Polywood

I’m converting to uberman. It would probably be more prudent to fully adjust to everyman with the work schedule I maintain, but for the sake of scientific experimentation I have submitted my discomfort towards the betterment of human kind!

Here is my schedule for 20 minute rest periods at each time:

4:35am-8:35am-12:35pm-6:35pm-10:35pm-2:35am

I do get rather tired during the afternoon stretch but that is unavoidable. And once I hit the 6:35 I sleep like a baby. In fact, today I only slept for 10 minutes and woke up fully charged. I don’t intend, and I wouldn’t suggest anyone else, cheat out on minutes like that, but the dream I had was a rather crazy one and I really doubt I could have went back to sleep being so charged waking up and with that dream on my mind.

It still amazes me how intricate and long a 10 -20 minute dream can really get.

As if my body knew it was time to start making moves! This is the first 2 hour core I’ve FULLY awoken and felt absolutely refreshed (after the days when deprivation set in of course, days 6 / 7)

So  now it’s a question of keeping to the core or moving to try uberman….

A very hectic day and don’t think I fully went to sleep for one of my rest periods, but no matter I made it.

My core is coming up in about 30 minutes and I have made a pretty profound choice. If my core sleep, of which if you have been following are the rest periods that suck the most, makes me feel like that groggyness  again I’m going to switch to uberman. I don’t know if I can fully blame the groggy period being because of the 2 hour core, but the evidence is really stacking up against it. EVERY single 20 minute rest I take leaves me BOUNDING out of bed ready to take on the next thing… every single one! I’m dead tired, I go to sleep for 20 minutes and I wake up like BAM! And then you’ve got my core, I’m dead tired, go to sleep for 2 hours, wake up and like WTF TIRED for the next 30 minutes – hour.

So after much deliberation I think if it doesn’t work out this time I’m going to try uberman and see if constant 20 minutes rest periods throughout the day changes anything.

There is indeed a concept out there that purposes that everyman is actually HARDER BECAUSE of it’s longer length of sleeping periods. And not because of the short 20 minute ones, but because of the core. It makes sense because, although I do want to give my awesome body credit, I can’t say with any certainty that my body knows the difference between the 20 minutes and the core right now. Sure if I gave it more time it would eventually adapt, but my body is GETTING the 20 minute concept. It understands exactly what I need and delivers, leaving me rested. But when it comes to the 2 hour core my body is sort of confused what to do with it.

So as I said, I’m going to give it one more night then I’m going to try out the uberman. The ONLY reason I didn’t try the uberman before is I really didn’t think I could fit it into my crazy schedule. But I do believe I have figured out the most probable times that I can get some rejuvenation.

I “stole” this from another polyphaser and adjusted it slightly

4:35 am
8:35 am
12:35 pm
6:35 pm
10:35 pm
2:35 am

as opposed to what I am doing now; with 12-2am, 8 am, 1:20 pm and 6:40 pm 20 minute.

Now you might be thinking that I certainly didn’t space my uberman out evenly, but this is really the only way I could do uberman as my work is unrelenting after lunch noon. If it doesn’t work no biggie, I’ll do everyman with a smile. It’s Judgment day for everyman for my 2 hour core tonight though.

I’ve just been sucking up material on this topic as I finally broke the news to my coworkers what I’ve been doing. I didn’t want to tell them that I WOULD be doing something like this, as that would automatically think any lag on my part would be accounted for by my lack of sleep, which wouldn’t be the case. In fact, they admitted to noticing NOTHING different about my behaviour these past 9 days. But I did tell a couple, to which I was told that I would die. How pleasant.

On that note I have actually been reading on such a topic… can lack of sleep induce premature death? No research proves that directly. There was a study done that showed that people suffering from insomnia and who only received 4-5 hours a night had a higher probability to die sooner, but it was due towards their proclivity to abuse pills because they thought there was something “wrong” with them, that they weren’t normal. If only the doctors would have filled them in. Thai Ngoc is a old guy who claims to have not slept a wink in 33 years, AL Herpin being another confirmed non-sleeper case. Both of these men died of natural causes, and on top of that they didn’t sleep AT ALL, not the 2-3 hours we’re getting… they received Zero!

Here is a cool article I found linked to a wikipedia page: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/59/2/131

It actually shows a slight increase in longevity due to sleep less. Of course the ends never justifies the means, but wouldn’t that be cool or what?!

Wow these tired spells hit fast. I was wide awake when I started writing this day 9 blog. Now I’m falling asleep here. I wanted to say though that my most tired parts of the day are right around 3-4-5… and no I don’t know why. I don’t even know why I brought that up.

