Published 03 Jul 2012 18:17
Published 2 Jul 2012
Here marks 2 weeks of (pretty) successful polyphasic sleep! I figured I'd take this opportunity to reflect on my experience thus far.
Primarily, I'm glad for the minimal number of mishaps. I did have one (rather large) mistake on night number 5 where I slept from 10:30 PM - 6:30 AM, and one instance where I accidentally fell back asleep for an additional 1.5 hours on the 8th or 9th morning. I've only had to substantially delay my nap once, and I've never had to skip a nap. Compared to the track record of other polyphasic sleepers on the internet, I'd consider this to be great.
My performance seems to be on par with that of my previous sleep schedule, although it's honestly hard to tell, since the way I feel right now is what I'd call "normal", whether or not that's how I felt before. The only way to know is by keeping this detailed analysis going when I eventually shift back into monophasic sleep, but until then, life is good.
The suffering through the adaptation period was quite minimal compared to transitions to other, harder sleep schedules like the Uberman. I haven't felt sleep deprived at all since day 6 (minus brief exceptions for alterations in my schedule) after my 8 hour crash, and while it's plausible that it's still fueling me, I highly doubt it, since if I wasn't adapting my energy levels would mirror those of the first 6 days.
I have not yet experienced any health issues. I was concerned about tiring my eyes quickly, but they are just fine, oddly enough. No physical exhaustion, even after some trying exercise (including yesterday morning when I went to the gym with a friend and had my first serious workout since transitioning) - on the contrary, I never woke up stiff and sore like I would after 8 hours in one position.
I've experienced numerous lifestyle improvements both from [preparing for the transition,] and [during it.] Beyond those dietary/exercise/self-disciplinary changes, I've also been learning Spanish, improving my musical skills, maintaining a clean room/house (that's amazing), learning about investment opportunities, helping a local political campaign, socializing with my friends, reading a plethora of fictional books and philosophical papers, maintaining this bloggy-thing, and playing copious amounts of video games. All without being too tired.
So, I'd consider this experiment to be a great success - even if things went chaotically downhill right now, the last 2 weeks alone have made the transition worth it. And look at that… it's nap-time! :)
So many updates; I can hardly keep track ;)
Timothy Foster - @tfAuroratide
Auroratide.com - Go here if you're nerdy like me
Post preview:
Close preview