So I had a couple of pretty bad mistakes today. Not in terms of setting me that much back, but in terms of how novice errors they were.
First off I woke up from my core and I don't know what the hell I'm thinking, but for some reason I put my alarm to 25 minutes later and then went back to bed. Now if I would have woken up 25 minutes later that would have been nothing too serious, but I slept through it and ended up sleeping 1½ hours over my regular core.
This wasn't the end of my mistakes though. I skipped the first nap, as I had slept so long it would have been too near anyway, so the time for the second one was today my first. It was a very solid nap, but I felt a little too comfortable in bed and didn't really get up. I ended up falling asleep for at least 30 minutes, but probably a little over.
I mean it's ridiculous. Beginner mistakes. I am very angry at myself - first one was simply avoidable by having multiple alarms and slightly more self-discipline. I really doubt I would have started to reset three or more alarms. As for second one, I should really get some one to shout me "GET THE FUCK UP!" everytime I go back to bed after waking up from the naps.
I had the midnight nap as usual. Overall I have no strong urge to shift any of the alarm times at all. It seems like they have fallen to good spots naturally this time. I really enjoy this long shift at night, I'm a night person and the tiredness seems to come at right time for core. During winter when I used Everyman I would have the third nap at 9 pm, which was too early, I guess. I rarely slept on that nap.
I got a new motherboard to my computer, but it's still acting up and not working completely properly. Which means that I might go yet another day without hardcore alarms... Well, I guess there would be alternatives, but I'm kind of attached to the thought of using my computer as the last stand for waking up. Anyway, I still plan to fix the issues before heading to sleep tonight... well, at dawn. Funny how polyphasic schedules work sometimes?
lauantai 23. heinäkuuta 2011
torstai 21. heinäkuuta 2011
How to Have Your Core Sleep In Thunderstorm
Answer - it's pretty damn hard. So yeah, things keep happening, so updates stay frequent as well. Yesterday was pretty awesome, I woke up from all of my naps pretty effortlessly. Core got a bit tougher.
I woke up only after 20 minutes of sleep - my body must have thought it to be another nap, which is amazing in the sense that it seems to have already adjusted to waking up so quickly. Anyway, shortly after waking up refreshed and not really even feeling like going back to sleep to continue the core, I started hearing the first sounds of thunder in the distance. Soon enough a whole storm moved near and it was just like battlezone in terms of sounds. Every striking lightning brought this loud boom, a clear explosion sound.
I used to have a phobia of thunder and it still it raises my adrenaline levels. Besides, given that this was a particularly strong storm (for Finland's standards), I was even a little more jumpy than usual. So it was no wonder I really struggled getting to sleep.
I got under two hours of sleep before the alarm woke me and even that was marred with the occasional waking up etc. In the end I decided to have some mercy on myself and re-set the alarm to an hour later. However, once again there was another cell of thunder that woke me up with a heavy blast only half an hour later. But I'm fine with that, I didn't want to shift the times a lot anyway.
It raises a good point though. This was a tough circumstance so how do you deal with this kind of stuff? On the other hand, you don't want to limit your sleep too much, but on the other hand, you want to stick to your schedule. For me that has always meant keeping up with the waking times. But yeah, I think this was an acceptable spot where to shift a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if it affects me later today. It feels amazing to be at day four with such little trouble, but I haven't really even started yet.
What else... I guess that's it for now.
I woke up only after 20 minutes of sleep - my body must have thought it to be another nap, which is amazing in the sense that it seems to have already adjusted to waking up so quickly. Anyway, shortly after waking up refreshed and not really even feeling like going back to sleep to continue the core, I started hearing the first sounds of thunder in the distance. Soon enough a whole storm moved near and it was just like battlezone in terms of sounds. Every striking lightning brought this loud boom, a clear explosion sound.
I used to have a phobia of thunder and it still it raises my adrenaline levels. Besides, given that this was a particularly strong storm (for Finland's standards), I was even a little more jumpy than usual. So it was no wonder I really struggled getting to sleep.
I got under two hours of sleep before the alarm woke me and even that was marred with the occasional waking up etc. In the end I decided to have some mercy on myself and re-set the alarm to an hour later. However, once again there was another cell of thunder that woke me up with a heavy blast only half an hour later. But I'm fine with that, I didn't want to shift the times a lot anyway.
It raises a good point though. This was a tough circumstance so how do you deal with this kind of stuff? On the other hand, you don't want to limit your sleep too much, but on the other hand, you want to stick to your schedule. For me that has always meant keeping up with the waking times. But yeah, I think this was an acceptable spot where to shift a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if it affects me later today. It feels amazing to be at day four with such little trouble, but I haven't really even started yet.
