my routine of 4 1/2 hours core, and 4 naps. Now it's Friday afternoon. I've got my students working on a lab for a few minutes with a break soon, so I decided to blog about yesterday and today before I forget what happened and when.
My naps on day 8 were, once again, taken in the car. I DID actually take a longer noon nap, now that I think of it. I tried to take the whole lunch hour to make up for day 7. I still end up waking naturally half the time I take a nap. If I get up then, things go pretty well. If I try to go back down for just a few minutes, it usually makes things worse. So, in order to get a little more sleep without making things worse, I tried to get 2 full naps on the lunch hour so I wouldn't get that "few extra minutes" grogginess. I was able to fall asleep relatively easily both times. When I lay down my mind begins to wander. When it's focused on some particular issue, I don't fall asleep. If it wanders freely, I drop off to sleep pretty quickly (it usually wanders into the realm of dreamland where things don't have to be relevant or make any sense). If I find myself focused on something a little too much I have to clear it out. Sometimes I end up thinking too much about this polyphasic thing and have to force myself to get off that topic. One technique that has worked for me is to clear my mind by "looking" at the back of my eyelids. I don't know what I'm really seeing, but usually it looks like blackness with faint white floating/swirling patterns. At the end of my second lunch nap there was a very interesting thing that happened. The floating swirly things were very bright lime green! I thought I must have had my eyelids slightly open and somehow it was filtering out the light, leaving behind this glowing green color. I closed my eyelids tighter and it didn't go away. It was very interesting. it was kind of like the green blob on the wii fit (if you've never played wii fit, you'll just have to use your imagination).
My 4pm nap was just your plain old run of the mill 20min nap. I'm still using the stuffed animal as my pillow. I park behind work so there won't be as many people walking around noticing my weird habit of sleeping in my car with a stuffed animal. I think my alarm had to wake me up for that one. I felt great though, no more of the tiredness from the day before.
9 o'clock was a struggle. Again, I was laying with the kids. My son was fidgety and I couldn't get myself to ignore it. So I went on the floor in the girls room, but the girls were even more distracting, asking questions and generally stalling bedtime as much as they could. So, I didn't get much of a nap there.
I decided that I would try a 1 1/2 hour core sleep, figuring that I could always extend it if I felt too tired. Then something really interesting happened! I woke up at 5:30! Wait... I should have woken up at 2:30am? I checked my alarm and it was set for 9am. I have no recollection of waking up at all during the night and resetting my alarm. The fact that it was reset for 9am doesn't make much sense. I'm guessing that, in my sleep, I attempted to reset the alarm and it ended up way off. This could have been very problematic as I would have slept way past the beginning of my classes. I'm the teacher so I think they would probably notice if I was missing. But, my internal alarm kicked in and I woke up naturally at my normal 5:30am time. I thought that was significant.
I had a work meeting before my class (that I was late too, but not because of my sleeping patterns). I had to skip my 8am nap. It didn't really slow me down, or have any negative impact on my morning. I was fine all the way through to my noon nap. I woke up before my alarm had to buzz me. 4pm nap went off without a hitch. The only problem was that I was in a hurry to get to my nap, so I ended up getting my adrenaline rushing a little. I had to get some things set up for my next class on Monday, and it took a little longer than I wanted it to. Rushing around in a frenzy so that I could get to my nap, made it a little harder to settle down to sleep. It just took an extra minute or two to fall asleep, and the alarm woke me up 20 minutes later.
I ended up getting tired and a little yawny at 8:30. When I felt it, I thought "It must be 9 o'clock" but I guess my internal timing is a little off. I had no problems falling right to sleep once 9pm rolled around. The alarm buzzed me back 20 minutes later. I decided to hit snooze for the 5 extra minutes. I should know by now, not to do that. I was a little groggy when I finally got up. Now it's 11:30pm and I feel a little tired, but not enough to threaten my 1am goal. So... tomorrow the exciting adventure will continue.
I have to admit I am somewhat surprised that a couple people I know are actually interested in this stuff. I guess I thought it was interesting enough to read a couple strangers blogs about it. At some point I figure it will get to be so routine that the interest will wear off, but I will keep trying to tweak everything until I figure out it's limits. Hopefully that will keep some interest. Thanks for reading!
My naps on day 8 were, once again, taken in the car. I DID actually take a longer noon nap, now that I think of it. I tried to take the whole lunch hour to make up for day 7. I still end up waking naturally half the time I take a nap. If I get up then, things go pretty well. If I try to go back down for just a few minutes, it usually makes things worse. So, in order to get a little more sleep without making things worse, I tried to get 2 full naps on the lunch hour so I wouldn't get that "few extra minutes" grogginess. I was able to fall asleep relatively easily both times. When I lay down my mind begins to wander. When it's focused on some particular issue, I don't fall asleep. If it wanders freely, I drop off to sleep pretty quickly (it usually wanders into the realm of dreamland where things don't have to be relevant or make any sense). If I find myself focused on something a little too much I have to clear it out. Sometimes I end up thinking too much about this polyphasic thing and have to force myself to get off that topic. One technique that has worked for me is to clear my mind by "looking" at the back of my eyelids. I don't know what I'm really seeing, but usually it looks like blackness with faint white floating/swirling patterns. At the end of my second lunch nap there was a very interesting thing that happened. The floating swirly things were very bright lime green! I thought I must have had my eyelids slightly open and somehow it was filtering out the light, leaving behind this glowing green color. I closed my eyelids tighter and it didn't go away. It was very interesting. it was kind of like the green blob on the wii fit (if you've never played wii fit, you'll just have to use your imagination).
