Posts by Category: Sleep

Just 8 Minutes

Posted Thursday 30 August 2012 04:12 by Steve in Sleep

Wow I am tired this morning!

Last night I was intending to sleep from 23:30 to 3:00 for a total of 3:30 hours sleep. In the end I was really tired and ended up in bed a few minutes early, and apparently I slept 8 minutes longer than intended (I think it was even less than that to be honest).

Well I think I figured out where my deep sleep starts in my cycle! When I woke up I was so drowsy it was unbelievable. I always feel a bit groggy after my core, but normally it is bearable and only lasts about 20 minutes. This morning I had extreme grogginess for over an hour (I am still not fully over it).

Tomorrow I will shorten my core to 3:20 to try and make sure this doesn't happen again.


Day 9

Posted Wednesday 29 August 2012 18:40 by Steve in Sleep

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Yesterday was the first day that I had periods of not really feeling tired at all. In the evening I felt as I normally would before bed if I was a little over-tired, like on a Monday night after only having 6 hours sleep the night before.

When it came to bed time, I started to think that maybe I wouldn't be able to sleep for my core! This is the first time I have ever felt like this, as I am normally totally knackered by the time the core comes around. It felt much more like going to bed on a monophasic sleep pattern, although in the end I still managed to fall asleep within a couple of minutes.

I think I have been adapting to this pattern for a few days, but I had accumulated a bit of a sleep debt along the way. I think that sleep debt is finally starting to clear, which is why I can suddenly feel a bit less tired.

The morning nap was similar: I wasn't sure if I would sleep but I fell asleep straight away.

In work today I didn't feel tired as such, but my eyes felt tired. What I mean by this is that there was virtually no sleepiness at all, but my eyes ached and it was difficult to focus on things. It felt like they just wanted to roll back into my skull!

My lunchtime nap cleared the eye strain a bit but it persisted until my 5:00pm nap. I think it may just be to the fact that I was looking at a computer screen all day.

I have to admit that today I don't feel quite as good as I did yesterday, but it is probably my second best day so far. I think I'm making progress and I will make a decision on whether to continue or not at the weekend.


Day 8

Posted Wednesday 29 August 2012 00:00 by Steve in Sleep

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Today was a good day! I had a few periods today where I wasn't consumed by tiredness, and to top it off, for 1 hour during the day I actually felt 'normal'.

In the morning I woke up groggy as usual, but after about 20 minutes it cleared and I felt surprisingly good for a while. This faded into the normal tiredness from the graveyard hours but it was not uncomfortable. As it got close to 6:00am I all of a sudden started to snap out of it - just before my nap. I turned all of the lights off and dimmed the screen on my mac to try and maintain a level of drowsiness, and at 6:30 I went to bed to sleep.

This was the first time ever that I have taken a while to get to sleep for my morning nap. Normally the morning one is my favourite because I fall asleep so fast, but today I must have taken at least 5 minutes to fall asleep. It's not a big deal but it was unusual.

After my nap I felt good again for a few hours, but by 10:00 am I was starting to fade again. At 11:00am I was working with someone in the office and they had to explain something long and complicated to me. I really felt like I could fall asleep sitting up, but I managed to take it all in and I asked them if I seemed tired and they said 'no' so I don't think it's noticeable. Then again maybe they were being kind! I'm sure this is not really affecting my performance though: It is just a bit uncomfortable.

About half an hour before my lunch time nap I started to perk up a bit, but I cycled home and fell asleep pretty much straight away.

Today was the first day that I had cycled into work for a long time, as I realised that although it is slower, I much prefer walking. The problem is that if I walk then it is a bit rushed as I need 20 minutes to walk home which only leaves me with 20 minutes to sleep without any winding down time. I was worried that the cycle home would wake me up but it didn't so I will continue to cycle in.

After my nap I felt energised all afternoon, right up to my 5:00pm nap, which I fell asleep to without any problems. I got a lot of dreamlike imagery as I was drifting off which was cool and woke up feeling really good - this is when I felt 'normal' for the first time in over a week!

This evening I played some video games, made a nice curry and relaxed a little. It was nice being less tired so that I could do some more normal activities.

I'm starting to feel like maybe this experiment is working, and that my body is slowly starting to adapt to the schedule. As my girlfriend said though, I should probably wait until I have at least 2 days in a row where I feel good before I get too excited!