What else... I guess that's it for now.
keskiviikko 20. heinäkuuta 2011
Everyman: Second Day Glory - Stay Active!
Being and staying active is one of the key components to being polyphasic. It isn't enough to keep yourself occupied, you really need to be active - either by being really engaged with your mind or doing something more physical.
It was this old lesson that was once again reminding me today, when I insisted on just laying on the bed with a laptop on my lap - not a good idea. Being generally passive just invites tiredness and soon enough I fell asleep.
I got lucky though - I woke up five minutes later, so it was so short unnecessary sleep, that I don't even count it as a failure. Beside that five minute moment of tiredness the day was absolutely awesome, even if my core didn't convince me at all. I felt like I woke up many times during that and felt somewhat disoriented. Getting up was easy though, as I already were awake. Same thing happened with first and third naps - I woke up before the alarms went off, completely refreshed.
I gotta be honest I'm surprised, the start has been far better than what I had expected. Sure, I was tired for the most of the day, but the naps itself were great and waking up from them has never been this easy - besides, no missed naps so far, it's awesome. Like everything is clicking right from the off. Of course when I'm writing this positively, I'm bound to fail soon.
In other news, you can now add me in Twitter and keep up to date with my progress. I'll be posting short status updates throughout my day there. Checkout PolySleeper. It's the best place to get regular updates as I probably won't be posting everyday like this, unless I keep getting these reminders that I think are worth bringing up in the blog.
I'll chill out through the night next, I have a bit of writing in front of me and then there's the first Copa America semi coming up later in the night. It's moments like these when I truly enjoy being polyphasic. Only bad thing going on at the moment is the fact that the motherboard didn't show up yet. Come on, of course the delivery gets delayed just when I need it the most. What that means is one more night without heavy alarms and that keeps getting me more and more worried, but as I said, signs so far don't seem bad. Besides, even if the oversleep comes, it's still early and it would only be a small loss.
It was this old lesson that was once again reminding me today, when I insisted on just laying on the bed with a laptop on my lap - not a good idea. Being generally passive just invites tiredness and soon enough I fell asleep.
I got lucky though - I woke up five minutes later, so it was so short unnecessary sleep, that I don't even count it as a failure. Beside that five minute moment of tiredness the day was absolutely awesome, even if my core didn't convince me at all. I felt like I woke up many times during that and felt somewhat disoriented. Getting up was easy though, as I already were awake. Same thing happened with first and third naps - I woke up before the alarms went off, completely refreshed.
I gotta be honest I'm surprised, the start has been far better than what I had expected. Sure, I was tired for the most of the day, but the naps itself were great and waking up from them has never been this easy - besides, no missed naps so far, it's awesome. Like everything is clicking right from the off. Of course when I'm writing this positively, I'm bound to fail soon.
In other news, you can now add me in Twitter and keep up to date with my progress. I'll be posting short status updates throughout my day there. Checkout PolySleeper. It's the best place to get regular updates as I probably won't be posting everyday like this, unless I keep getting these reminders that I think are worth bringing up in the blog.
I'll chill out through the night next, I have a bit of writing in front of me and then there's the first Copa America semi coming up later in the night. It's moments like these when I truly enjoy being polyphasic. Only bad thing going on at the moment is the fact that the motherboard didn't show up yet. Come on, of course the delivery gets delayed just when I need it the most. What that means is one more night without heavy alarms and that keeps getting me more and more worried, but as I said, signs so far don't seem bad. Besides, even if the oversleep comes, it's still early and it would only be a small loss.
tiistai 19. heinäkuuta 2011
Everyman: Past the First Day
So, I started the Everyman today - well, it's actually past midnight already so it was really yesterday. I'm pretty damn happy with my first day. I'm tired, but that much is obvious. What I'm happy is that I woke up from every nap and slept during every nap. I still have my doubts over the very uneven distribution of the naps, but it worked fine today.
I still have only two alarms as my computer is still broken down. I get a new motherboard tomorrow so I'll get that fixed to have a loud alarm as well. It will serve as a final back-up that wakes me up everytime.
It wasn't my most productive day, but I've been generally unproductive at recent times, so it my performance didn't go way down because of polyphasing. I'm still stating the obvious though that it's not the first day that's tough. I'm a bit nervous about waking up from the second core, as I still have only silent alarms, but it's only a slight worry - I doubt I'm yet that dead that I need the heavy alarm every time.
