Friday, September 3, 2010
Posted by Chris on September 25, 2009
From today on I will update weekly. Most things that can happen, have already happened sometime in the first 30 days. So a weekly summary should give a better overview of my progress.
Posted by Chris on September 24, 2009
Day 30. I made it all the way through with only 3 or 4 really bad over sleeps. Today I got woke up at 2:35 by my backup alarm clock. I had my regular alarm (iphone) in my hand and didn't even know it. I thought that was a pretty funny start into day 30.
Now I know 30 days isn't enough to really judge polyphasic sleep but i will give my 30 day point of view analysis here. Note that these are pertaining to my self and others may have different results.
Monophasic: On average people sleep anywhere from 6 - 10 hours on a normal monophasic sleep schedule. In my case id say i used to sleep 8 hours on average. But just because its monophasic and normal doesn't mean its perfect. I had plenty of days where i woke up tired after 8 hours of sleep.
Theoretical average productive hours = 16
Actual average productive hours =14.5
Basically i think sleeping in on weekends and sometimes 9 - 10 hour nights during weekdays brings monophasics # down to 14.5 hours for me.
Biphasic:(siesta)
Just before i started the polyphasic experiment i tried the Siesta sleep for about a week or so. It worked very well for me in that time frame, but of course i don't have any long term data. On average you sleep a 6 hour core and a 20 - 30 minute nap some time during the day. Very flexible and still good gains over a monophasic sleep schedule.
Theoretical average productive hours = 17.5
Actual average productive hours =17
I was very impressed with it for the short time i tried it.
Polyphasic:(everyman3)
I cant really say much about uberman or the other everymen because i have not tried them. I imagine everyman2 (4.5 core 2x 20min naps) may be pretty good. And I might try it some day, but for now ill get into everyman3. On everyman3 you take a 3 hour core nap and then 3 20 minute naps spaced evenly through out the day. This should give a good hourly gain while still giving some flexibility in napping.
Theoretical average productive hours = 20
Actual average productive hours =17.5
Yes, at this point in time im only getting about 17.5 hours worth of actual productive time. Here is the reason why. Tiredness: I fall asleep during my naps and dream like I'm asleep for days. I take all 3 of my naps and my core but I'm still tired when i wake up at 2 am. On average when i haven't oversleep within the past 2 days. I will be tired for at least 1 hour after waking up and at least 30 mins before the first nap.
So there is 1.5 hours right there. Then there is the matter of accounting for falling asleep time during the naps and core. I give each nap 5 mins and the core 10. that ads up to 25 mins. And finally i get tired before each nap and start to loose focus so that's another 10 mins of tired time per nap(noon,5pm and core) adding up to 30 minutes. When its all set and done I spend 2 hours per day tired and unable to focus and 25 minutes trying to fall asleep.
Overall its still a huge gain over Monophasic sleep but it is unclear if its much of an improvement over the siesta sleep(0.5 hours gained vs only taking 1 nap). I will continue with everyman3 for another 15 - 30 days to see if i adapt better and reduce that tired time. If there is no improvement i will probably try the everyman2.
Any experienced polyphasic sleeper input would be appreciated.
Posted by Chris on September 23, 2009
its 2am and I'm up. After a initial wave of tiredness I feel ok now. No need for any supplements today. Unless of course you count ice water and loud music as supplements.
Day 29, only one more day until polyphasic sleep should be a habit as per the 30 day rule. So tomorow I get to pick a new 30 day habit to try out in addition to continuing polyphasic sleep.
Day 29 recap: Pretty much a normal day again.
Posted by Chris on September 21, 2009
Here I am, 2:10am, had set my self 3 alarms and focused on jumping out of bed and only turning the alarm off standing. Well it worked, and after my eyes got used to the light I didn't have any more problems. I feel pretty good and not very tired, but that's because I'm caught up with sleep due to the over sleeps. I know the next few days will get tough but ill stick with it.
Day 27 recap: Pretty normal day. No tiredness or anything.
Posted by Chris on September 20, 2009
I'm down on my self, I over slept again(does it really matter how many hours?). From your standpoint it must seem like I've gotten lazy or something. I think whats happened is that I'm so used to the sleep experiment that I'm not focused enough at 2am to jump out of bed right at the first alarm.
When the experiment was new i was excited to jump out of bed and report on my progress right away. Now its just more routine and I'm focusing on many other things. I have been hitting the snooze button in the past but somehow i managed to turn off 2 different alarms and fall back asleep this time around. I think its partly because the alarms do wake up my girl friend and i want to turn them off for her but i need to make sure from now on to get up before i turn off any alarms.
From now on: Standing up required to turn off alarm clock!
Posted by Chris on September 19, 2009
2:20 am, I'm extremely tired, and my eyes hurt. Jumping jacks do nothing neither does caffeine. I took a lot of caffeine to try and power through to get back on schedule after the over sleeps and other problems I've had over the last 2 days. But its useless, i cant stay wake at all. I fall asleep standing up. Given enough time id probably fall asleep while doing jumping jacks. So at 4am i finally gave up trying to stay awake and took a extra 20 min nap. Now at 4:20 i feel pretty good. Awake and focused really. I think it was just that i got up at 3 yesterday and at 2 today. All these recent changes probably made my body slightly mad at me haha.
Posted by Chris on September 18, 2009
Well its 3 am. I couldn't fall asleep last night at all. Last I remember was at 12 when I changed my alarm from 2 to 3. But I'm pretty sure I was awake after 12 on and off too. Other then that i feel pretty good. Awake and focused, ready for Friday! Its the last week to complete the first 30 days so I'm going to be hardcore about not oversleeping and keeping it exact. I want to see results!
Day 24 recap: Pretty normal Friday no other news.
Posted by Chris on September 17, 2009
Ups i did it again! I don't know if it was the food but i overslept all the way until 7 am(5hours oversleep). I remember the alarm going off and hitting snooze but i don't remember turning it off. So as added security i will set my phone alarm for the first wake up again. I used to do it before but i didn't have that much of a problem with oversleeping.
Looks like things might get interesting again after all. As before i feel pretty good but its like i slept to much.
Day 23 recap: I did try to take all my naps but had a hard time falling asleep. Same goes for the core.
Posted by Chris on September 16, 2009
Pretty much the same as day 21 so far. I'm still pretty sore from my workout but that's still within the norm.
day 22 recap: I did get pretty tired around 6am and had to take my 7 am nap a bit early. Also i had work related lunch so i had to push one of my naps by over an hour. The food was of course greasy and way to much.
Posted by Chris on September 15, 2009
3 week anniversary! I don't feel quite as awake as yesterday but its not bad. I'm definitely partially adapted now. I fall asleep within a minute on every nap. I get tired around nap times and stay awake mostly during the rest of the day.
Day 21 recap: I started getting sore during the day from yesterdays workout. Seems pretty normal so far.