My 4pm nap was just your plain old run of the mill 20min nap. I'm still using the stuffed animal as my pillow. I park behind work so there won't be as many people walking around noticing my weird habit of sleeping in my car with a stuffed animal. I think my alarm had to wake me up for that one. I felt great though, no more of the tiredness from the day before.
9 o'clock was a struggle. Again, I was laying with the kids. My son was fidgety and I couldn't get myself to ignore it. So I went on the floor in the girls room, but the girls were even more distracting, asking questions and generally stalling bedtime as much as they could. So, I didn't get much of a nap there.
I decided that I would try a 1 1/2 hour core sleep, figuring that I could always extend it if I felt too tired. Then something really interesting happened! I woke up at 5:30! Wait... I should have woken up at 2:30am? I checked my alarm and it was set for 9am. I have no recollection of waking up at all during the night and resetting my alarm. The fact that it was reset for 9am doesn't make much sense. I'm guessing that, in my sleep, I attempted to reset the alarm and it ended up way off. This could have been very problematic as I would have slept way past the beginning of my classes. I'm the teacher so I think they would probably notice if I was missing. But, my internal alarm kicked in and I woke up naturally at my normal 5:30am time. I thought that was significant.
I had a work meeting before my class (that I was late too, but not because of my sleeping patterns). I had to skip my 8am nap. It didn't really slow me down, or have any negative impact on my morning. I was fine all the way through to my noon nap. I woke up before my alarm had to buzz me. 4pm nap went off without a hitch. The only problem was that I was in a hurry to get to my nap, so I ended up getting my adrenaline rushing a little. I had to get some things set up for my next class on Monday, and it took a little longer than I wanted it to. Rushing around in a frenzy so that I could get to my nap, made it a little harder to settle down to sleep. It just took an extra minute or two to fall asleep, and the alarm woke me up 20 minutes later.
I ended up getting tired and a little yawny at 8:30. When I felt it, I thought "It must be 9 o'clock" but I guess my internal timing is a little off. I had no problems falling right to sleep once 9pm rolled around. The alarm buzzed me back 20 minutes later. I decided to hit snooze for the 5 extra minutes. I should know by now, not to do that. I was a little groggy when I finally got up. Now it's 11:30pm and I feel a little tired, but not enough to threaten my 1am goal. So... tomorrow the exciting adventure will continue.
I have to admit I am somewhat surprised that a couple people I know are actually interested in this stuff. I guess I thought it was interesting enough to read a couple strangers blogs about it. At some point I figure it will get to be so routine that the interest will wear off, but I will keep trying to tweak everything until I figure out it's limits. Hopefully that will keep some interest. Thanks for reading!
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 8a
I have been looking into the health effects of polyphasic sleeping and have found a couple of interesting things
PBS special about a scientific experiment - Claudio Stampi is a scientist who's actually done some research on the subject. This video is about his project. It made a somewhat positive impression of polyphasic sleeping... until the end. The guy who is the guinea pig seemed to finally hit the wall. Claudio Stampi has a book that some other bloggers mention. I haven't read it, but maybe it's worth a look.
Some PhD type who doesn't have much research but definitely has a negative opinion - It seems as though he knows about sleep deprivation, but doesn't believe you can avoid it on a reduced sleeping schedule. There are some things that he says that are waaay off. He says no women are polyphasers. The person who coined the terms "uberman" and "everyman" is a woman who did it successfully for 6 months with her friend (also female). Her response to his attack can be found here.
I will mostly rely on how I'm feeling. If I don't feel good, I will change things. So far, I have really felt fine on the Everyman schedule with a 4 1/2 hour core sleep and 3-4 naps.
PBS special about a scientific experiment - Claudio Stampi is a scientist who's actually done some research on the subject. This video is about his project. It made a somewhat positive impression of polyphasic sleeping... until the end. The guy who is the guinea pig seemed to finally hit the wall. Claudio Stampi has a book that some other bloggers mention. I haven't read it, but maybe it's worth a look.
Some PhD type who doesn't have much research but definitely has a negative opinion - It seems as though he knows about sleep deprivation, but doesn't believe you can avoid it on a reduced sleeping schedule. There are some things that he says that are waaay off. He says no women are polyphasers. The person who coined the terms "uberman" and "everyman" is a woman who did it successfully for 6 months with her friend (also female). Her response to his attack can be found here.
I will mostly rely on how I'm feeling. If I don't feel good, I will change things. So far, I have really felt fine on the Everyman schedule with a 4 1/2 hour core sleep and 3-4 naps.
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 7b
For anyone following along on my little adventure here, I apologize for the delay in posting. I use my "middle of the night" time to update my blog. There hasn't been any spare time lately. I used to sleep 8-9 hours per day and now I'm sleeping about 5-6 hours a day: how is there still not enough time? I guess that's why I tried switching over to the Uberman schedule (20 minute naps every 4 hours, for a total of 6 naps and 2 hours of sleep per day). I have a full time job! I can't just spend a few zombie days to adjust. From what I've read the Uberman is a very difficult adjustment, but if you can push through it you will be able to feel great while getting only those precious 2 hours of sleep per day.
