Polyphasic Sleep Experiment: Days 2 and 3
I’ve been on a Beatles kick recently. Nearly all of my music consumption has been a rotation of a few of their albums. As a result, I could sum up most of most of the 2nd 24 hours with a reference to track 10 of the first disc of The White Album. It’s called “I’m So Tired”. ;)
Really, though, it all started out pretty well. Early on (at the ~9pm nap time) I was at a gaming session with some friends, and I was presented with the mildly awkward situation of asking for a quiet space to nap. I played it very matter-of-factly, and related to them openly and honestly about what I was doing.
It was a pretty good idea to ask like that, I think, as we actually ended up having a nice discussion on meditation techniques and the benefits thereof. And then he let me sleep in his bedroom, so it was doubly nice.
After that, I read through the night again and did some small chores. Sleep times were just around where I wanted them to be (a little late on the ~1:00 am nap, like 10 minutes) and didn’t last longer than the 30 minutes I’ve allocated for them.
The great thing, in my opinion, came from the 7 am nap. I dreamt solidly through that, though it was not lucid dreaming. I also awoke right before the alarm actually went off. I was ecstatic that I was potentially adapting very fast. Work was a breeze in the morning, but it was a pretty tough drag through the afternoon. Usually when exhausted, it’s my debugging ability that suffers most, so, to cope, I only worked on small tasks that required basic fact checking, or trivial programming tasks that would not require much, if any, debugging. Got through it. Barely.
After my next nap (~5:30 pm) things got rock-solid good. I pulled out my guitar to go ahead and play some. I figured that the creative skill and manipulation were not suffering greatly, and it was a good, engaging way to pass the time. It should be noted that I have a pretty on-again-off-again relationship with my guitar. I’ve owned it for nigh on five years. I’ve even taken lessons. But I play it at just around a beginner level. Most of the music that I want to play, though, is quite above that level, and I don’t know good stepping stones to get better. So, I’ll pick up practicing again, make a little progress, get mildly stuck, and stop playing for another few months.
Why is this noteworthy? I played better than I had played for a long time. The aforementioned Beatles kick lead me to grab the complete Beatles songbook from OLGA. I was surprised to see that I could just about play Blackbird and Rocky Raccoon at full tempo. Like I said, I’m just a beginner, so for me this was very rewarding.
Anyway, after that, I decided to stay on the music binge and pull out my hand drums to play around. Again, very rewarding. The practice of musical instruments seems an excellent way to pass the time for me, as it was both stimulating and along the lines of some of my personal goals.
Later that evening, I was just beaming, I was in such a good mood. Don’t let me mislead you, though: I was still feeling sleep deprived. I had developed a headache from light exposure (my pupils were dilated almost constantly that day). I was just really happy about it. Like really, really happy. Nigh manic happy.
When my wife came home, I just jabbered on and on to her about this, that, and the other. This is a bit odd, because I usually de-stress from work in silence, and so rarely talk about my day in this way. Wonder if this will be a long term effect…? I will post more on my thoughts of the supposed antidepressant / euphoric nature later.
After dinner, we decided to go see a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as we’re both fans (and we’re both geeks). As result, I took my ~9 pm nap earlier, and the midnight hour nap later. Didn’t seem to affect much, really. This just re-enforces my guess that the timing doesn’t need to be as rigid as stated by many; but, I’m speculating here.
The remainder of the night involved me reading more and blogging more. However, come my 4 ‘o’clock nap: My first largish over sleep. I ended up oversleeping by an hour. Broke my schedule pretty poorly, but I still took my 7 am nap.
The oversleeping actually may have been a boon, as I *really* felt good during the day, and zipped through a lot of work with a clear mind and a solid focus. My lunchtime nap also contained dreams. They weren’t lucid, but it’s still more good news!