I guess that's all for now. I won't be posting every day of my progress, I'll just keep you updated if something significant happens or if I feel like saying something. There will be some miscellaneus status updates in some other posts that I have planned for this blog.
I still have only two alarms as my computer is still broken down. I get a new motherboard tomorrow so I'll get that fixed to have a loud alarm as well. It will serve as a final back-up that wakes me up everytime.
It wasn't my most productive day, but I've been generally unproductive at recent times, so it my performance didn't go way down because of polyphasing. I'm still stating the obvious though that it's not the first day that's tough. I'm a bit nervous about waking up from the second core, as I still have only silent alarms, but it's only a slight worry - I doubt I'm yet that dead that I need the heavy alarm every time.
I guess that's all for now. I won't be posting every day of my progress, I'll just keep you updated if something significant happens or if I feel like saying something. There will be some miscellaneus status updates in some other posts that I have planned for this blog.
torstai 14. heinäkuuta 2011
Update: New Everyman Adaptation Coming Up & Site Scrapped
It's been awhile since my last post, over a month in fact. I've been sleeping pretty normally meanwhile, polyphasing can be quite exhaustive, especially with the training amounts I've been having. But now it's time to stop resting on my laurels and get going again. I don't know how healthy this constant polyphasing is, but I haven't pretty much even gotten sick or felt bad bar the occasional sleep deprivation induced headache during past 16 months.
I decided to scrap the site, because frankly I don't think I know enough of polyphasing. Yeah, I do have plenty of experience, but it's all from failing - which is all good, as if I've just succeeded on the first try, I wouldn't have needed to grow as a person nor could I teach it to anyone as I would obviously be a natural. When I finally succeed - could be years from now - I would have made every mistake in the book and would have had to find a solution to everyone of them. But at the moment, I simply don't have any credibility to give advice to anyone.
All of my Zeo's censors though have gone past their three (or was it four, I don't remember) month period where they work and already I'm seeing that the readings have started to throw off. Besides, for some reason I have started to twist and turn in the bed so I can't even keep the band on for the most of the nights. Most likely I don't be using Zeo to track data this time for those reasons. I've yet to decide. As for when I start, it will be soon, probably in the next few days. Here's my rough plan of the schedule:
Core: 6.30-10.00
Nap 1: 13:30-14:00
Nap 2: 17:00-17:30
Nap 3: 0:00-0:30
Obviously it's only tentative at the moment, I will see where my natural tired moments fall and then shift it accordingly. The core can't be much earlier though - as much as I enjoy getting up early, my need of heavy duty alarms (I'm even more liable to sleep through alarms at the moment than I was ever before) forces me to get up in a time that doesn't interfere with anyone else's sleep. I can shift it a bit earlier if needed, but we'll see. The core is 3½ hours as it was before, it just works better for me than the usual three hour version.
The first nap is spaced the same way it has been in my most recent adaptations. The second nap is so close due to schedule constraints. If I shift it later, it will go beyond 21, but I think that I'm more likely to shift the rest of the schedule earlier. As for the last nap, I hope it's on the darkest time - I've not made much of the nightly walks this summer, which has been sad as I really enjoy it. Now I would be able to do that.
Why Everyman again? I could try triphasic, but Uberman is just no-go at the moment. The numerous attempts have really forced me the face the fact that I'm indisciplined. You need to get the Bachelor's degree before you can get to Master's. That's the way I view Everyman and Uberman - Of course you could do Uberman straight away, but only very few people can handle the intense adaptation of Uberman. I think I have to grow a lot as a person before I'm able to do Uberman, whereas Everyman, while very challenging too, is something I view very possible. I did go 20-something days using Everyman with minimal errors, after all!
Whether I'm physically even able to do either is a different matter all together - I believe I haven't gone nearly long enough on any adaptation to say that I simply don't adapt. Uberman is also so hard that I need to clean up my diet & just all around fix my life to tip the odds to my favor. My diet is pretty good, but not perfect. I've probably babbled long enough, so stay tuned for more soon. As that site project got scrapped, I might post a couple of posts I had written for the coming sites, if I still like them. Overall most of this blog so far has been just me spouting shit while sleep-deprived, I'd like to have more worthwhile content. See ya soon.
I decided to scrap the site, because frankly I don't think I know enough of polyphasing. Yeah, I do have plenty of experience, but it's all from failing - which is all good, as if I've just succeeded on the first try, I wouldn't have needed to grow as a person nor could I teach it to anyone as I would obviously be a natural. When I finally succeed - could be years from now - I would have made every mistake in the book and would have had to find a solution to everyone of them. But at the moment, I simply don't have any credibility to give advice to anyone.
