Polyphasic Sleep - Day 1

The first day was obviously pretty normal.

I found an almost-quiet place at work where I'll be able to take some naps. It's the server room, so it gets a bit cold, but so far, it doesn't matter that much. I tried sleeping there at 12:00, and of course couldn't fall asleep. I'll have to get used to sleeping on a desk chair.

I got back home at 17:20 and went to sleep again, and again couldn't. This was all expected, since I don't have a lot of sleep deprivation yet.

My last sleep was at 21:15. I think I actually slept the last 5 or 10 minutes. The experiment can finally start.

I read for about an hour before the 21:15 nap, because this is probably the last time in the next few days that I'll really be able to read. So far, to pass the time, I dusted off my Rock Band guitar. It's been a very long time (more than a year), and I'm rusty. I've also spent some time on reddit. This seems to keep me awake easily, but again, I'm aware that I'm not very sleep-deprived yet.

I noticed that I tend to eat a lot. I'll have to put a hold on that before it gets out of control.

I know I'll go through some difficult days. I know if I abort everything, people around me will say "I told you so", and look at me as though I tried to hurt myself. People on the internet that have tried polyphasic sleeping and told their story left sooner or later. Most before a week, some after two weeks, some others after a couple months. It requires a tremendous amount of dedication during the adaptation phase. I must not think about my motives in the next few days - my lack of sleep will try talking me out of this. My brain is okay right now, and my decision is taken - when I'll be sleep-deprived, I'll need to remember this decision, taken when I felt better. I just need to go through this.

It depends a lot about the person's lifestyle. People have a hard time to leave the bed, even when fully refreshed, and this plays against them right at the start. I rarely do that, and virtually never oversleep. Some people need an earthquake to wake them up, while I need but a tiny sound. I have a good diet, and I don't drink coffee nor tea. I will refrain from drinking alcohol until my body is completely used to this new concept.

I may cancel everything - heck, I will cancel it sooner or later myself. When I do, I hope people won't look at me like I'm a quitter. I'm doing that to better understand who and what I am. I also know that I'm going from a regular sleep schedule to the full uberman schedule. This plays against me, I know.

Another thing... I feel nowadays that I never have enough time to grow mentally. I get back from work, make dinner, do the dishes, and then there's only a couple of hours left. I want to read and finish my book about astrophysics and string theory, I want to practice piano, learn guitar, read other books, learn python and django, practice jQuery, build a web site, make a c# program, learn meditation, practice my Japanese, start drawing again... There's so many things I wish I could do, and so little time. If I succeed, I'll have about four additional hours in a day to better myself.

I have to see the big picture during the next few days. Think long-term.


---- 00:45 Update --------
I just got up from my 00:00-00:30 nap. Once again, I think I fell asleep for 5 or 10 minutes. I'm not even sure.

It feels weird - I'm not even sleepy. I thought I would fall asleep very quickly. Maybe it's the orange I ate at around 23:00, but more likely it's the excitement about all of this. There's always some excitement when you're eager to do something new.

I ate a mini-breakfast. I don't really know how I should divide my meals. Should I eat four large meals, or six smaller ones? One thing I know for sure: right now, I would eat everything. I limited myself to a toast, a clementine, and a small glass of soy milk.

I'm eager to see how it's going to look like for my 03:00 nap.


---- 02:54 Update --------
I'm going to bed soon. I spent the time practicing piano and writing another post in this blog.

I'm not tired at all, which is really weird. I mean, I feel a bit tired, but I'm not sleepy. This is either going extremely well, or I'm soon to receive one hell of a kick in the face.


---- 03:40 Update --------
I'm feeling a bit more tired now, but I didn't have any problem getting up. I ate two toasts and half a banana.

Last nap at 06:45.