I'm not too sure what to make of the fact that I've been feeling more alert just before my naps. It feels like maybe I'm taking all of my naps about an hour too late. Hopefully this is just a one off, as I may find it hard to sleep for them if I continue to feel more awake just before each nap.


Day 7

Posted Monday 27 August 2012 19:14 by Steve in Sleep

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Today marks the end of my first week of polyphasic sleep, and the most tired feeling week of my whole life so far!

Yesterday I really wanted to quit this experiment as I felt so tired. This morning was completely different!

My girlfriend agreed to get up with me at 3:00am this morning, and to stay up with me until my nap at 6:40am. Then she would sleep until 10:00 and I would get up at 7:00 like usual.

When I woke up I had the usual feeling of being dagged back from beyond the grave, but after 30 minutes the grogginess passed and I felt a lot better. I have been keeping notes of how I felt each day and this was by far the best morning as I didn't feel that tired at all.

Having someone else with you at this time is amazing! Not only do I have someone to talk to, but I also have someone to help me with my chores and I don't have to worry about making any noise. I would love it if she was there every morning. We spent a lot of time just talking and it was really great.

My morning nap was lovely as usual. We both went to bed together and I got up after a restful 25 minute nap. When I got up I had the usual drowsiness, but after about half an hour it cleared into the best feeling I've had this week. I felt alert and happy and only slightly tired, and I actually felt like I had a mild euphoria.

After my nap I spent a good couple of hours in the garage building a wooden box to put on my desk, so that I could rise my keyboard and mouse up to standing height.

My lunchtime nap was a disaster. I went to bed and was quite drowsy, but I didn't really sleep. I think I may have nodded off for a few minutes, but I spent most of the time just laying there with my eyes closed. After about 10 minutes I felt slightly sick so I opened my eyes to get a sip of water. After the nap I felt as though I had slept, but was not really energised. The period after my lunchtime nap is normally one of the most alert, but today I felt sleepy and my mood dropped again and I felt as though I wanted to give up.

At about 4:00pm I watched a comedy show that I like and it really made me feel a lot better. The sleepiness disappeared, and I felt good again, but I was worried that it would affect my next nap.

My afternoon nap at 5:00 was really good in the end and I fell asleep straight away, and felt refreshed afterwards (after the usual post-nap sleepy feelings had cleared). I still feel pretty good now, and I think this has been the best day so far. Hopefully I am past the hardest bit but we'll see...


Day 6

Posted Sunday 26 August 2012 22:38 by Steve in Sleep

Click here to view today’s sleep log

Tonight I am mega-tired!

Last night there was a bit of drama, as I thought my pet rat was dying (I think she has days left as she has two massive tumours growing on her chest). She couldn't breath properly and was getting very anxious, so I sat up with her until midnight. I didn't want to just dump her in her cage to die, so in the end my girlfriend agreed to help. I slept on the sofa with my pet rat on my chest, and my girlfriend watched DVDs and kept an eye on us to make sure I didn't roll over on her and squash her.

I woke up around 2:00am and to my surprise the rat was looking a lot better so I put her in her cage and went to sleep. I set the alarm for just after 3:00am, so I should have got about the right quantity of sleep for my core, although I think the quality of the sleep was awful.

This morning after my core I did a bit of work on my site and some chores. My morning nap was amazing as usual and I slept very easily for it.

After my morning nap we went roller blading for a few hours, which tired me out nicely for my 12:20 nap. After that I played a lot of video games (Guild Wars 2 just came out) until my eyes started to feel sore and I had a headache. I went for my 5:00pm nap and afterwards took a cold shower and then went out for japanese food in Cambridge.

That brings us up to now. I am extremely sleepy now and would love nothing more than to go for a nice long sleep. I discussed at great lengths with my girlfriend why I wanted to quit this experiment, but she convinced me to try at least 1 more day. This might sound pretty pathetic since this is only day 6, but to spend this long feeling tired is not pleasant. Also I am finding my schedule is increasingly getting in the way of my social life.

Now I am typing this post standing up to try and stop myself from drifting off. If this doesn't get easier soon I am definitely going to have to pack it in. I can deal with being tired for a while, but a big part of me thinks this will not even work. I have quite a bit of extra time at the moment, but I am so tired I can't do anything with it, and I am not able to do a lot of the activities that I normally enjoy (although the rollerblading felt great!).

I will report back tomorrow if I make it!