Posted by Chris on October 15, 2009
So the new Everyman2 schedule is working out great. I have had a few over sleeps and some weird habit of sleeping in after my 7 am nap on weekends. But other then that it has been very smooth. Easy transition coming from Everyman3.
So far its turning out excellent for exercise and diet. It seems to have enough rest and time spacing to get everything just right. I can eat at the right intervals and workouts fall just on the right times too. I still have a bit of a problem getting motivated to get out of bed at 3:30 but the results are worth it. Everyman2 feels less like polyphasic sleep though. The core nap is almost as long as a short Monophasic sleeper and the 2 naps don't really impact my day much. So i doesn't have as much novelty as everyman3 but on the flip side the social impact is minimal and it seems to integrate with the rest of the world very well.
I think over all Everyman2 is a very sustainable Sleep schedule for the years to come.
Posted by Chris on October 7, 2009
All in all a good normal week on the polyphasic sleep schedule.
Flipping between everyman3 and 2 seems to work pretty well. The reason for this is exercise and its supplements. Some of the supplements I take keep you awake for longer than 5 hours. So sometimes I just cant fall asleep during 1 of the naps and that pretty much turns the next day into a everyman2 to recoup some of the time lost. Its much harder to stay dedicated now that the 30 day experiment is over and It has turned into something habitual. I actually am less tired usually, its just so easy to not get up. Its getting a bit colder outside so its much easier to stay in my warm bed. Even with all the redundant alarms I had one 8 hour oversleep this week. I keep some warm clothes near my bed now to make it easier to get up in the cold.
Starting today I'm going to experiment more with a pure Everyman2 schedule to see if I could stretch 2 naps apart enough to get an 8 hour window. Why stick with what works ? Where is the fun in that, haha.
So my new schedule will be:
Core: 4.5 Hours 11pm – 3:30am
Nap1: 25 mins 7am – 7:25am
Nap2: 25 mins 4pm – 4:25pm
This has some significant benefits that could be very useful to a lot of people. There is a 8 hour window without any nap interruptions for work. And another big window in the after noon for exercise or other activities. The early morning time frame is a bit smaller but It was my least productive time so thats fine. And 3.5 hours is plenty to prepare for the day maybe do some cardio.
Posted by Chris on October 1, 2009
So the first week after the 30 day challenge is over. Over all it was a pretty good week. I had a 9 hour oversleep and a few minor 30 minute ones. Thanks to the oversleeps i feel much better and haven't had any terrible mornings so far. Since its past the first 30 days I now aim at productivity not polyphasic goal achievement. So if I'm deadly tired at 4am i will take an extra 30 min nap to get back to normal. Doing this actually improved my productive hours and made everyman3 much more worth it. As per my other 30 day experiment i am working out and lifting heavy weights. I also am taking my regular supplements again. So far i have not had any problems recovering. It doesn't seem any slower then usual.
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.