Polyphasic Experimentation

Day14 (nap3)

2009-09-25T08:14:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day14 (nap3)

Friday, September 25, 2009

8:04 AM

So, around 5am I took a short 3rd nap, and then at 6:30 I took the official nap3. And you know what? As of right now, I'm feeling like that was the best idea in the world. I have energy; I feel like I've got more rest in those 2 naps than any other time in the past day. A notable difference is my ability to quickly identify with and understand the styles and intricacies of music that is new to me. Oh, and it's not like I'm listening to generic pop-rock or anything haha. I'm analyzing the techniques, style, and ebb and flow of classical music, primarily piano-centred. Trust me, it's not exactly easy to say, "ok, now after this note the pianist will drop down a scale or go up two…" K, soo… PSA time:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	1
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	3

Day14 (nap2)

2009-09-25T04:45:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day14 (nap2)

Friday, September 25, 2009

4:38 AM

Ahh, sweet, glorious slumber :) It was quieter around the apartment by 3:30am today… imagine that, college students actually do effing sleep (eventually). With that said, I still have many naps to catch up in sleep to what I really want. Because, as noted, I've skipped a couple of naps in the past 24hrs, and haven't really had much opportunity to recover from those choices. Luckily though, This past nap was good. In fact, I think I'm going to finish this post and then soon take another nap (around 5am-5:20), just because there's no reason not to. I'll do some light exercise beforehand, but I see no long-term problems with catching up on the rem-sleep that I truly do need from yesterday. And since right now seems to be a good quiet time, I am going to take advantage of it (soon). PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	2

Day14 (nap1)

2009-09-25T01:27:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day14 (nap1) -Meditation>sleep b/c college kids are loud-

Friday, September 25, 2009

1:03 AM

I'm not quite sure what it is about college students that makes them behave in this way. I, as an "adult," recognize that perhaps certain rules of behavior and decorum ought to be observed after certain hours of the night. 12:30am, for example seems to me like a time when I probably should not be screaming/yelling while outside, unless there's some1 chasing after you or something. And yet, every Thursday through Sunday, this is what I consistently hear. Not with an open window, mind you, but through closed panes of glass, covered with blinds and a good-fabric drape. And it's not just girls who scream either, though their blood-curdling shrills are definitely the worst of sounds; the guys seem to believe that, perhaps to show off their extreme masculinity, they must yell in deep baritone with monotonic syllables (though not actual words).

Needless to say, this situation makes it more than impossible to nap, which leads me to the actual explanation of Day14's first nap (N1). As stated, it was not an option for me to actually fall asleep during this nap, so after ~5min of trying, I decided to do something that I hoped would be just as useful but not involve unconsciousness. As I lay on my bed, I began a breathing-exercise-meditation. The entire exercise probably lasted roughly 5minutes, but it did leave me feeling incredibly relaxed and at ease. Essentially, I would breathe in for 1,2,3 or 5 seconds; hold that breath for roughly 2x as long (2,4,6, or 10sec.); exhale for the same duration (1,2,3,5); and hold that lack of oxygen for about 2x as long again (2,4,6,10sec w/o any air in lungs). In this way, you both relax and engage your lungs with alternating systems. During the inhale+hold, you feel as though the lungs are relaxed, b/c they are filled with air. Then, during the exhale+hold, there is a feeling of tightness and semi-desperate need for air as the lungs are deprived of any oxygen. Obviously, you begin with whatever feels comfortable, and only move forward by a few seconds to challenge yourself. By the end of the exercise though, you should be able to hold your breath on an inhale for much longer than at the beginning of the exercise. You will have also slowed your heart rate considerably (for the time being).

PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Oh, by the way. HEB trip recap: ~1hr in the store; ~$45; 2weeks worth of veggie food, AND effing amazing hazelnut/chocolate spread (like nutella but 1,000x BETTER)!!! No joke, this stuff tastes fucking awesome! It's like a healthy, organic smore, but in spreadable form. REALLY REALLY good on rye crackers.