After cutting out my core sleep phase last night and replacing it with a couple of 20 minute naps, I was able to function... with some difficulty. I got my 20min nap at 1am and then another nap around 4:30 followed by an 8am nap. I was doing pretty good in the morning, but after lunch I was really feeling exhausted. My body felt rested, but my brain/mind was feeling very sleep deprived. I had a hard time getting up after my noon, 4pm , and 9pm naps. I didn't feel refreshed and ready to go like I did on the Everyman schedule (core sleep of 3-5 hours and 3 or 4 20min naps throughout the day). I was able to survive until my 1am sleep phase and then crashed for 4 1/2 hours. That just happens to be the schedule that I had been on the last 6 days! I initially felt disappointed that I slept so much, but after realizing it was in line with my Everyman schedule I wasn't so disappointed after all. I had planned on preparing for the class I was teaching in the middle of the night, but ended up with much less preparation time. Good thing the class covered a topic that I am very familiar with! I was still tired in those early "before sunrise" hours. Once I got going I was feeling fully rested again.
I am still interested in the Uberman schedule, but it just wiped me out too much to try it when I don't have at least a few days to be a zombie while I adjust to it. The idea of having those extra hours is very appealing, but not if I feel horrible during those extra hours. So, for now I will continue my Everyman schedule. My next goal is to reduce my core sleep from 4 1/2 hours down to 3 hours and see how I feel. When I get my naps and my 4 1/2 hour core, I really do feel fine. I can see myself sticking with this for a long time, as long as it doesn't interfere with my life. It seems like the people who have done this end up going back to normal sleeping patterns after a while. I could see myself going back and forth, depending on life's situation. If I go on vacation I may go back to monophasic sleeping for a while, and then when I get back to a situation that accommodates polyphasic, I'll switch back to it. I don't really know if I can just flip the switch and go back and forth like that. It may require a more annoying adjustment than I am expecting. We shall see.
After cutting out my core sleep phase last night and replacing it with a couple of 20 minute naps, I was able to function... with some difficulty. I got my 20min nap at 1am and then another nap around 4:30 followed by an 8am nap. I was doing pretty good in the morning, but after lunch I was really feeling exhausted. My body felt rested, but my brain/mind was feeling very sleep deprived. I had a hard time getting up after my noon, 4pm , and 9pm naps. I didn't feel refreshed and ready to go like I did on the Everyman schedule (core sleep of 3-5 hours and 3 or 4 20min naps throughout the day). I was able to survive until my 1am sleep phase and then crashed for 4 1/2 hours. That just happens to be the schedule that I had been on the last 6 days! I initially felt disappointed that I slept so much, but after realizing it was in line with my Everyman schedule I wasn't so disappointed after all. I had planned on preparing for the class I was teaching in the middle of the night, but ended up with much less preparation time. Good thing the class covered a topic that I am very familiar with! I was still tired in those early "before sunrise" hours. Once I got going I was feeling fully rested again.
I am still interested in the Uberman schedule, but it just wiped me out too much to try it when I don't have at least a few days to be a zombie while I adjust to it. The idea of having those extra hours is very appealing, but not if I feel horrible during those extra hours. So, for now I will continue my Everyman schedule. My next goal is to reduce my core sleep from 4 1/2 hours down to 3 hours and see how I feel. When I get my naps and my 4 1/2 hour core, I really do feel fine. I can see myself sticking with this for a long time, as long as it doesn't interfere with my life. It seems like the people who have done this end up going back to normal sleeping patterns after a while. I could see myself going back and forth, depending on life's situation. If I go on vacation I may go back to monophasic sleeping for a while, and then when I get back to a situation that accommodates polyphasic, I'll switch back to it. I don't really know if I can just flip the switch and go back and forth like that. It may require a more annoying adjustment than I am expecting. We shall see.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 7a
If there's not a new post by 6am, that means I "slept in". I will update again later. I was pretty tired trying the Uberman schedule so I got some extra sleep last night. More later...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 6
I can hardly believe that it's already been nearly a week since I started my new sleep schedule. I feel fine. The days go well for me. I'm still tired when I try to wake up in the night, but all in all I have been getting 5 1/2 to 6 hours of sleep per day and feeling fine. That's 2 more hours of time per day. What have I been doing with the extra time? Most of it is spent with Scharese. In the past, I would sometimes go to sleep at the same time as the kids (about 9pm) or just an hour or two afterwards. Now I get 4 hours of time with the house quiet, and Scharese all to myself. I am really glad that this is working. I have actually been keeping her up too late! That is a new feeling for me. Normally she's the night owl.
So, after seminary was over this morning I got the kids off to school and got to work just in time to get my morning nap before going in a few minutes early for my 8:30 start time. No problems with weariness at all!
My 12pm and 4pm sleep phases were spent in the car with the seat leaned back. It is already getting hot in the car, so I will have to figure out where to sleep if I keep this up long enough for the warmer weather to come and make the car an oven. The kids left a stuffed animal in the car, so I actually had a pillow. That actually solved a minor problem I was having. No, it didn't help me sleep better. I slept fine without any pillow, but I would wake up with a hand print, or wrinkle marks on the side of my face. That's not really something I want to have when I'm standing in front of a classroom full of students! So the pillow is comfortable and doesn't leave behind any sleep marks.
9pm nap went great. I am really glad that my ability to fall asleep is alive and well. It was interesting that during the first few days, I had a hard time getting to sleep sometimes. I'm glad that I have adjusted.
Well the biggest development in my sleep schedule now revolves around my 1am sleep phase. I was actually able to get a 20 minute nap and get up! I have tried for a couple days unsuccessfully and ended up still sleeping for 4 1/2 hours. I am seriously considering trying to change from the Everyman schedule to the Uberman schedule. That means, instead of a 3 hour core sleep with naps spaced out for the rest of the day, I would cut out the 3 hour core and go strictly to naps. I've read a lot about it, and the adjustment time is difficult, but after a couple days, your body gets used to using the 20 minute naps to get the REM it needs. The reason that I didn't try it in the first place is my work schedule doesn't quite fit the Uberman schedule of 20 minute naps every 4 hours (for a total of 6 naps per day). I am not always going to be able to work it out to get my naps. Supposedly the Uberman schedule is much less forgiving if you miss a nap, or even move the nap time a little. I will be forced to be flexible sometimes.