Wow the morning after cores are rough. Not as bad as day 7 but still a challenge. I’m glad polyphasic is a difficult thing to accomplish, it really says a lot about a person who can do this. Neither good nor bad, but it just defines people.

When I was in college I noticed that most of my closest friends shared a very similar quality. They all were very independent, and very social. They cared about their style and physical appearance and were all just fun loving, drama free people. It was a nice realization, because I could tell pinpoint a person that I’d get along with immediately.

I feel it’s the same with this polyphasic sleeping. The type of person that can do this, along with the type of person that even CONSIDERS doing this can be quantified into a similar grouping. A person that seeks their own answers in life and doesn’t sheepishly follow what others say is possible. A person willing to take risks and has the willpower to follow through. And a person that is a little crazy, borderline schizo… haha

My correspondences with people about being able to do this gets responses all over the board. From people telling me that I’m an idiot and will be dead soon to others immediately interested and desiring to know more so they can make their own conclusion. Whichever you feel is the case is fine, but just as long as the decision comes from some sort of research and contemplation then you’ve got my respect. It’s the people that have done no background investigation, have tried it to only fail and then subsequently say it is impossible because they can’t do it, or the people that just outright dismiss the issue before hearing anything out are the people that I quickly get myself away from. I can’t imagine living life believing everything so bullishly. Where’s the growth? I myself have encountered outlandish ideas, or at least ideas that seemed outlandish at first, but my first reaction was to hear it out before making a decision. Those types of people are draining.

Anyways, woke up at 2 am feeling ok. Was working on building my laptop computer and ended up lying down for a sec on the ground, BAD IDEA! Slept for like 10 minutes and then jolted myself up from sleep. I now have a jug of iced tea next to me that I have been sipping of off intermittently all morning. I personally and currently don’t believe that any sort of caffeine is good on this sort of life hack, but I have read some polyphasers using stimulates with no problems. My experience with coffee yesterday turned out to be ok, so this is something I’m just going to have to find out on my own. But I will say that drinking something COLD is a great way to fight off the tiredness temporarily.

I haven’t been able to quantify this phenomenon I’m about to mention, but I do think it is worth note since I read someone else having the same problem and then quitting polyphasic afterwards. I have never had a headache from doing this sort of sleeping but I did have a sort of pressure type feeling in the exact same area a headache WOULD BE say I had one. It’s a weird pressure, I like to imagine it is the feeling of my neurons rerouting/rewiring themselves due to this deprivation of sleep, but I don’t know. I first experienced it on the 3rd day, and on the 4th 5th it did get a little unnerving at times but nothing threatening. Just felt like I was flexing my brain…. as I said it’s hard to quantify.

I definitely want to adapt to this everyman schedule first before I make any sort of changes, but I have been heavily considering figuring out a time schedule without the 2hour core I dread.

Crazy long day.

I felt great this morning, on top of the world. Singing and going on while driving my car, looking at everyone else in their cars rubbing their eyes or yawning.

Afternoon rest at 1:20 was on schedule and felt amazing. I’m really getting the hang of going to sleep quickly.

If anyone has trouble going to sleep for their short rest periods I have some suggestions. And for the record it used to take me FOREVER to fall asleep when I was monophasic. I have a very overactive mind, and the quieter things are, like when I’m going to sleep, I will end up thinking non-stop about the most random things. Pertinent things towards my life, but random. What I usually had to do was put on a movie or something that I had seen MANY MANY times and it was the ONLY way I could make myself to go to sleep monophasically. So when I first heard of polyphasic sleeping my first and hardest challenge was to conquer getting to sleep so quickly. Because I wouldn’t be able to watch a movie anymore doing this.

I quickly learned a way that works for me and the conditions that must be present for myself to fall asleep quickly. The warmer the air is around me the easier I fall asleep, like if I fall asleep in my car in the afternoon as opposed to falling asleep in my bed at night. Yes it is winter but I live in Los Angeles California… where it is basically a perfect forecast everyday.

Take my mind of trying to sleep; run a make believe situation in my head. Not something that I need to accomplish, or anything about myself. But think about, I don’t know, like a dog running through the field and everything the dog experiences. Yeah, I know it’s weird but it works for me to not TRY to sleep

Get into a rhythm of breathing, breathe semi-deeply, deeper than a normal breath and stay in that mode, try to make it automatic as you focus on your imaginary image.

relax every muscle in my body. Try to fall into your “bed” whatever it may be.