Day13 (nap7)

2009-09-24T22:44:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day13 (nap7) Scary alarm = sleep before getting up

Thursday, September 24, 2009

10:33 PM

During this nap, I actually had a fair amount of trouble getting to sleep. Maybe it was the Farmville(browser game on facebook) playing I've been doing haha. To be honest, it could be any mixture of things; lack of naps, the big smoothie I had ~1/2hr before nap-time, noisiness… It doesn't really matter. The important thing is that I did manage to get a couple minutes of sleep. I've realized that the easiest way to tell whether I've actually fallen asleep is if I'm scared by my alarm when I get up haha. If I basically jump off of bed and hurry to turn off the noisy thing, that is prolly a sign that I was actually asleep. If, however, I am not afraid of the unknown noisy thing in my room, and just languidly get up to turn it off, then I will know that I was definitely not asleep. So, from here on, I will use this as a factor of analysis as to whether I was really alseep, or if I'm just wishing that I had been. I don't even know why I would have to do this, but I'll try it out. Looking back at this paragraph, it sounds like I don't know my own body very well and am willing to lie about it. Heh, whatever. PSA Time:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	3
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	5

Hell, if nothing else, I'm hydrated! That's what 2smoothies is 1 day will do for ya though (no milk in 'em; just fruits). At any rate, I didn't make it over to HEB last night, so I'm going RIGHT NOW. I have got to pick up some things or I won't be able to get through the week. Like, for instance I'm out of Kirkland Soy milk (super cheap, but tasty boxed-soy-milk). That's just a catastrophe. I needs me some Kirkland juice lol. Oh, and avocados! Haven't had any in ~1month.

Day13 (nap2-6)

2009-09-24T22:32:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day13 (naps 2-6) together

Thursday, September 24, 2009

10:07 PM

Today was a busy day. I ended up skipping naps 4 and 5, just because I had quite a bit of homework & a test. I'll make up for the skipped naps, but I wasn't about to fail a couple of things just because I wanted to lie down for a bit. Here, I'll just be posting PSA's, because that's about all that I've got.

Psychological State Analysis Nap2( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	2
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	3
Awareness of surroundings	2
Feelings of anxiety	4
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Psychological State Analysis Nap3( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	3
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	4
Hydration Level	4

Psychological State Analysis Nap6( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	1
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	4
Hydration Level	5

Nap7, having been completed, has it's own post just as most others have before it.

Day13 (nap1)

2009-09-24T01:38:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day13 (nap1)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

1:14 AM

Got to sleep for a little while on this nap. I was thinking about too many things. I should've just written down the ideas for after the nap and gotten on with it, but I decided to think about them instead. Of course, now I barely remember the main ideas. Mostly it was just remembering what homework I needed to do this morning. I have a Human Resource Management test, but it's only over 4chapters, so that shouldn't be a big deal. Then I have to read 2 articles for Marketing Research. The prof is cool, but his research papers, as with almost any research, is dry and boring. But, like I said in D12,N7 even seniors have homework. So, without further stalling, that's what I'm going to do. After PSA…

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	4
Hydration Level	3

Hey, I'm about to go do homework. That's gotta count for productivity, even if it's an expectation of future productivity.

Day12 (nap7)

2009-09-23T23:28:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (nap7)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

10:23 PM

Light, and fluffy, followed w/ a good dose of refreshing psychological time-extension. That's how this nap was. I ended up falling asleep fairly quickly, and then progressing easily through to what I believe was REM sleep. Obviously, I must be getting some amount of REM to be functioning as I am these days, but I still don't have a solid method for proving when I get it. Of course, I could simply use dreams, but that's still not seeming very reliable for me. Maybe I'm just being dumb about it though. At any rate, I'm hopefully gonna go do some late-night shopping at HEB (much better produce than Walmart). After that, I'll take nap1 of Day13. Finally, after that nap, I will hopefully move to writing a descriptive about the sunset today (it was amazing) and my homework. Ah, yes, even Seniors in college have homework, sad as we are to have to admit such a thing. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Day12 (nap5-6) -skipped-

2009-09-23T21:04:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (nap5&6) skipped

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

8:47 PM

Not much to this one; I skipped 2 naps, because I had a lot of stuff going on & didn't have time to sleep. Given that I have 3 extra hours from the ill-conceived Everyman attempt, I feel like fine. Just a little while longer 'till nap7, as the final nap of the day. Then, I'll put up a real log/report.

Day12 (nap4)

2009-09-23T10:47:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (nap4)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

10:37 AM

No sleep during this nap period, but it restful. I definitely shouldn't have been greedy earlier on N3. I've learned my lessons though haha… No everyman, and don't be greedy about dreams. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	3

Day12 (nap3) back on uber

2009-09-23T08:31:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (nap3) real update

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

8:24 AM

Haha, ok so this was pretty ironic. When I laid down to take this nap I wasn't sure what to expect. What I ended up experiencing was AMAZING. I fell asleep very quickly, and slipped into a dream. It wasn't just a dream-state, or anything like that; it was a full-blown dream, which means… REM sleep!!! Ok, so I ended up finishing that dream (probably in ~7minutes, which felt like hours) only to briefly wake up, fall back asleep, and… Another dream! This was totally unexpected, and I don’t even remember the dreams, but it was awesome nonetheless. Definitely seems like my body is saying "uberman is better than everyman!" PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	1
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	4

I was dumb and decided to try for 3 dreams, after my alarm went off, so I reset it for ~15minutes. This just led to slight drowsiness, and obviously not following schedule correctly.

