tiistai 17. elokuuta 2010

Day Six - It Hits Me Like a Train

Day 6.1
Naptime: 1:50 - 2:10, 20 min
Mental: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiredness: 0 1 2 3 4 5
REM: No.
Time since last proper sleep: 129h 10 mins
Succesful naps in a row: 17
Time since last oversleep: 83 hours 30 mins

I tried to take extra care to remember any REM etc. but didn't remember any of it anyway. God damn it, I want REM. Nap had a decent effect in terms of refreshedness. It was the usual quality as well, pretty fast falling asleep, instang wake-up to alarm. Though I might've woken up like seconds before alarm, not sure exactly.

I wonder how long this slight groggyness tiredness is gonna last? The whole adaptation process has been nothing like I expected. Where's the zombie mode? I'll take it that there's not such coming. I guess I'm lucky. I guess I should be trying to create some sort of schedule for myself next. 2 work phases doesn't sound too bad. I'd like to leave some phases permanently free to do whatever I want. I'll get on it now. I wrote one schedule during last attempt, but I really went overboard with it. It's stuffed with shit and I'm not sure anyone (least me) could follow it without burning out.

Day 6.2
Naptime: 5:55 - 6:10, 15 min
Mental: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiredness: 0 1 2 3 4 5
REM: No.
Time since last proper sleep: 133h 10 mins
Succesful naps in a row: 18
Time since last oversleep: 87 hours 30 mins

Same groggy & slightly tired shit. I was actually do tired I returned to bed but I knew I was doomed to oversleep if I'd continue & besides it didn't even really help so I got back up.

Short testing at typera.tk proved that I'm over 100 characters / minute behind my normal typing speeds, meaning that my motor skills haven't yet picked up like they're supposed to. Still, I guess it's early days of my adaptation. I should only get worried after ten days of perfect adherence and it has been barely 4 days since my last & only oversleep. I am feeling functional so no real troubles. 18 naps in a row.. That feels pretty awesome.

Well, I'm having surprising trouble right now. I don't feel right in the head and I'm a bit tired. A bit more than usual.. I'm afraid I might have as hard a day as yesterday. If you count from the oversleep, I'm only at day four now. That basically means that today and tomorrow will still be in the intensive sleep-deprivation range. And we know that I haven't been remembering many REM-phases during my naps.

The funny thing is that since I never adjusted correctly back to monophasic, instead sleeping inversely during day and staying nights awake my body still wants asleep more on the day. I have had my worst moments during the day which is lot of better than during the night, when you're all alone in the dark. It's easier to push through when sun is burning your eyes and there's people around you notifying if you start "nodding".

Day 6.3
Naptime: 9:45 - 10:30, 45 min
Mental: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiredness: 0 1 2 3 4 5
REM: No.
Time since last proper sleep: 137h 30 mins
Succesful naps in a row: 0
Time since last oversleep: 0 hours 0 mins

So yeah, I overslept, but hardly by half an hour, luckily there was people waking me. I hope it won't have too adverse effects on my adaptation. It shouldn't have anything worse except clearing my counters. And increasing my alertness. I'm hitting the zombie mode though slowly but surely. I need to be very careful now. Follow the schedule perfectly. Completely ace it. I don't want to come this far and ruin it all by getting lazy. No more oversleeps. Let's put in another 18 naps in a row.

I'll scratch all my productive plans for today. I am too wrecked to do anything. I need to divert all energy on staying awake and on the program.

I know that 95 % of this blog has been just me babbling randomly and it will intensify in coming days. I am running out of stuff to do. I mean by that, stuff that I can do while I'm tired that doesn't have big risk of me falling asleep. I can't watch tv or poker videos cause like I've said anything passive kills my brain temporarily. I can't do anything creative because everything is struggle and even if I'd manage to do something, it's mostly shit. I can't play poker because it demands far too much brainpower. Commodity that I don't have at the moment. So all there really is is writing this kind of boring to death but therapeutic flow of thoughts to the blog or play games that challenge my survival instinct. There really isn't much else to do.

One thing about the oversleep. I'll tell you exactly what happened: I went to bed already at 9:40, 10 minutes before the official naptime. I figured I'd read magazine for few minutes and that I could keep myself awake for that time. I fell asleep before I intended but I also remember staying awake for few minutes, so it's not that bad. Then I woke up to alarm 10:10. This wouldn't have been any kind of problem if I just haven't gone instantly back to bed after setting off alarms. Now I don't actually remember it so it's possible I hardly woke up. I just know that my alarms were sent off and that my computer's alarm had been set to 4 hours for the next nap. Basically it was 25 minute nap followed more or less without break by another 20 minute nap. It isn't that serious really, but I'm going to treat it as if it were. It probably won't reset my progress, it's going to be a step back but not massive. I still will look to beat the old nap-record again with run that starts now. I'll focus more on this. I have to. I owe it to myself. It really looks like that this time, I can pull it off. I just need to survive through these tough moments, that came in uncharacteristically late this attempt.