If I do switch to the Uberman, I will be napping at 1am, 5am, 8am(or 7am), 12pm, 4pm, and 9pm. To really do it right I would have to change sleep times to 8pm, 12am, 4am. I really like the 9pm time because it fits nicely with the kids bedtime, so I don't think I want to change that. I always have the hardest time in the early morning hours so it may not be a bad thing to have my shortest awake phase be the three hours between 5 and 8 am. The hour lost there will make for a 5 hour awake phase between 4pm and 9pm which is usually not a sleepy spot for me anyhow.
So. It is now 3am. Tomorrow's class will be the easiest day of the week for me, so this is the best time for me to try Uberman. I will let you know tomorrow how it goes.
One other thing that I want to mention. I got a comment from my brother hoping that this sleep schedule doesn't cause brain damage. I think he was joking, but it did make me look into it a little more. My dad also called to see how it was going and expressed some concern about the health affects of this. I haven't been able to find anything to make me stop right away. I have read that sleep deprivation can cause some problems after prolonging it for more than a month. But, the sleep deprivation that people experience while adjusting to this is normally limited to a few days, and then your body adjusts and you no longer experience any deprivation. One person commented that on this schedule you feel like you are constantly going to sleep. I really see that perspective now that I've been doing it for a while. My body gets tired and I go to sleep (all day long). It's just in smaller chunks. Now, the scriptures talk about sleep a little bit, and that's something that I have thought about. I don't think I will do this forever. It seems like most people who do it, will switch back to a monophasic sleep schedule after a while.
I am going to look into any health issues a little more. If anyone finds something other than what I have, please feel free to let me know. I must say, I love having the extra time every day, as long as it's not going to damage my health.
So, after seminary was over this morning I got the kids off to school and got to work just in time to get my morning nap before going in a few minutes early for my 8:30 start time. No problems with weariness at all!
My 12pm and 4pm sleep phases were spent in the car with the seat leaned back. It is already getting hot in the car, so I will have to figure out where to sleep if I keep this up long enough for the warmer weather to come and make the car an oven. The kids left a stuffed animal in the car, so I actually had a pillow. That actually solved a minor problem I was having. No, it didn't help me sleep better. I slept fine without any pillow, but I would wake up with a hand print, or wrinkle marks on the side of my face. That's not really something I want to have when I'm standing in front of a classroom full of students! So the pillow is comfortable and doesn't leave behind any sleep marks.
9pm nap went great. I am really glad that my ability to fall asleep is alive and well. It was interesting that during the first few days, I had a hard time getting to sleep sometimes. I'm glad that I have adjusted.
Well the biggest development in my sleep schedule now revolves around my 1am sleep phase. I was actually able to get a 20 minute nap and get up! I have tried for a couple days unsuccessfully and ended up still sleeping for 4 1/2 hours. I am seriously considering trying to change from the Everyman schedule to the Uberman schedule. That means, instead of a 3 hour core sleep with naps spaced out for the rest of the day, I would cut out the 3 hour core and go strictly to naps. I've read a lot about it, and the adjustment time is difficult, but after a couple days, your body gets used to using the 20 minute naps to get the REM it needs. The reason that I didn't try it in the first place is my work schedule doesn't quite fit the Uberman schedule of 20 minute naps every 4 hours (for a total of 6 naps per day). I am not always going to be able to work it out to get my naps. Supposedly the Uberman schedule is much less forgiving if you miss a nap, or even move the nap time a little. I will be forced to be flexible sometimes.
If I do switch to the Uberman, I will be napping at 1am, 5am, 8am(or 7am), 12pm, 4pm, and 9pm. To really do it right I would have to change sleep times to 8pm, 12am, 4am. I really like the 9pm time because it fits nicely with the kids bedtime, so I don't think I want to change that. I always have the hardest time in the early morning hours so it may not be a bad thing to have my shortest awake phase be the three hours between 5 and 8 am. The hour lost there will make for a 5 hour awake phase between 4pm and 9pm which is usually not a sleepy spot for me anyhow.
So. It is now 3am. Tomorrow's class will be the easiest day of the week for me, so this is the best time for me to try Uberman. I will let you know tomorrow how it goes.
One other thing that I want to mention. I got a comment from my brother hoping that this sleep schedule doesn't cause brain damage. I think he was joking, but it did make me look into it a little more. My dad also called to see how it was going and expressed some concern about the health affects of this. I haven't been able to find anything to make me stop right away. I have read that sleep deprivation can cause some problems after prolonging it for more than a month. But, the sleep deprivation that people experience while adjusting to this is normally limited to a few days, and then your body adjusts and you no longer experience any deprivation. One person commented that on this schedule you feel like you are constantly going to sleep. I really see that perspective now that I've been doing it for a while. My body gets tired and I go to sleep (all day long). It's just in smaller chunks. Now, the scriptures talk about sleep a little bit, and that's something that I have thought about. I don't think I will do this forever. It seems like most people who do it, will switch back to a monophasic sleep schedule after a while.
I am going to look into any health issues a little more. If anyone finds something other than what I have, please feel free to let me know. I must say, I love having the extra time every day, as long as it's not going to damage my health.