Also---> I LOVE how, while following uberman scheduling, waking up is a pain in the ass, but after waking up I quickly become more energetic until about 30min before the next nap. It's like the nap is revving up my body's engine as opposed to just charging a battery and hoping it doesn't die out too quickly.

Day12 (mini-update) -everyman=no bueno-

2009-09-23T07:03:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (mini-update)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

6:58 AM

Ok, so it's almost 7am, which means I've only been up for ~2hrs since my 5am nap. Eff this! I'm going back to Uberman Right Now! Switching to Everyman was bs! I'm just about as tired right now as I sometimes am in the 2am-6am range on Uberman. Seriously, this was a bad idea. I'm taking my Nap3 30min's late, but other than that I'll be back on schedule. Just consider the stupid experimentation with Everyman as an unintended 3hr oversleep. That's still not much of an oversleep, but at least I know that on Uberman, that'll translate to about 1 whole day of amazing cognitive ability. I'll suffer from it a bit on the psych. Level, but that's something that can be easily overridden.

Day12 (nap2-3) -alt. core=

2009-09-23T06:22:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (nap2-3) -alt. core-

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

5:57 AM

This nap is somewhat difficult to categorize, but essentially I slept from 2am-5am (3hrs) as an Everyman "core" sleep period. I've decided that, if I stick w/ this Everyman method, I will be following a 3hr core + 3naps structure. That will provide me with a solid 4hrs sleep every day, which is still a significant cut from what most people receive (we Americans are true sleep-whores). The "ALTERNATE" schedule can be seen on the Home Page of this blog.

Just over a week ago, I would have typically gone to sleep around 11pm or midnight, just to wake up at 8am or even 10am. So, 4hrs of sleep, as compared to 8 or 10hrs, is a real difference, and one that I hope to be proud of. During the next few days, as I'm testing out the "Everyman" schedule, I urge any1 following the experiment to submit any ideas about this change.

I know that Everyman is, in some regards, easier than uberman, in that it is more forgiving if you shuffle nap-times around. I have also heard, though, that to be fully adapted to an Everyman schedule can take upwards of 2months. If this is the case, then look forward to seeing fewer and fewer blog updates.

However, my ultimate goals are for Everyman to springboard me to an even easier Uberman adaptation. If, after a couple days on Everyman, I see no significant difference in feelings or the ever-acclaimed PSA charts, I will revert back to Uberman adaptation and continue where I "left off."

And with that light mention of them, let us turn our attention to this nap's (core) PSA chart:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	2

Aha, there's something I didn't consider when looking at switching to Everyman. Hydration levels are going to drop, due to the extended amount of time (3hrs) that I am actually asleep. This may not seem like a big deal, and it probably isn't, but I do find it interesting to look at.

Day12 (nap1)

2009-09-23T01:26:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day12 (nap1)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

1:11 AM

Nap1 ended w/ a level of distress that I'm noticing all too frequently these past few days. I am extremely tired still, and I believe I will switch to "everyman" and simply do a core sleep from midnight-3:30 or so. Actually, I have a better idea. I already have a nap from 12:30am-1am, so I'll continue that one. Following that nap however, at 2:00am, I will begin a 3hr core-nap. This means that I will then be getting up at 5am, which is fine by me. That will allow plenty of "awake" time still, and then I'll keep Naps(4,6, and maybe 7). That would be ~4hrs of sleep every day (3hrs core + 3x(20min. Naps). I think that should be reasonable, but I'll test it out here soon and see if it's really viable. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	3

Oh, and I started writing a true journal. It's not going to be posted, so don't count on seeing it.

Day11 (nap7)

2009-09-22T23:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11 (nap7)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

11:20 PM

Well, I made it through my boring Promo. & Advertising class, which was truly an accomplishment. Aside from the scenery, there's not much going for the class. Honestly, I learn practically nothing from the lectures. It's all just abstract theory, and the prof has been out of the actual business for far too long to actually be "up on the times." Heh, I definitely like my team though. Not only do they seem like they will genuinely care about our project, but one of the girls… hmm, nah the online post doesn't get to contain every little detail. Haha, yah yah, I know there are only like 3 of you who even read this blog, but still… You get the gist anyway. Oh, but I'll give you this tidbit- she is very astute.

