Its been 24 hours since my brother and I started our polyphasic sleep experiment. For those who are unfamiliar with the idea of polyphasic sleep you can read more here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep My brother and I are currently attempting the Dymaxion cycle which is supposed to be the most difficult to adapt to... We are leaving room to experiment if we must but for now the goal is 4 half hour naps in each 24 hour period.
We chose this cycle because it seems to be the most efficient and the easiest in terms of schedule. The uberman cycle is the one I read the most on but it requires 6-7 naps per day and I think I'd rather just have fewer naps but slightly longer. The reading I did on uberman though showed that longer naps could often leave the sleeper more tired cause they would enter delta sleep so I'm hoping this does not become an issue.
Maybe because we're training for Dymaxion sleep we'll get REM for a half hour each time we sleep... That would be optimal but if that does not end up happening we might shift more to the uberman cycle as the main goal is to just get more time. I'm not particularly concerned with the exact method so long as it doesn't harm my body or result in oversleeping.
So far my alarms are working well, I wake up. This last time waking up though I didn't feel as refreshed as the other two naps I took today. This worries me a little because the hardest part is supposed to be the period from 1AM - 5AM on the second day... I'm 24 hours away from this period so my fatigue is definitely a concern.
Even as I write this I feel myself wanting to nod off and I'm definitely struggling to keep myself alert. Zombie mode is 100% engaged. I look forward to my next nap at 10:30 this morning.
Its incredibly strange to watch the sun come up while I'm awake, hearing the parents stir and then rise from their sleep. The world is getting brighter so that should help me stay awake better. Every time I blink I feel the weight of my eyelids and its a struggle to lift them. I'm trying to keep my thoughts positive and focused on the end results rather than this nightmare of an adjustment phase.
My brother and I just finished a five mile hike and that has helped a lot. I feel much more alert now and I think this is very possible. I might be taking a lot of walks for the next few days in order to help myself adjust and that is fine with me. We have already been walking a lot so adding an extra walk or two a day doesn't seem like it can be anything but beneficial.
I am pretty spaced out still. I just got a call from someone who wants to take Tai Chi lessons and I told them I have to call them back cause I just can't hold an intelligent conversation right now. I'm too focused on trying to stay awake that talking feels like a waste of energy. My brother and I are usually pretty talkative on our walks and this morning was pretty quiet. Most of our conversation revolved around sleep haha. We've both agreed we'd rather take more naps than give up on this experiment so tonight I may add an additional nap just to get through what is supposed to be the most difficult phase of the adjustment period.
Overall I feel a lot better than I thought I would so that is good. I am still a little worried about the next 24 hours cause honestly, waking up this morning was brutal. I was fighting sleep for nearly 2 hours. Sitting was hard because I just felt myself drifting so I kept standing and walking around the house. We'll see how the next few hours go, 10:30 AM nap is quick approaching so I'm hoping I get better sleep than I did for my 4:30 nap.
One cool thing is that I got a lot of work done on a new painting. I started it just for this experiment to make sure I cold keep my brain nice and busy to help fight fatigue and it worked for the most part. 4 AM got pretty brutal, I ended up having to play some videogames cause I was going crosseyed looking at my art which made my eyes tired. Not a good thing when you're trying to fight fatigue!
The next day should give me a much better indication of how difficult this will actually be... Food wise I'm trying to eat healthy. I keep reading a vegetarian or vegan diet is optimal so I'm making efforts to avoid meat and dairy as much as possible. My dad got out a raw cook book and suggested I make everything in it haha. I think he just wants free raw food!
Typing this is actually a bit tiring so I feel like I should end it here and go back to drawing or pacing around the house. ZOMBIE MODE!!
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