Other naps for the day went as planned. Then, I packed for the weekend – we were going camping, which vastly increases the physical activity I do daily. It also takes me away from a large number of potential activities with which to spend the time and avoid sleeping. Both of these were going to be pretty big challenges…
-sean
Really, though, it all started out pretty well. Early on (at the ~9pm nap time) I was at a gaming session with some friends, and I was presented with the mildly awkward situation of asking for a quiet space to nap. I played it very matter-of-factly, and related to them openly and honestly about what I was doing.
It was a pretty good idea to ask like that, I think, as we actually ended up having a nice discussion on meditation techniques and the benefits thereof. And then he let me sleep in his bedroom, so it was doubly nice.
After that, I read through the night again and did some small chores. Sleep times were just around where I wanted them to be (a little late on the ~1:00 am nap, like 10 minutes) and didn’t last longer than the 30 minutes I’ve allocated for them.
The great thing, in my opinion, came from the 7 am nap. I dreamt solidly through that, though it was not lucid dreaming. I also awoke right before the alarm actually went off. I was ecstatic that I was potentially adapting very fast. Work was a breeze in the morning, but it was a pretty tough drag through the afternoon. Usually when exhausted, it’s my debugging ability that suffers most, so, to cope, I only worked on small tasks that required basic fact checking, or trivial programming tasks that would not require much, if any, debugging. Got through it. Barely.
After my next nap (~5:30 pm) things got rock-solid good. I pulled out my guitar to go ahead and play some. I figured that the creative skill and manipulation were not suffering greatly, and it was a good, engaging way to pass the time. It should be noted that I have a pretty on-again-off-again relationship with my guitar. I’ve owned it for nigh on five years. I’ve even taken lessons. But I play it at just around a beginner level. Most of the music that I want to play, though, is quite above that level, and I don’t know good stepping stones to get better. So, I’ll pick up practicing again, make a little progress, get mildly stuck, and stop playing for another few months.
Why is this noteworthy? I played better than I had played for a long time. The aforementioned Beatles kick lead me to grab the complete Beatles songbook from OLGA. I was surprised to see that I could just about play Blackbird and Rocky Raccoon at full tempo. Like I said, I’m just a beginner, so for me this was very rewarding.
Anyway, after that, I decided to stay on the music binge and pull out my hand drums to play around. Again, very rewarding. The practice of musical instruments seems an excellent way to pass the time for me, as it was both stimulating and along the lines of some of my personal goals.
Later that evening, I was just beaming, I was in such a good mood. Don’t let me mislead you, though: I was still feeling sleep deprived. I had developed a headache from light exposure (my pupils were dilated almost constantly that day). I was just really happy about it. Like really, really happy. Nigh manic happy.
When my wife came home, I just jabbered on and on to her about this, that, and the other. This is a bit odd, because I usually de-stress from work in silence, and so rarely talk about my day in this way. Wonder if this will be a long term effect…? I will post more on my thoughts of the supposed antidepressant / euphoric nature later.
After dinner, we decided to go see a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as we’re both fans (and we’re both geeks). As result, I took my ~9 pm nap earlier, and the midnight hour nap later. Didn’t seem to affect much, really. This just re-enforces my guess that the timing doesn’t need to be as rigid as stated by many; but, I’m speculating here.
The remainder of the night involved me reading more and blogging more. However, come my 4 ‘o’clock nap: My first largish over sleep. I ended up oversleeping by an hour. Broke my schedule pretty poorly, but I still took my 7 am nap.
The oversleeping actually may have been a boon, as I *really* felt good during the day, and zipped through a lot of work with a clear mind and a solid focus. My lunchtime nap also contained dreams. They weren’t lucid, but it’s still more good news!
Other naps for the day went as planned. Then, I packed for the weekend – we were going camping, which vastly increases the physical activity I do daily. It also takes me away from a large number of potential activities with which to spend the time and avoid sleeping. Both of these were going to be pretty big challenges…
-sean
posted by Sean @ 11/18/2005 08:39:00 PM
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