At any rate, back to the topic of the blog; this being the last nap of D11, I was pleasantly surprised that it was restful. I was not, however, pleasantly surprised when I was once again woken up by loud noises (this time my room-mate slamming the clothes-washer-door…) It's not that people are inconsiderate, it's just a bit of a curse that some of us have actually trained our senses to be more acute (yes, I'm being vain here; deal w/ it). PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	5

Time for dinner :) So weird to eat whenever I feel like it. Thank goodness we burn more calories on this schedule; I'd be in trouble if that weren't the case.

Day11 (nap6)

2009-09-22T23:33:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11(nap6)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

4:35 PM

I had to be somewhat quick on this nap, because I had a meeting back at school that I had to attend (I'm the team leader). I've actually been taking an active leader role in most of my classes this semester, and it's felt really good. Thank god I'm on polyphasic though; it gives me a lot more time to get things done and fine-tuned while every1 else just provides me with the rough data. I can see this as being a skill that transfers over really well to my actual career. At least, I hope I can work it in. It wasn't raining anymore when I laid down to nap :( but it had cooled off even more :). I really hope that this cold-front sticks around. It would suck for it to just last a couple days and then disappear. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	4
Hydration Level	4

Day11 (nap5)

2009-09-22T23:31:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11 (nap5)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

1:44 PM

It had started drizzling again when I laid down to take this nap. Unfortunately, I woke up really scared, because a friend came over and accidently scraped her umbrella against my window while I was asleep… At least it was close to the end of nap-time. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	4
Calmness	1
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

I'm really glad that it's raining, and that there's a cold-front attached to it. It makes the whole day a lot better :) I'm not being sarcastic here folks… I seriously love this weather. ASAP, I'm moving to Seattle.

Day11 (nap4) skipped

2009-09-22T12:27:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11 (nap4) skipped

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

12:26 PM

Like the post says, I skipped this nap. I had to write a paper, and wasn't feeling all that bad, so I decided to forego nap4, and will just hope that later naps will suffice. I'm sure they will actually, so it's all good.

Day11 (nap3)

2009-09-22T12:24:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11 (nap3)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

7:19 PM

Went to sleep ~6:25am, and woke up at 6:50, so that's good. Still not in the mood to write though. Sorry folks, I'm just too tired, plus I have class soon. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	3
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	1
Memory recall ability	3
Awareness of surroundings	3
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	1
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	3

Still raining outside, so it looks like I'll be damp when I get to class today. Time to break out the umbrella.

Day11 (nap2)

2009-09-22T12:19:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11 (nap2)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

4:33 AM

I inserted a 2am-2:20nap before the official Nap2 from 3:30am-4. Managed to get a bit of sleep on this nap, but was definitely still tired after getting up. It had begun raining, which was very pleasant :) PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	2
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	3
Awareness of surroundings	3
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	1
Hydration Level	3

Day11 (nap1)

2009-09-22T01:34:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day11 (nap1)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

1:33 AM

As may be noticeable, I didn't write anything about Day10. This was because nothing interesting happened all day. It was just repetitive napping, and I didn't feel like writing. I'm only doing nap1 of D11, because I feel slightly guilty about D10. Didn't get much sleep in nap1 here, but I'm kind of getting used to that. Oh, and the series premiere of Heroes came on last night. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	3
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	3
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	1
Hydration Level	3

Day9 (nap7)

2009-09-20T22:26:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day9 (nap7)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

9:55 PM

This nap was somewhat restful. I believe it was something similar to what Puredoxyk has described about some her sleeping habits while adapting to uberman. Essentially, I not quite asleep, but my body was technically "asleep." It was similar to having a foot fall asleep due to improper positioning, but the effect was through my entire body. The whole thing started fairly slowly, centering around my legs. Since I had an idea of what might be happening, I tried a couple different things. At first, I tried consciously trying to have it expand down to my feet. That made the effect seem to dissipate from my legs, so I calmed down and let it resettle. Then, I decided to go with the opposite method. I tried to calm my body even further, slowing everything down. After I did that, I tried just "coaxing" the feeling further around my body, which worked wonderfully. This was an interesting twenty-ish minutes that didn't involve any actual sleep, but that was restful nonetheless. Oh, and as for the whole mp3 thing… well, I guess we're just going to wait and see if it works when I actually do fall asleep on one of these next naps. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	3
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	5

Day9 (nap6)

2009-09-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day9 (nap6)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

8:25 PM

I managed to fall asleep for this nap. I used a modified mp3 that I had extended to ~20minutes, plus a second mp3 track that was louder and that I used as my "wake up" file. The "sleep" track definitely helped relax me and get me to sleep. I'm not so sure about the "wake up" song though, because I still only woke up when my regular alarm went off. When I woke up, the music was off, which was a little weird. I'll be testing this method again at N7 (9:30pm-10). PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	3
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	4

Last nap of the day comin up. Looking forward to testing this mp3 method out again :) Hopefully I can get to the point where it is my primary alarm with only annoying ones as "backups."