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 5
I had to work today but the kids didn't have school. That means I didn't have to worry as much about the timing of my morning sleep phase. I ended up going down way before my 8am time that I was shooting for. I was planning on using my extra morning hours to prepare for my class, but my 3hours of core sleep turned into 4 1/2 again, and then I still took a nap in the morning. I didn't end up having time to blog. So I'm writing this a day late (I hope I can remember enough detail to keep this blog accurate). I still was able to get a 20 minute nap that carried me through till my Lunch nap. I felt fine throughout the morning, and class went well.
Instead of trying to sleep in a dark classroom, I decided to sleep in the car. I remembered to turn off the cell phone connection, so I wouldn't get buzzed with an incoming call or e-mail. I went out to the car and leaned the seat back and tried to go to sleep. It took me a little longer to get to sleep. The morning nap was probably part of the reason for that. Longer is a relative term. I think it usually only takes a few minutes. I'm guessing it was more like 7 minutes this time. It's hard for me to tell how long. Sometimes I think it's been a long time and it's only been a few minutes, and other times I think is hasn't been long, but my time is up.
Classes are scheduled to run until 4:30, but I am hoping to let them out a few minutes early so I can get my nap and still get home at the same time as I normally do. It worked out today. I let my class out, and went out to the car for my nap before leaving work.
9pm nap went perfectly. Scharese is sometimes surprised that I am done. A couple days ago, I had to keep resetting my 20 minutes because I wasn't getting to sleep right away. I ended up laying down for 40 minutes to get my 20 minute nap. Now my body just drops off to sleep in a couple minutes and I'm done pretty quickly.
So for my core sleep, I decided to try a 1 1/2 hour phase, instead of 4 1/2. Again, I'm trying to keep it in 90 minute increments because that's the average time for a complete sleep cycle. I figure with the extra nap that I take in the morning, I should be able to cut the core sleep down. Well, once again, that didn't work well. I actually decided to try a 20 minute nap at 1 and then get the core sleep a little later. After my 20 minute nap at 1am, I was not feeling very refreshed. I was pretty tired. I set the alarm for an hour and a half, but slept right through it. I didn't wake up until 5:30. I was disappointed again. I felt like I had blown it, until I realized that it ended up being my normal 4 1/2 hour core. Then I didn't feel so bad. My body has it's schedule pretty well set. I am teaching early morning seminary this week at 6am. Timing worked out well with me waking up at 5:30.
Instead of trying to sleep in a dark classroom, I decided to sleep in the car. I remembered to turn off the cell phone connection, so I wouldn't get buzzed with an incoming call or e-mail. I went out to the car and leaned the seat back and tried to go to sleep. It took me a little longer to get to sleep. The morning nap was probably part of the reason for that. Longer is a relative term. I think it usually only takes a few minutes. I'm guessing it was more like 7 minutes this time. It's hard for me to tell how long. Sometimes I think it's been a long time and it's only been a few minutes, and other times I think is hasn't been long, but my time is up.
Classes are scheduled to run until 4:30, but I am hoping to let them out a few minutes early so I can get my nap and still get home at the same time as I normally do. It worked out today. I let my class out, and went out to the car for my nap before leaving work.
9pm nap went perfectly. Scharese is sometimes surprised that I am done. A couple days ago, I had to keep resetting my 20 minutes because I wasn't getting to sleep right away. I ended up laying down for 40 minutes to get my 20 minute nap. Now my body just drops off to sleep in a couple minutes and I'm done pretty quickly.
So for my core sleep, I decided to try a 1 1/2 hour phase, instead of 4 1/2. Again, I'm trying to keep it in 90 minute increments because that's the average time for a complete sleep cycle. I figure with the extra nap that I take in the morning, I should be able to cut the core sleep down. Well, once again, that didn't work well. I actually decided to try a 20 minute nap at 1 and then get the core sleep a little later. After my 20 minute nap at 1am, I was not feeling very refreshed. I was pretty tired. I set the alarm for an hour and a half, but slept right through it. I didn't wake up until 5:30. I was disappointed again. I felt like I had blown it, until I realized that it ended up being my normal 4 1/2 hour core. Then I didn't feel so bad. My body has it's schedule pretty well set. I am teaching early morning seminary this week at 6am. Timing worked out well with me waking up at 5:30.
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 4
Sunday morning after finishing the blog posting I was still feeling tired so I decided to add another nap time to my schedule. I took a 20 minute nap around 8am. If I can ever get in the mode of a 3 hour core sleep, I will be waking up at 4am and not getting a nap until about noon. That's an 8 hour stretch, and a nap at 8am would cut it into 2 four hour stretches. On work days I will have to make sure my class is set up and ready to go, since classes start at 8:30 and I drop the kids off at school at 7:30. That only gives me time for the commute and time for my nap before I have to be ready to teach. I will either have to make sure my class is set up the day before, or maybe try to take the morning nap around 7am before the kids have to go.
Church runs from 11am to 2pm. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to get my 12 o'clock sleep phase in. I thought maybe I would just try to sleep in church. I ended up skipping out of the tail end of sacrament meeting and the beginning of nursury. Scharese and I are nursury leaders so we have an obligation to run the show. The kids get split into 3 groups and rotate through singing time, lesson time, and snack time for 20 minutes each. Before that happens they get about 15-20 minutes of play time. So I went out to the car at the very end of sacrament meeting and was able to fall asleep and naturally wake up within 20 minutes. I think my nap was probably a little less than 15 minutes, but it did the trick. I was back in nursury before the kids had to split up into their groups. I'm glad it worked as well as it did.