All of my Zeo's censors though have gone past their three (or was it four, I don't remember) month period where they work and already I'm seeing that the readings have started to throw off. Besides, for some reason I have started to twist and turn in the bed so I can't even keep the band on for the most of the nights. Most likely I don't be using Zeo to track data this time for those reasons. I've yet to decide. As for when I start, it will be soon, probably in the next few days. Here's my rough plan of the schedule:
Core: 6.30-10.00
Nap 1: 13:30-14:00
Nap 2: 17:00-17:30
Nap 3: 0:00-0:30
Obviously it's only tentative at the moment, I will see where my natural tired moments fall and then shift it accordingly. The core can't be much earlier though - as much as I enjoy getting up early, my need of heavy duty alarms (I'm even more liable to sleep through alarms at the moment than I was ever before) forces me to get up in a time that doesn't interfere with anyone else's sleep. I can shift it a bit earlier if needed, but we'll see. The core is 3½ hours as it was before, it just works better for me than the usual three hour version.
The first nap is spaced the same way it has been in my most recent adaptations. The second nap is so close due to schedule constraints. If I shift it later, it will go beyond 21, but I think that I'm more likely to shift the rest of the schedule earlier. As for the last nap, I hope it's on the darkest time - I've not made much of the nightly walks this summer, which has been sad as I really enjoy it. Now I would be able to do that.
Why Everyman again? I could try triphasic, but Uberman is just no-go at the moment. The numerous attempts have really forced me the face the fact that I'm indisciplined. You need to get the Bachelor's degree before you can get to Master's. That's the way I view Everyman and Uberman - Of course you could do Uberman straight away, but only very few people can handle the intense adaptation of Uberman. I think I have to grow a lot as a person before I'm able to do Uberman, whereas Everyman, while very challenging too, is something I view very possible. I did go 20-something days using Everyman with minimal errors, after all!
Whether I'm physically even able to do either is a different matter all together - I believe I haven't gone nearly long enough on any adaptation to say that I simply don't adapt. Uberman is also so hard that I need to clean up my diet & just all around fix my life to tip the odds to my favor. My diet is pretty good, but not perfect. I've probably babbled long enough, so stay tuned for more soon. As that site project got scrapped, I might post a couple of posts I had written for the coming sites, if I still like them. Overall most of this blog so far has been just me spouting shit while sleep-deprived, I'd like to have more worthwhile content. See ya soon.
torstai 9. kesäkuuta 2011
Decisions & Some Monophasic Data
I've been thinking lately about what to do in terms of polyphasic sleep and my situation really doesn't warrant me to go full on to SPAMAYL or Uberman at the moment. So, I've decided to give another shot to 4½-1½ type of schedule and supplement it with naps whenever needed. But the thing is that I love nothing more than being awake in the night in summer. So I've decided to have my longer sleep during the day. Here's the sleeping times that I'm planning to do:
13-17.30
1:00-2:30
It's not perfectly symmetric, but I don't think it has to. I'm gaining some time and most importantly sleeping through my most unproductive times. I'll still have my naps as a weapon if that amount of sleep leaves me tired.
The schedule is of course subject to any change Zeo might reveal that I should do. Also those times don't have to be as rigid as in Everyman or Uberman, so I'll be shifting them a bit if needed, especially the daytime sleep.
Speaking of Zeo, interesting thing I've noticed with monophasic compared to my Everyman is that I'm actually getting less deep sleep from it. I get around 1h 10 minutes / 8-9 hours compared to around 90 minutes of 3½ hour core. Most of my sleep is light sleep and REM, I've gotten some insane amounts of especially REM during some nights.
Just recently my schedule has been all over the place and I'm pretty sure I'm running a sleep deficit. Last night I slept 6h 22 minutes and got under an hour of deep sleep. So it's not best foundation to start a new schedule from, but I'll do it anyway.
13-17.30
1:00-2:30
It's not perfectly symmetric, but I don't think it has to. I'm gaining some time and most importantly sleeping through my most unproductive times. I'll still have my naps as a weapon if that amount of sleep leaves me tired.
The schedule is of course subject to any change Zeo might reveal that I should do. Also those times don't have to be as rigid as in Everyman or Uberman, so I'll be shifting them a bit if needed, especially the daytime sleep.
Speaking of Zeo, interesting thing I've noticed with monophasic compared to my Everyman is that I'm actually getting less deep sleep from it. I get around 1h 10 minutes / 8-9 hours compared to around 90 minutes of 3½ hour core. Most of my sleep is light sleep and REM, I've gotten some insane amounts of especially REM during some nights.