Day9 (nap5)

2009-09-20T13:50:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day9 (nap5)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

1:37 PM

Didn’t fall asleep on this nap, but I did rest some. It's weird, even after the oversleep, it seems like my body is still trying to get used to the whole polyphasic thing. That's definitely a promising sign. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	4

Day9 (nap1-n4)

2009-09-20T11:20:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day9 (nap1-n4)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

10:50 AM

K, so here's the day that I was looking for, but also kind of dreading. I just got up after sleeping from ~1:30am-10:30, a 9hr oversleep. I know why it happened, and I even know how to prevent it next time. I was feeling sorry for myself, about not being able to sleep because my neighbors were loud, so I allowed myself to sleep under my sheets and even brought my alarm (ipod touch) to bed with me. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that an adapting polyphaser will hit the snooze button and eventually turn off an alarm as soon as possible. And with it in bed with me, it was very easy to justify going back to sleep for "just a little while." Basically, it was a mixture of terrible judgments, which ultimately led me to sleeping much longer than I should have.

The good news, however, is that because of this massive oversleep, I have less accumulated sleep-dep, which will lead to a minimally easier time adapting from here on. Also, I have more information about what not to do, and better evidence of my own limits of willpower. It looks like this haha: Note to self- NO sleeping under the sheets, nor alarm clocks in bed!

I know some ppl would look at this and decide that it was a sign that I should just quit. Hell, some people would have already quit! I had basically done so by day5 of my 1st attempt. It's hard, and it's boring at times, and people give you some strange looks. But, you know what, I'm using this as a mid-experiment mini reset. Like, I was in the middle of a race, and just glanced back at the rest of the pack to make sure I was moving on at a good enough pace. Sure, that made me trip a bit, but it won't cost me the race!

I am going to do a PSA for this, because we can use it as a kind of benchmark to say: "It looks like monophasic sleep is better" OR "Looks like monophasic isn't any better than poly."

PSA:

Psychological State Analysis FOR BENCHMARKING MONOPHASIC( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	3
Schedule Adherence	1
Productivity	1
Hydration Level	1

Well, looking at the PSA, without any variance software or anything, I'd say there are definitely some differences. Obviously the last 3 criteria have very low scores. It's interesting that I didn't rank anything as "perfect" though. That alone points to either extreme bias in multiple polyphasic posts, or a lacking of perfection behind monophasic. And, to be honest, I think if we were to look back at the polyphasic posts before this, we would find a fairly rational person who extracts as much bias as possible before filling out the PSA's.

Day8 (nap7)

2009-09-19T23:17:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day8 (nap7)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

11:05 PM

For some reason, I was anxious before this nap, and that feeling hasn't really alleviated even after I did nap. There's just no real sense of calming. I wish there was, but I have a feeling that it's because of the book series that I've been reading this weekend. Haha, oh wouldn't it be a hoot for those very few of you who are actually reading this if I wrote what I was really thinking. Alas, some risks simply cannot be taken. Just be glad that you get to read those previous 2 sentences. I seriously thought about deleting them and just leaving it all very vague. Consider the tantalizing mystery as my treat to those faithful readers. Who knows, maybe 1 of you will actually figure out a bit of the mystery. But, haha, honestly I doubt it. PSA time: :)

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	4
Calmness	1
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	4

Maybe it's all slipping away… but I won't let it. I'm stronger, better even than some things. I just wish I could… find that whim I'm looking for.

Day8 (nap5)

2009-09-19T14:01:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day8 (nap5)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

1:56 PM

Ended up waking about 15minutes into the nap, because a friend of my room-mate came by. It's weird, I've always been a semi-deep sleeper, but during these naps I'm a fairly light sleeper. It's hard to explain, but I hope it keeps up. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Waking up initially still feels difficult, but once I'm up, I notice a significant change in energy level. I like almost always feeling like it's the beginning of a great new day, as opposed to hoping for the end of the day so I can get some rest.