The afternoon and evening naps went off without a hitch. I was also worried about the evening nap due to the normal Sunday routine of spending time with the family. I thought I would have to delay my evening nap. We ended up staying home, so the 9pm schedule worked. We'll see about next Sunday when we will probably have the whole family over at our house.
My core sleep phase should be able to be shortened from 4 1/2 hours down to 3 now since I am taking an extra nap in the morning. If you search for the "everyman" sleep schedule, you will find that it is a core nap of 3 hours, and three other 20 minute naps spaced evenly across the remaining hours of the day. Because of my work schedule that won't be possible. So I'm going to do 4 naps spread fairly evenly across the day: 8am, 12noon, 4pm, 9pm. That should help me to get the core sleep down to 3 hours instead of the 4 1/2 that I've been doing. So, I set my alarm for 3 hours. But in the wee hours of the morning I didn't have will power to get up. I set the alarm for another hour and a half and ended up sticking with the 4 1/2 hour core sleep phase. I'm a little disappointed, but in reality, I had to teach a new class on Monday so it's probably better to stick with the schedule that my body has really started to get used to.
It is pretty amazing how quickly I have adjusted to the new schedule. I have been able to tell when it is noon, 4pm, or 9pm without looking at a clock. My body lets me know, "Hey it's time to get some sleep." Whenever I start to get tired, I look at a clock and sure enough, it's usually about 5 minutes 'til nap time. I have also been surprised at how short some of my naps are. It is more likely for me to wake up on my own than it is for the alarm to wake me. I think I have decided that it's better to get up then, rather than trying to go down for any remaining time in my 20 minute block. I used to set my alarm for 25 minutes to make sure I had time to fall asleep and still have 20 solid minutes of sleep time. Now I just set it for about 20-21 minutes and don't end up needing it sometimes.
Church runs from 11am to 2pm. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to get my 12 o'clock sleep phase in. I thought maybe I would just try to sleep in church. I ended up skipping out of the tail end of sacrament meeting and the beginning of nursury. Scharese and I are nursury leaders so we have an obligation to run the show. The kids get split into 3 groups and rotate through singing time, lesson time, and snack time for 20 minutes each. Before that happens they get about 15-20 minutes of play time. So I went out to the car at the very end of sacrament meeting and was able to fall asleep and naturally wake up within 20 minutes. I think my nap was probably a little less than 15 minutes, but it did the trick. I was back in nursury before the kids had to split up into their groups. I'm glad it worked as well as it did.
The afternoon and evening naps went off without a hitch. I was also worried about the evening nap due to the normal Sunday routine of spending time with the family. I thought I would have to delay my evening nap. We ended up staying home, so the 9pm schedule worked. We'll see about next Sunday when we will probably have the whole family over at our house.
My core sleep phase should be able to be shortened from 4 1/2 hours down to 3 now since I am taking an extra nap in the morning. If you search for the "everyman" sleep schedule, you will find that it is a core nap of 3 hours, and three other 20 minute naps spaced evenly across the remaining hours of the day. Because of my work schedule that won't be possible. So I'm going to do 4 naps spread fairly evenly across the day: 8am, 12noon, 4pm, 9pm. That should help me to get the core sleep down to 3 hours instead of the 4 1/2 that I've been doing. So, I set my alarm for 3 hours. But in the wee hours of the morning I didn't have will power to get up. I set the alarm for another hour and a half and ended up sticking with the 4 1/2 hour core sleep phase. I'm a little disappointed, but in reality, I had to teach a new class on Monday so it's probably better to stick with the schedule that my body has really started to get used to.
It is pretty amazing how quickly I have adjusted to the new schedule. I have been able to tell when it is noon, 4pm, or 9pm without looking at a clock. My body lets me know, "Hey it's time to get some sleep." Whenever I start to get tired, I look at a clock and sure enough, it's usually about 5 minutes 'til nap time. I have also been surprised at how short some of my naps are. It is more likely for me to wake up on my own than it is for the alarm to wake me. I think I have decided that it's better to get up then, rather than trying to go down for any remaining time in my 20 minute block. I used to set my alarm for 25 minutes to make sure I had time to fall asleep and still have 20 solid minutes of sleep time. Now I just set it for about 20-21 minutes and don't end up needing it sometimes.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 3
Saturday was Day 3. Most of the day went really well. I was a little sleepy first thing in the morning, but once everyone else woke up, I was fine. We were going to do some painting, but my nap schedule came at the moment of truth. "Should we paint, or not?" then I said "I've gotta get my nap." "Ok, we'll paint another time."
My 11:30 nap was beautiful. I was able to go in a room, lay down, and wrap a pillow around my head to keep out any extra noise. I fell asleep easily and woke up refreshed. I can pretty much count on knowing it's nap time, without having to look at the clock, based on the way I feel. When I start getting a little tired, I can bet it's close to nap time.
I don't remember now if it was my 11am nap or my 4pm nap that was pretty amazing. I set my alarm for 25min and fell right to sleep. I woke up on my own and checked the alarm. Only about 15 minutes had passed. I briefly considered trying to sleep for the extra 10 minutes, but remembered reading that oversleeping leads to grogginess, so decided that my body woke up, so I got up.
9pm nap took a few minutes to fall asleep. That's been my trouble spot. For some reason it takes a few minutes longer for me to fall asleep. I don't know if I'm worried about the kids getting to sleep and my mind loses focus, or what. I did fall asleep but when the alarm went off I felt like I didn't get enough sleep. Again, the thought that oversleeping can cause problems, I got up anyway. I was tired for a lot of my awake time, but didn't have a problem staying up until my core sleep time.
