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I didn’t post because the Internet was down last night. Last night I officially felt like a zombie. I tried watching TV but realized I was having microsleeps when I had no idea what the show was about. I stretched

Hardest time to get up is after my core. I still have 1 cup of coffee at 6 am (I usually drink several strong cups). Last time I gave up coffee and it was easy because the only thing I was really craving was sleep, not coffee. This is my 1st day sleeping at work. I felt a little self-conscious closing the office door for my 12 pm nap. It was very cold and I was very awake the whole time. Being at work can feel like coffee. It was a little hard to get up from my 6 pm nap… if I stayed in bed I would have easily fallen asleep soon. I fell asleep for my  11:30 pm nap. It was a little hard, as usual, to get up and stay up for the first 15-20 minutes.  I’m looking forward to not having to use a jarring alarm clock, once I adjust. Last time I thought a lot about the next nap I’d get to take, right after I woke up from one. Not just because I was tired, but because I really do enjoy sleep. This time I’m purposely trying to not focus on that, because then I just feel my tiredness more. Overall I’m not tired yet.

Gee, I overslept already, after my core. So, basically, I’m starting over. I took a shower and did my hair last night. It was great to roll out of bed and be totally ready. Felt like a kid again.

I really have a sense of accomplishment from getting so many things done after only one night. I can be lazy and don’t do things because I don’t feel motivated, more often than I’d like. However, I’m cautioning myself from basing too much happiness on being in control of getting stuff done. Everything will never get done, and there are many other important things besides that. Being lazy is one of them.

I’m amazed at how much shorter the day seems waking up at a normal weekend time for me (9 or 10). To help my motivation, I’m going to focus more on why I want to do this during my waking hours. One of the most helpful tricks I found was Steve Pavlina’s suggestion to do a set (10 reps) of getting out of bed after the alarm goes off (I’ll post that link when I find it). I tried that last time and it really worked.

Previous Attempt
Preparation

Piece of cake, as expected. I actually read in the middle of the night, probably the hardest thing to do when I’m tired. I did have about 15 minutes of wondering if I should really get out of bed after my core. In a few days, it will be dangerous to stay in bed and ponder this question, even if I’m sitting up, instead of getting completely out of bed immediately. I got up and consulted my “why am I doing this, again?” list.
My schedule:
3-6 am core
12 pm nap
5:30 pm nap
11:30 pm nap

I think this schedule will be easier to follow than my previous one (core 11-2), because I’m normally more sleepy 3-6. Also I normally get up around 6, so at least it’s something my body is familiar with.

I slept fairly deeply for my core, and did not sleep during naps, although it felt good to lie down. For both my 12 and 6 pm naps, I checked the clock 1 minute before the alarm was scheduled. I think my body remembers this.

The book I almost finished last night is Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. It really affected me, and I want to eat more like a vegetarian now. Which should make polyphasic sleeping easier, many say.

I’m much less enthusiastic about going through the adjustment phase than the first time I tried this. I was gung ho before, which was helpful when it was difficult. This time, I remember how hard it was! But, remembering how hard it was does give me more motivation to not oversleep, which will allow me to adjust more quickly.

I want to be a bit more scientific this time (as much as I can be – I’m a graphic designer, not a doctor or biologist). This is what I’ve done to prepare:

• Consulted an acupuncurist: I wondered if it would be more beneficial for me, in particular, to sleep at one time of the night rather than another, because in Traditional Chinese Medicine, certain parts of the body are regenerated at specific times throughout each day. I speculated that 4 am might be a good time to be sleeping because that’s when the lungs are regenerated, since I’ve had asthma and other respitory problems in the past. I went to my acupuncturist to get a general health diagnosis, and to ask him this question. He said he didn’t think I could do it (sleep less) because my chi isn’t strong enough, but he said it doesn’t matter what time I sleep, except that it’s after 12am. Oh well, I was hoping I might make a unique contribution to polyphasic sleepers.
• Cognitive tests: I took assessment tests on Lumosity.com to get a baseline for cognitive functioning (to do this create an account, which is free for the first week, click on the assessments tab and take those tests. This set of tests only takes 15 to 30 minutes to complete)
• Doctor checkup: I hadn’t been to the doctor in awhile so I went ahead and got a routine blood test and told my doctor why.
• Trying to be healthy: I tried to take good care of myself the week before (getting regular exercise and sleep)
• Noted body temperature: I took a baseline temperature, since sleep deprivation can affect your metabolism (according to my dad, who is a biochemist). I wondered if this might have anything to do with Aeia gaining weight after a year or so of polyphasic sleeping. Her experience is one reason I decided to follow everyman 3 instead of everyman 4.
• Offered myself up for a sleep study: I called Penn University, because they have a sleep study program. No one responded, but I discovered that the person who studied polyphasic sleeping for NASA is there (David Dinges)!
• Made a schedule: The easiest thing for me to do when I was most tired in the middle of the nightwas washing dishes. So my idea is to keep this activity for night time, and also shower/dry my hair then instead of the morning, because those things are mildy active and require little thought. I didn’t do yoga before, but it seems like a good idea too, for the same reasons.

I have already forgetting how hard it was before. I can see what parents mean when they say in a few years they forget all about how sleep deprived they were when they first had a baby, and they decide to do it all over again.

During the summer I followed everyman 3 for about 3.5 weeks. I started to oversleep toward the end, about every other day, which is probably why I got sick. The last couple of days, though, I was able to stay up during the most difficult time for me (2 am to 6:30 am) and even READ. But I decided to go back to monophasic sleeping until my cold went away, because it was persisting more than a week.

Through this experience I gained a greater appreciation for sleep, and my whole perception of being tired shifted from thinking I wasn’t rested much of the time, to realizing I felt pretty good most of the time.

I also experienced:

• Felt pretty good or normal during the day, at least half of the time.
• Felt calmer: maybe this is because I gave up coffee, which I drank heavily before
• Achiness on the 2nd day (maybe due to lower growth hormone secretion, which is replenished during sleep)
• Sensitivity to sugar: I developed an aversion to sugar. This makes sense because sleep deprivation has a huge imact on blood sugar (article). So polyphasic sleep may be risky to someone who has blood sugar problems, at least before they adjust.
• Frequent hunger and thirst during the first week: When I read that hunger is a fake-out caused by sleep deprivation, which disrupts the appetite controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin (article), I decided to eat only a few almonds when I felt hungry. I did not have this sensation after the first week.