Day8 (nap4)

2009-09-19T12:27:00.002-05:00

Day8 (nap4)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

12:19 PM

Naps are somewhat starting to run together, which is disappointing. I hope everything begins to pan out a little bit better. This isn't bad, it's just not the "exhilarating" that most ppl talk about. Maybe I'm just not there yet. I do know that I'm going to stop rambling about this nap, and just do the PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	3

Cashews = Fantastic :) yum yum yum… Doing work on projects = boring, boring boring :(

Day8 (nap3)

2009-09-19T12:26:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day8 (nap3)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

7:30 AM

I sort of love this nap time haha. I'm normally at my computer, and I get to see the very beginnings of dawn before going to nap. Lol, I just realized, that makes it sound like I'm some kind of vampire wow… I couldn't really blame people for thinking that kind of thing about this experiment and the psych./physical effects that it has on us "test subjects" haha. It's still just barely light outside, and it is really nice. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	4

Day8 (nap2)

2009-09-19T12:25:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day8 (nap2)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

4:30 AM

This nap was much more restful than the 12:30pm-1am nap (nap1), primarily because it had quieted down outside. I ended up sleeping for ~30mintues I think, because I went to bed a few minutes early. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	3
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	3
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	1
Hydration Level	3

Day8 (nap1)

2009-09-19T02:33:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day8 (nap1)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

2:26 AM

I took this nap after getting back from visiting with friends. I decided to leave a little early since I had a nap soon and, surprisingly, everybody understood or at least expressed understanding about my leaving. Perhaps I just have very good friends, but I'm very glad that I have them. Fall is coming to my town :) I can feel it! PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	3
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	3

Day7 (naps 1-7)

2009-09-19T02:24:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day7 (naps1-7)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

11:13 PM

Today was the 7th day in the experiment. I know that should have signaled me to continue taking good notes for the sake of accurate research, but I just didn’t' feel like it. I did stay on schedule (mostly) but, I never really got to a point where I felt like writing about the day. I think I was just bored. Hell, I'm bored now, but I figured I had to write something. No PSA's, nothing else for today. Just a very lonely post of ~75words. Day8 will go back to "normal" postings.

Day6 (nap7)

2009-09-17T23:49:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day6 (nap7)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

11:42 PM

Final nap for the day. Didn't really sleep again; just rested. I do enjoy the feeling of restfulness and then stretching out when I get up. Now, I'm just reading a book. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	3

I'll prolly get some more water before next nap (day7,n1). I don't want to have to report a 2 or lower for hydration.

Day6 (nap6)

2009-09-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day6 (nap6)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

7:32 PM

I just barely got to sleep during this nap, but still didn't come out of it too tired. Hopefully, I can begin to get some solid consistency with this whole thing now that I seem to be recovering at least a little bit of lost sleep. Granted, it's supposed to take quite a while to fully adapt, but I know that I've at least had a couple of good signs. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	4
Hydration Level	3

Had dinner & sent out some emails about class projects.

Day6 (nap5)

2009-09-17T20:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day6 (nap5)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

3:30 PM

I didn't fall asleep for this nap. I have a feeling it was because I had such a good nap4 :) and so I'm ok with not sleeping, but rather just resting. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Day6 (nap4)

2009-09-17T11:59:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day6 (nap4)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

11:52 AM

This nap was weird. I again used the method of envisioning a dream while trying to get to sleep, which helped me drift off quicker. However, in addition to that, I woke up BEFORE my alarm went off, and I felt like it was one of the most refreshing naps I've had yet. It seemed like the nap lasted longer than 20minutes (I actually worried that I had overslept again!). Not saying that it was perfect or anything, but it sure as hell felt good to wake up and be less tired. Right now I'm in a super-good mood, and I hope it continues :) PSA Time:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	1
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Damn good scores, even though it's a subjective chart. I'm thinking that today's gonna be a GOOD day :)

Day6 (nap3)

2009-09-17T11:50:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day6 (nap3)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

11:43 AM

I actually don't remember this nap now haha (as per the time of writing it is 11:43am). The nap(nap3) was from 6:30-7am lol. OH, ok I do remember it now. I took a nice warm shower, and then did manage to get a small amount of sleep from ~6:40-7. Then, I got up and had breakfast & went to 8am class. Ironically, I was a little better rested from that nap than from the stupid-ass oversleep. I hates teh oversleepies :)

PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	3
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	3
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Day6 (nap1-2) :(

2009-09-17T05:21:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day6 (Nap1-2) :(

Thursday, September 17, 2009

5:04 AM

K, so I accidently slept from nap 1 (1am-1:30) past nap2 (3:30am-4), to ~5:00am. Fairly disappointing, given that I know I must've woken up at some points and "decided' that it would be a good idea to go back to sleep. The worst part is that I don't even feel all that rested! And, my back hurts. Thankfully, as well as interestingly, I did only oversleep by ~3hrs total. Multiple people, primarily Puredoxyk, have mentioned that 3hrs is about the max oversleep that they experience, so I'm not overly concerned. I would like to note though, that "not overly concerned" does not mean I don't care. I still care quite a bit, especially since I am having to write in a groggy haze of oversleep now. Haha, as show of just how disoriented I was upon waking up, I had thoughts for about 5minutes about either completely changing my schedule, or just ending the experiment (neither of these options will be pursued). I am not changing anything. My body will simply have to adapt, given the situation. It's Thursday, which is the last day of classes for me. That means I can be much more strict about my scheduling, as well as lazier to facilitate napping properly. PSA time:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	4
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	1
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	3
Awareness of surroundings	3
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	1
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	3
Schedule Adherence	1
Productivity	1
Hydration Level	3

Haha, TERRIBLE scores on everything, even hydration. Oversleeping = Really effing bad...