So, I decided to really try the 3 hour core sleep instead of 4 1/2. I set my alarm for 3 hours, but ended up sleeping for 4 hours. I vaguely remember my alarm going off, but not much else. I woke up at the 4 hour mark on my own. I was going to go back to sleep to get my extra half an hour, but decided to get up. Being woken up in the middle of a sleep phase didn't work as well as naturally waking up.
Just like yesterday morning. I am actually pretty tired right now. It's still before sunrise, so again, I think once the sun comes up I will be fine. I'm still not over the hump.
I am still toying with my schedule, wondering if I should move sleep times around a little. I'm still going to stick with it for a while.
My 11:30 nap was beautiful. I was able to go in a room, lay down, and wrap a pillow around my head to keep out any extra noise. I fell asleep easily and woke up refreshed. I can pretty much count on knowing it's nap time, without having to look at the clock, based on the way I feel. When I start getting a little tired, I can bet it's close to nap time.
I don't remember now if it was my 11am nap or my 4pm nap that was pretty amazing. I set my alarm for 25min and fell right to sleep. I woke up on my own and checked the alarm. Only about 15 minutes had passed. I briefly considered trying to sleep for the extra 10 minutes, but remembered reading that oversleeping leads to grogginess, so decided that my body woke up, so I got up.
9pm nap took a few minutes to fall asleep. That's been my trouble spot. For some reason it takes a few minutes longer for me to fall asleep. I don't know if I'm worried about the kids getting to sleep and my mind loses focus, or what. I did fall asleep but when the alarm went off I felt like I didn't get enough sleep. Again, the thought that oversleeping can cause problems, I got up anyway. I was tired for a lot of my awake time, but didn't have a problem staying up until my core sleep time.
So, I decided to really try the 3 hour core sleep instead of 4 1/2. I set my alarm for 3 hours, but ended up sleeping for 4 hours. I vaguely remember my alarm going off, but not much else. I woke up at the 4 hour mark on my own. I was going to go back to sleep to get my extra half an hour, but decided to get up. Being woken up in the middle of a sleep phase didn't work as well as naturally waking up.
Just like yesterday morning. I am actually pretty tired right now. It's still before sunrise, so again, I think once the sun comes up I will be fine. I'm still not over the hump.
I am still toying with my schedule, wondering if I should move sleep times around a little. I'm still going to stick with it for a while.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 2
My initial intent was to get a 3 hour core sleep in, but my wife and I talked a little about it and I ended up getting 4 1/2 hours of core sleep. I am trying to keep it in 90 minute increments, to get a full sleep cycle in. I set my alarm for a 3 hour sleep phase, but I ended up resetting it for that extra 90 minutes.
I woke up at about 6. It gave me plenty of time to study some scriptures and have an easy morning before getting the kids up at 7 for school. Felt fine all morning. No problems at all.
At about 11:30 I went into the same dark unused classroom that I had used the day before. I actually had a hard time falling asleep. I think that I was worried that someone would come in and wonder why I was sleeping on the floor at work, and that kept me up. I could hear people outside from time to time and it tensed me up because I wasn't sure if they were headed towards the room I was in. Then, sure enough, a co-worker came into the room and I had to get up and explain that I was taking a nap. Then, after laying down again for a few minutes, my Blackberry buzzed me because of an incoming e-mail. I'm using the Blackberry as my alarm clock, so I can't tell the difference between an e-mail buzz and an alarm buzz without turning it on and checking it. So I tried to reset my 20 minutes, but a little after that I got a phone call on the Blackberry, causing another buzz disturbance. I don't think I got much more than 5 minutes of sleep, but again 30-35 minutes of laying down time. I learned... TURN OFF the communications to the Blackberry during nap times.
at about 3:30pm I went down for my afternoon nap. I turned off the Blackberry's radio antenna. I can't turn the whole thing off because it's my alarm clock. This time I decided to sleep in my car to make sure I didn't have to deal with anyone at work disturbing my sleep. After laying and having a somewhat hard time falling asleep again, my phone buzzed me. It wasn't the alarm clock though, it was a calendar reminder! Doh! I reset my 20 min, but probably only got about 10 minutes of sleep before it was time to get up. I thought about resetting my time again, but decided not to.
9pm nap with the kids was the same as last night. I couldn't get to sleep. Usually I can fall asleep through anything, but I had a hard time. Dealing with the kids made me reset my time twice. I figure I layed there for about 40 minutes and maybe dozed off for 5-10 minutes of it. I've got to get a situation where my naps work.
Getting past midnight and closer to my 1am core sleep time, I was getting pretty yawny and tired, but I was able to stay engaged in things until 1am and then get to sleep fairly easily. I was woken up twice by kids during this phase. I was able to fall back to sleep easily, but still ended up extending my 3 hours into a 4 1/2 hour core sleep.
Now I am blogging this, and feeling pretty tired. The sun is coming up now, so it should help me wake up more. I am thinking this is the hump that I have to get over. Hopefully it's a little hump of 1 or 2 days and not 1 week.
I woke up at about 6. It gave me plenty of time to study some scriptures and have an easy morning before getting the kids up at 7 for school. Felt fine all morning. No problems at all.