It's still over 2 hours to next nap. Looks like I'm going to have to type a lot this time.. Just joking. I'll grab something to eat and keep myself active. I'll be back to write about next nap, which hopefully is completely trouble free. I really need to consentrate on motivating myself to keep going and getting the fuck up immediately, not going back to bed or anything silly like that.

Rest of this phase went well. I played Modern Warfare 2 again and it refreshed me to the point that I actually might've got something productive done.

Day 6.4
Naptime: 13:50 - 15:20, 90 min
Mental: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiredness: 0 1 2 3 4 5
REM: Yes
Time since last proper sleep: 142h 50 mins
Succesful naps in a row: 0
Time since last oversleep: 0 hours 0 mins

Oh shit. Just what I didn't need - accidental oversleep number two and this was long enough to ruin my progress. I don't really know why I didn't wake up to my alarm. But now we really took a huge step behind. I'm not discouraged completely yet, but I feel like it's another five days for me from almost the beginning but with extra sleep dep to "get me started". Sucks really hard.

I feel so disillusioned. My sis told me she didn't know whether or not to wake me since she didn't know whether I was sleeping for real or not. I wrote my napping times up for her. I just wish I can get the ball rolling as fast as I can and can hit to that 2 days asap. Then survive through the worst sleep-deprivation before my sis leaves.

Everything so far has been for nothing. That feels the worst. I guess I should take solace from the fact that I didn't even deserve to go uberman so easily.

Day 6.5
Naptime: 17:50 - 18:10, 20 min
Mental: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiredness: 0 1 2 3 4 5
REM: No
Time since last proper sleep: 146h 50 mins
Succesful naps in a row: 1
Time since last oversleep: 2 hours 50 mins

Nothing much to say. Back on track.

Day 6.6
Naptime: 21:40 - 21:50, 10 min
Mental: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiredness: 0 1 2 3 4 5
REM: No
Time since last proper sleep: 150h 50 mins
Succesful naps in a row: 2
Time since last oversleep: 6 hours 50 mins

Kind of unhappy about this nap. It was super-short which in itself isn't that big of a problem since I was refreshed, but the problem for me was that none of it was inside the normal nap-frame. I went to bed a little too early not expecting to fall asleep that fast.. Well not at least to wake up that fast! That said, I did stay in bed for the whole time.

I guess there's some after-oversleep trouble to be expected. I'm now experienced enough to see a pattern in all this. Now what follows is few easier phases before another crash. All I know is that I need to improve my succesful naps in a row -record if I'm going to adjust successfully.

4 kommenttia:

  1. I’ve been reading your blog and catching up on your progress over the past couple of days. I find your experiment fascinating and I’m curious to see when you start having unusual dream experiences. All the work you’ve done so far has not been “all for nothing”. You’ve kept a fairly decent record with a complex and difficult experiment. The main thing is that you’re careful not to put yourself in danger- both physically and psychologically. Sleep deprivation is stressful for the body on many levels, but I’m fairly certain you’re aware of all of that.

    I’m surprised that you haven’t reported experiences of sleep paralysis or lucid dreaming or other strange dream related phenomena. I struggle with maintaining a sleep schedule and rapid onset of REM sleep and it’s been my experience that sleep deprivation can almost guarantee strange stuff.

    Anyway, just thought I’d let you know that I appreciate what you’re doing and enjoy reading your blog. Conducting an experiment like this is not easy and I respect your style. Good luck and I’ll be checking back soon.

    VastaaPoista
  2. Thanks for the comment. I feel better now even if the oversleep was a step back. It'll get interesting again pretty soon once I start to get tired again. I'm feeling refreshed now, probably reaction to the oversleeps. In fact, I might do something useful now.

    But yeah, glad if my nonsensical rambling has entertained even someone.

    I know of the dangers and certainly won't be pushing it too far. But I think it's fair to say I'll be keeping going even if I hit another oversleep. I just remember how euphoric I felt already at times during days 2-4 and that's enough to keep me motivated. Especially considering that if I adapt I'll feel even better than that. But that's a big if.

    VastaaPoista
  3. Also read for a chance my own post and noticed that I really should proofread this stuff that I've wrote when really tired. I'm having hard time comprehending myself :)

    VastaaPoista
  4. Don't worry so much about proofreading. Your grammar is fine and part of this experiment is to note changes in cognitive skills. Actually, your blog reads like the beginning of some psychological thriller where the main character’s mind starts to slip due to sleep deprivation. At least for me, part of reading your blog is about observing the changes in your train of thought. You’re trying to record so much information so I wouldn’t spend too much time on proofreading. You might forget what you were going to say if you focus on minor mistakes. Go back and proofread after the experiment is over, in case you want to publish anything.

    I’m looking forward to reading what you experience when you finally start hitting some serious REM. Have you felt any floating sensation or had any issues with spatial orientation? You stated in your introduction that you are a lucid dreamer. I would imagine that you’ll have some opportunities to play with that during this experiment.

    I’m glad to hear all is going well. Try not to be disappointed with any “failed” attempts. I realize you are doing this experiment to see if you can optimize and maximize your waking life. But I think the data you’ll collect will prove to be valuable in other areas of sleep and dream research. Good luck. I’ll be checking back.

    VastaaPoista