Day5 (nap7)

2009-09-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day5 (nap7)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

10:54 PM

Well, looking back at my prior attempt, I have improved. Last time, I only continue updating (and it was only daily updates) up to day5. That will certainly not be the case this time. I am making progress, I think, and I'm not about to give up. This time will be different! I will NOT fail again. Not only that, I WILL improve my overall character and productivity throughout this experiment! This is not just an experiment in self-validation. This is a life-improving plan. Now, PSA time:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

I was snack-hungry after just resting during this nap (very peaceful, but no sleep). Also, with this post I am officially "caught up" on posts for the blog :) Now, off to email/facebook correspondence & maybe some yoga-ish stuff afterward.

Day5 (nap6)

2009-09-16T22:52:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day5 (nap6)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

5:48 PM

Got a little sleep during this nap, but not much. It's weird, but it seems like today just wasn't a very taxing day. I'm not even all that tired, but I guess I'm not exactly bouncing off the walls either. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	1
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	2
Hydration Level	5

Despite not getting much sleep time, levels look pretty good.

Day5 (nap5)

2009-09-16T22:47:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day5 (nap5)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

3:47 PM

This nap was only somewhat restful, and it was by no means perfect. There were some ppl outside who were being really loud, which made it tricky to fall asleep. 1 of the imperfections of living @ a student-oriented apartment complex. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	4
Frequency of odd thoughts	2
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	5
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Day5 (nap4)

2009-09-16T11:25:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day5 (nap4)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

10:58 AM

Nap4 went well. I dozed off once, and quickly woke up after ~10minutes. So, I changed position and managed to get in a bit more rest before the full ~20-30 minutes were up :). It's exciting to me to see that even though my body only waited 10minutes, I seem to be learning that sleep might be short-lived during nap times. Of course, there are still MANY days left to observe the true level of adaptation, because day5 is hardly a good benchmark (though at least I made it past day3).

It's 11:23 now. I got side-tracked online, so I'm just gonna put up the PSA. Oh, I added a line for "Hydration level." 5 is optimal, 1 would be like dehydrated.

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	3
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	3
Memory recall ability	5
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3
Hydration Level	4

Day5 (nap3)

2009-09-16T08:10:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day5 (nap3)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

7:58 AM

This was the 6:30am-7am nap. I mostly watched some tv and read before napping this time. I think that helped me get some good rest. Even with the extra water that I'm making myself drink, I'm fairly hungry now. This isn't exactly a remarkable thing, because I always have breakfast (typically around this time), but I didn't snack as heavily this early morning as I had in the past couple days. It could be a psychological/placebo effect though, so I'm not willing to assert causation due to hydration. I think most of you who read this blog realize that I am slow to claim "proof" of things. This is mostly because I do not enjoy being wrong, but also has roots in the way I was taught to use the English language. I am willing to imply certain things, but I almost always follow it up "caveat phraseology" so as not to dig myself into a hole of being incorrect. K, that's enough rambling about my own writing style. If you haven't figured it out by now, you probably won't do so anytime soon (this sentence is a perfect example of what I was just talking about!). PSA time:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	4
Clarity of thoughts	5
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	1
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	3

This OneNote tab is getting awfully full haha; 28posts (which means my blog has ~27). I'm about to have to start scrolling through the list of them soon.

Day5 (nap2)

2009-09-16T07:34:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day5 (nap2)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

4:46 AM

This is the nap from 3:30am-4:00am. It was super easy to fall asleep, but I overslept a bit. The alarms went off, I got up and turned one of them off and set the other for 10 more minutes. Overall, I don't think it'll affect me or the adaptation too much. I know, we're not supposed to take "extra" naps or we risk teaching our body that it can nap whenever it wants. I'm not making a habit of this; it was a slight slipup. PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	3
Hunger	1
Clarity of thoughts	3
Willingness to exercise	2
Willingness to write	2
Memory recall ability	3
Awareness of surroundings	4
Feelings of anxiety	3
Calmness	2
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	2
Schedule Adherence	2
Productivity	2

Haha, ok so Productivity is seriously suffering. I kind of think that it is one of the absolute best benchmark items in that list, but it's depressing(not in the blown-out-of-proportion, medical sense) to see it slipping so often. It makes sense logically, but I'm having to justify more and more things with that kind of "logical reliability" excuse.