And MOST importantly, above all else. Don’t RUSH into your sleep period. This morning since Fry’s opened at 8am and 8 am was my rest period I decided to take my rest a little early at 7:40 am. I was listening to music the drive up but as SOON as I saw it was 7:30 I started to let myself calm down. Turned off the music, let my tiredness slowly take over. There’s some guy on youtube who, at one point in his scenes, is standing staring at his clock, telling his friend that he needs to be asleep in 3 minutes for his rest period. Seriously dude?! really?! If that were me, I’d already be in the bed focusing on passing out.

So yeah that’s what works for me.

Being warm, sleeping on my side (I prefer my left), running distracting pleasant images in my mind, purposefully breathe heaver than normal, relaxing muscles (especially your face muscles), and proper preparation right before.

On another note, I’m not sure if the 7:40am rest that was supposed to happen at 8am had anything to do with it but I was INSANELY tired right before my 6:40pm, like really tired 2 hours before so I took a couple of sips coffee at work which did the trick. I was worried it might hyper me up past 6:40 but there were no repercussions as I was so tired already.

Going to hit my 2 hour core at 12 am in about 20 minutes. Dread the longer sleep periods, but let’s see if my body has adapted any further into understand what the core is for.

I’ve been up from my core since 2am and finally finished putting together my new computer. Quad-core for the win, too bad I don’t play video games anymore, this machine is a beast! My intention is to start doing some heavy editing, just need my solid-state hard-drive and the sky is the limit.

Ok, so back on topic. Woke up from my core and had the usual odd feelings, but it was only for 30 minutes this time. Significantly less than the 2 hours on the 7th and nowhere near as tough. The 7th feels so long ago, haha. In fact, what makes it feel this way is that I picked some freelance work on Sunday morning and had it FINISHED and submitted Sunday night, the guy paid me this morning. BAM $295… pay me! My schedule is WIIDE open and allowed me to get it done with no interference since I’ve had so much time of recent. And some people don’t see a reason to do polyphasic sleeping?! lol, and no I did not watch the superbowl. I don’t really like the Yankees anyway.

Anyways, I feel absolutely fantastic right now. Not in the least bit tired, I even laid down for a bit just to collect my thoughts and I had no proclivity to sleep. And if the rest of the day with my Three 20 minute resting periods goes as they are expected to go I’m going to feel great all day today. So let me quantify my Monday thus far. I only struggled for 30 minutes this morning, I am going to feel awake and alert for the rest of the day and that day will be about 21 hours long.

I’m so stoked for this, I can hardly believe I’m doing this.

I had a funny thought last night… well the thought itself wasn’t funny but the implications were. I ended up buying something from Fry’s that I didn’t really need and could easily get it cheaper but it was an impulse computer component buy. I’m going into work around 9am and I know I’m going to be SLAMMED after going through all of my checklist. So I figured it would be best to go to Fry’s 8am early morning to return the goods and my FIRST reactionary response was something along these lines “Dag, I’m going to have to get up so early to just make it there, I’m going to be tired all day”… I then just laughed to myself for my brief mental lapse.

That thought will never have to enter my head again.

Not much to say except for that things are going well. I used to look forward to my 2 hour core of which is coming up in about 15 minutes. But after this morning, which feels like it was a week ago, I’m kind of starting to hate the core. To the point that I’m considering doing the Tesla of which I have been reading about. Of course this would be sometime in the future after I have already adapted to this, but if the Tesla schedule is possible than I’m all for it.

I believe the greatest and most profound change I’ve experienced with polyphasic sleeping vs monophasic sleeping is the way in which polyphasers get tired. Let’s put it this way, if I were transported into someone else’s body and I had to tell you right off the bat if this person were a polyphasic sleeper or a monophasic sleeper I could definitely do so.  It’s the way you feel. In monophasic there is this kind of slow transitional state that takes place all day, from a little groggy in the morning to more alert, to feeling great, to getting a little tired, to getting exhausted or getting a second wind etc etc then pass out. Polyphasic is 80% more like wake up alert as all hell, alert go to work, alert time to workout, alert let’s go have fun… and then all of a sudden it hits you like a truck, and you start to get tired FAST. One second I was driving feeling awake, and 5 minutes later I was looking at my clock to see when my next sleep period was because I got hit by a truck of tiredness. Of course this only happens when my sleep period is within 45 minutes… like right now. No gradual “over the course of the day” get tired, I’m up and at em for hours and then BAM, 45 minutes till next resting period and my eyes start to get heavy. It’s not the bad tired though, it’s the tired where I COULD stay up easily if I wanted, but I could definitely sleep if I stopped.

Of course this situation refers to my 20 minute resting periods and right before my core, like now. After my core has been a completely different story, hope it changes soon. But I’m enjoying this whole ride for sure! I’m never going back to monophasic.