At about 11:30 I went into the same dark unused classroom that I had used the day before. I actually had a hard time falling asleep. I think that I was worried that someone would come in and wonder why I was sleeping on the floor at work, and that kept me up. I could hear people outside from time to time and it tensed me up because I wasn't sure if they were headed towards the room I was in. Then, sure enough, a co-worker came into the room and I had to get up and explain that I was taking a nap. Then, after laying down again for a few minutes, my Blackberry buzzed me because of an incoming e-mail. I'm using the Blackberry as my alarm clock, so I can't tell the difference between an e-mail buzz and an alarm buzz without turning it on and checking it. So I tried to reset my 20 minutes, but a little after that I got a phone call on the Blackberry, causing another buzz disturbance. I don't think I got much more than 5 minutes of sleep, but again 30-35 minutes of laying down time. I learned... TURN OFF the communications to the Blackberry during nap times.
at about 3:30pm I went down for my afternoon nap. I turned off the Blackberry's radio antenna. I can't turn the whole thing off because it's my alarm clock. This time I decided to sleep in my car to make sure I didn't have to deal with anyone at work disturbing my sleep. After laying and having a somewhat hard time falling asleep again, my phone buzzed me. It wasn't the alarm clock though, it was a calendar reminder! Doh! I reset my 20 min, but probably only got about 10 minutes of sleep before it was time to get up. I thought about resetting my time again, but decided not to.
9pm nap with the kids was the same as last night. I couldn't get to sleep. Usually I can fall asleep through anything, but I had a hard time. Dealing with the kids made me reset my time twice. I figure I layed there for about 40 minutes and maybe dozed off for 5-10 minutes of it. I've got to get a situation where my naps work.
Getting past midnight and closer to my 1am core sleep time, I was getting pretty yawny and tired, but I was able to stay engaged in things until 1am and then get to sleep fairly easily. I was woken up twice by kids during this phase. I was able to fall back to sleep easily, but still ended up extending my 3 hours into a 4 1/2 hour core sleep.
Now I am blogging this, and feeling pretty tired. The sun is coming up now, so it should help me wake up more. I am thinking this is the hump that I have to get over. Hopefully it's a little hump of 1 or 2 days and not 1 week.
Polyphasic Sleep Log: Day 1
Alright, since I now have some extra time and I want to record my experience with polyphasic sleep I am starting this blog. I know it is common for polyphasers to blog, so I'll throw my 2 cents in too.
I am usually a very good sleeper and have needed at least 8 hours of sleep to feel fully functional during the days. I can normally lay down just about anywhere at any time and probably fall asleep within a few minutes. My wife usually gets much less sleep than I do. So, quite often I would fall asleep early in the night and she would be up much later. I hope to be able to get a lot more time with her than I did on my Monophasic sleeping routine. I am also a teacher/trainer and often need preparation time. That digs into my time with my wife and famiily as well. The topic came up of Einstein only sleeping 4 hours a day. After looking into it a bit, I didn't verify that Einstein did it, but I found Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Jefferson along with a few others. A little more looking on the internet I found that the Everyman schedule was probably the best for me, having a regular job and all. That means a core sleep of about 3 hours, and then 3 twenty-minute naps spaced across the rest of the day.
So. I had stayed up late the (Wednesday) night before, not knowing that I was going to begin my polyphasic sleeping the next day. I probably got 5 hours of sleep. I decided to try it, and was able to get my 20 min nap during my lunch break at work. I went in a dark, unused classroom and was able to get to sleep with ease. I slept a solid 20 minutes and felt good coming out of it. I also took a nap at 4pm and again my ability to sleep didn't let me down. 20 more minutes and I was feeling great. My 9pm nap was a bit more of a challenge.
One of the reasons I chose this schedule was because I put my kids to bed at 9pm and figured I could lay down in the room with them and get my snooze in while making sure they don't goof off when they are supposed to be sleeping. Well, they goofed off and I had to reset my alarm a couple times because I interrupted my 20 minutes several times to get the kids settled. I don't think I actually fell asleep for that nap. But, just laying there for about 30-35 minutes did re-energize me a little.
I was able to stay up until 1:30 am without any problems. I normally struggle to stay up that late. I did a little workout on the Wii Fit, and then went to bed for my core sleep cycle.
I am usually a very good sleeper and have needed at least 8 hours of sleep to feel fully functional during the days. I can normally lay down just about anywhere at any time and probably fall asleep within a few minutes. My wife usually gets much less sleep than I do. So, quite often I would fall asleep early in the night and she would be up much later. I hope to be able to get a lot more time with her than I did on my Monophasic sleeping routine. I am also a teacher/trainer and often need preparation time. That digs into my time with my wife and famiily as well. The topic came up of Einstein only sleeping 4 hours a day. After looking into it a bit, I didn't verify that Einstein did it, but I found Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Jefferson along with a few others. A little more looking on the internet I found that the Everyman schedule was probably the best for me, having a regular job and all. That means a core sleep of about 3 hours, and then 3 twenty-minute naps spaced across the rest of the day.
So. I had stayed up late the (Wednesday) night before, not knowing that I was going to begin my polyphasic sleeping the next day. I probably got 5 hours of sleep. I decided to try it, and was able to get my 20 min nap during my lunch break at work. I went in a dark, unused classroom and was able to get to sleep with ease. I slept a solid 20 minutes and felt good coming out of it. I also took a nap at 4pm and again my ability to sleep didn't let me down. 20 more minutes and I was feeling great. My 9pm nap was a bit more of a challenge.
One of the reasons I chose this schedule was because I put my kids to bed at 9pm and figured I could lay down in the room with them and get my snooze in while making sure they don't goof off when they are supposed to be sleeping. Well, they goofed off and I had to reset my alarm a couple times because I interrupted my 20 minutes several times to get the kids settled. I don't think I actually fell asleep for that nap. But, just laying there for about 30-35 minutes did re-energize me a little.
I was able to stay up until 1:30 am without any problems. I normally struggle to stay up that late. I did a little workout on the Wii Fit, and then went to bed for my core sleep cycle.
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