Day5 (Nap1) & Hypotheses of effects of Hydration on Polyphasic Adaptation

2009-09-16T03:10:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to the very FIRST post of this Blog 1st Post of Day1

Day 5 (Nap1)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

2:21 AM

K, so I just barely drifted off for my 12:30-1am nap. Oddly, I keep waking up a little before my alarm goes off (set for ~25-30minutes). I am not willing to assume that sleep-training has started taking place, but it's certainly a neat coincidence if nothing else. So, I got up from the nap, watched the last bit of "The Express" on HBO, and then proceeded to go on a ~1.5mi run to wear myself out. The weird thing is that my legs are very sore. I think that I've figured something out though, and it relates to a topic we all hear and then dismiss: water consumption!

I feel like I've been eating a lot more, and I probably have, than when I was monophasic. The thing is, it hasn't resulted in significant weight gain, probably due to the extra calorie burning that is occurring with the extra hours of wake time. However, I believe that I have not been getting enough water on the polyphasic schedule, due to specific traits that I keep track of (stuff that people might be squeamish about). To that end, I would like to make a recommendation, that I have not seen in my research of polyphasic transitions.

!--> If you are adapting, or have adapted to a form of polyphasic sleeping, I would highly encourage increasing your personal hydration by roughly 25%-33.33% (1/4 to 1/3). The reasoning is this: Water is vital to everyday bodily tasks, and by going polyphasic, we demand more responsiveness from our bodies. Many of us notice marked increases in food consumption, be it snacking or even smaller but more frequent meal-times. It only makes sense that one should increase their H2O consumption as well.<--!

I will be making a conscious effort to increase my water consumption over the rest of this experiment phase, and will provide details of any responses/discovery that I find and can reasonably attribute to increased H2O levels. My early-stage hypotheses about the effects of increased water consumption are as follows:

Better balance of hydration-to-food intake, which will alleviate aches/headaches/restlessness/etc…
Potentially could lead to easier adaptation phase as it directly relates to falling asleep & waking up. Simplified= It could be easier/ feel better when trying to fall asleep & wake up if you are properly hydrated for polyphasic needs.
If you attempt exercise while adapting, or even afterwards, it seems to make sense that the body would require increased H2O levels to maintain similar levels of fitness/intensity as when you were monophasic.

During monophasic life, there were ~8hrs of "downtime" where less H2O/electrolytes were used to sustain energy levels. Polyphasic DRASTICALLY reduces this amount of "downtime." i.e. Polyphasic = more "uptime." lol, literally.

It has been shown that hydration, specifically poor hydration, can lead to decreased cognitive ability (slowing of responses, lack of clarity, increased errors, etc…) Perhaps, a leading cause of the symptoms of "brain haze" associated with polyphasic adaptation can be attributed back to lack of proper hydration. If this is the case, then we could all see SIGNIFICANTLY happier/healthier/easier adaptation phases (something I am sure everybody would appreciate).

Realize that ALL of these hypotheses are simply that, and I have no proof or validation that hydration significantly decreases during adaptation or afterward. I am simply applying some exploratory reasoning on the topic. This thought process was initiated by my legs feeling quite tired after only ~1.5mi. Running when I am easily capable of going much further (~5-10mi's) in standard (not even optimal) condition. This worried me, and caused me to examine what could have caused the exhaustion that I felt. Please, if you are attempting, or have adapted to polyphasic sleeping, respond to this topic with whatever insight you have! I feel that this could be an extremely undervalued topic of discussion within the community.

PSA:

Psychological State Analysis ( 1=low --> 5=high)

Feeling of "Tiredness"	2
Hunger	2
Clarity of thoughts	4
Willingness to exercise	3
Willingness to write	4
Memory recall ability	4
Awareness of surroundings	5
Feelings of anxiety	2
Calmness	3
Frequency of odd thoughts	1
Errors of mind/typing	1
Schedule Adherence	4
Productivity	4

In light of the main topic in this post, the PSA seems like a pathetic aspect, but I decided to log it for consistency sake. Also, it's interesting to note that "good" indicators ("clarity of thoughts," "will to exer," etc...) are high, while "bad" indicators were lower. Haha, sounds like a commercial for cholesterol medication ("good cholest. HDL" vs. "bad cholest. LDL"). Realize that I'm 20yrs old, and don't eat meat… I don't know if HDL is the "good" or the "bad" cholest. It isn't an important bit of info for me, so don't be nitpicky and say that I reversed the two (quite frankly, I don't care if I did).