I must add that it is important to have some time to settle ones self before a resting period. When I first tried this a year ago with loud roommates I thought I could go full speed right up till my next resting time and I would fall asleep on the dot. Not so. Whatever I’m doing 5 minutes before a nap I COMPLETELY stop. I get in bed, concentrate on slowing my breathing and slowly pass out.

Speaking of it’s that time righ…. GONE, VANISH, POOF!! ha

Typically I write my blogs at the end of the day right before I take my 2 hour core at 12 am but this couldn’t wait.

So that there is no confusion, this is my 7th day and the post below this kind of “bled” into day 7.

I was INSANELY tired after my core when I woke up at 2 am. For 2 hours I really am not sure what happened, I didn’t sleep but I think I went catatonic staring at my computer monitor, hhaha, but seriously I probably did. And I think I know what happened.

Given I did not get to sleep exactly at 12am for my 2 hour core, I think it was more around 12:10 or 12:15.  On top of that I am pretty positive I did not dream a second during my 2 hour core, but I can’t be sure as it is well known that the best way to remember your dreams is to wake up during it and since in the 2 hour core I probably was on a different phase I may or may not have dreamed without knowing. Either way it was probably the worst I felt after waking up from core, and core has just been sucking of recent. I’m positive I dreamed of nothing and suffered from 2am till my  next scheduled time at 8am. (Notice how I dodged the word “nap”). On the flipside, as soon as I got to the 8am I had dreams up to ying yang… I’m talking EPIC stories man all taking place in the span of 20 minutes and now I feel great.

So my conclusions, although they are grossly over estimated, are currently that my core must be taken on time or I will have a terrible 2 hour resting period that gets nothing done. Either that or end of day 6 and day 7 are just like that for me. I know I will recover during my next resting period at 8am if it happens again, but that was brutal stuff man, something I’d much rather pass on.

I’m sure I’ll have some flexibility sometime in the future to play +15 on my scheduled time to rest when I have fully adapted, but for now I need to follow my schedule like it’s the law… I am stoked though that it’s not an all day thing, one scheduled 20 minute rest and I’m back to 100% – more like 90% but whatever.

On that note I had an epiphany during my 6 hours in hell from 2am till 8am; even if this is how it is every time after my core I am still awake and am still being productive more so than being completely passed out in an 8 hour slumber. I could mess up a thousand times and be in this adaptation phase for months on end and I’d still do it, why? Because I HATE sleep like the plague. I hate it!!! Every time I walk by my bed I give it the middle finger, I’m serious! All of the things I have done thus far while being in this sleep deprived state of existence has been well worth that deprivation.  It’s absolutely amazing and I do believe one day everyone will be doing this. EVERYONE. And not because they saw it on some internet blog and it sounds cool, but because it makes practical sense to preserve ones time.

Of course there is the flipside to this as well. All things that can’t be accounted for until it happens… like someone who is polyphasic DYING from it. Or dying younger than they properly should have. Or some sort of odd ailment that comes from doing this type of sleep. No one can ever know unless it happens, which I doubt it ever will, but one can never say never.

So for the sake of science I am submitting my life to this cause! HOO! RAH!

I really don’t get it… I’m just not as tired as I would have expected I would be. I know it’s only the end of day 6 but I was sure by this point I’d be battling a war.

Two things I must note.

As you may know from reading my blog I am on an everyman with a core of 2 hours and 3 x 20 minute nap periods. Ironically enough I am only tired, and slightly disallusioned, for an extended period of time after my 2 hour core sleep. A little research on this produces the fact that this is actually normal although counter intuitive.

Secondly, since I have had previous experience with polyphasim (new word) I realize that the only way I fail is when I convince myself that I can’t continue due to x, y and z. Roommate is too loud, or I have things I need to do, or what do I really need the extra time for… all of which could be valid reasons. But the problem here is that these reasoning come in DROVES when I am tired, and have the ability to get the best of me. I have done this polyphasic sleep before and made a mental oath to disregard ANYTHING my mind comes up with to deture me, short of auto shutting my body down to get sleep. Although a small mental excercise it has definitely saved me a couple of days after my core sleep when I am disallusioned but can reason enough to just get back in bed, but I never do which is great.

—

Ok so I wrote that right before my nightly core at 12:00 am for 2 hours. It’s now 4 am, and I literally just had an angel’s and demon’s battle with my body for the past 2 hours.

I woke up fine but the tiredness didn’t go away till about now. And not just, oh my eyes are kind of heavy, I mean like I can’t function tired.

Crazy. I’ll write about it later, I need some sort of activity to get me out of this grog.