Just recently my schedule has been all over the place and I'm pretty sure I'm running a sleep deficit. Last night I slept 6h 22 minutes and got under an hour of deep sleep. So it's not best foundation to start a new schedule from, but I'll do it anyway.
keskiviikko 1. kesäkuuta 2011
Next Plans
So I've been living monophasically, with my typical schedule; sleeping days, staying up nights. I'm procrastinating on something else so I decided to give some sort of update on my plans.
Thing is that I don't really see Uberman as a viable long-term option, even though it fits better to me than probably for anyone else. Figure that out. Still, I would like to adapt to it. I think long-term Everyman is the best for me, but I still want every now and then to go into "work-mode" and then use Uberman. Wish it'd be that easy though. Here I am talking about living the live switching between Everyman and Uberman, while I haven't even successfully converted to either! Maybe it's the 4½-1½ style that fits me better.
But yeah, while I might not see Uberman as a long-term option, if I managed to adapt I could keep going for as long as I feel like. Besides, I really want to adapt to it, it's like the holy grail of polyphasic sleep and I'm somewhat becoming obsessed with it. I guess my friends think I'm a nutcase. Well, I am.
But yeah, next adaptation was supposed to be SPAMAYL, and it will be, sort of. I will be doing Uberman Steve Pavlina-style, with extra naps at night when I feel like it. Which is kind of SPAMAYL, right? It's hard to decide when to start though. This soccer-playing is really taking my juices out and I think that I need plenty of time to recover. In terms of responsibilities I could start in a week, but I just don't know if it is the right time to start.
I am consistently feeling like I need WAY more time though. Maybe I should just compromise my training, taking it a little easier and just start the adaptation. Still, there are the matches, those really fuck me up. Even if I train easy, I can't avoid exhausting myself in the matches. I could take it easy in matches too, but that won't really help much in reality.
Taking naps so regularly is kind of rigid, but given that they're only 20 minutes it's not as big of a deal as you would think. The same flow keeps on going, so I just view that as a healthy break from whatever you're doing to regain concentration.
Speaking of naps, I'm a bit tired at the moment, I guess I'll take one. I have a long night ahead of me and a ton of stuff to do.
I must do some thinking these next few days, and decide what I'm going to do with my sleep. I'll be back.
Oh, about the site... It's still coming, but I just have a lot on my plate at the moment and unfortunately it is the one to be postponed. I'm kind of frustrated about that, I'll make the site soon enough. It will combine my limited knowledge of polyphasic sleep, lucid dreaming and personal development.
Thing is that I don't really see Uberman as a viable long-term option, even though it fits better to me than probably for anyone else. Figure that out. Still, I would like to adapt to it. I think long-term Everyman is the best for me, but I still want every now and then to go into "work-mode" and then use Uberman. Wish it'd be that easy though. Here I am talking about living the live switching between Everyman and Uberman, while I haven't even successfully converted to either! Maybe it's the 4½-1½ style that fits me better.
But yeah, while I might not see Uberman as a long-term option, if I managed to adapt I could keep going for as long as I feel like. Besides, I really want to adapt to it, it's like the holy grail of polyphasic sleep and I'm somewhat becoming obsessed with it. I guess my friends think I'm a nutcase. Well, I am.
But yeah, next adaptation was supposed to be SPAMAYL, and it will be, sort of. I will be doing Uberman Steve Pavlina-style, with extra naps at night when I feel like it. Which is kind of SPAMAYL, right? It's hard to decide when to start though. This soccer-playing is really taking my juices out and I think that I need plenty of time to recover. In terms of responsibilities I could start in a week, but I just don't know if it is the right time to start.
I am consistently feeling like I need WAY more time though. Maybe I should just compromise my training, taking it a little easier and just start the adaptation. Still, there are the matches, those really fuck me up. Even if I train easy, I can't avoid exhausting myself in the matches. I could take it easy in matches too, but that won't really help much in reality.
Taking naps so regularly is kind of rigid, but given that they're only 20 minutes it's not as big of a deal as you would think. The same flow keeps on going, so I just view that as a healthy break from whatever you're doing to regain concentration.
Speaking of naps, I'm a bit tired at the moment, I guess I'll take one. I have a long night ahead of me and a ton of stuff to do.
I must do some thinking these next few days, and decide what I'm going to do with my sleep. I'll be back.
Oh, about the site... It's still coming, but I just have a lot on my plate at the moment and unfortunately it is the one to be postponed. I'm kind of frustrated about that, I'll make the site soon enough. It will combine my limited knowledge of polyphasic sleep, lucid dreaming and personal development.
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