diff --git a/content/personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule-week-1.html b/content/personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule-week-1.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c311cc9 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule-week-1.html @@ -0,0 +1,119 @@ +A week ago I started a [polyphasic sleep schedule][schedule]. Its been a tough +week, I feel like I'm am adapting but I'm still very tired part of the time. I +tweaked my schedule early on to shift all the naps later by half an hour so as +to better fit them in with work and my hour long train trips to and from work. +The revised schedule looks like: + +[schedule]: /personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule/ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Core Sleep11pm -- 2am
Nap 17:30am
Nap 212:30pm
Nap 35:30pm
+ +The three hardest parts of the day are the 2am wakeup and the train trips. I've +managed to get up right on 2am only 3 out of the 7 days. I now have three +alarms for that time: 1:59, 2:00 and 2:01. Its still necessary to force myself +out of bed when they go off and any delay results in sleeping in. Fortunately I +don't sleep in for all that long, with the extra time ranging from 20 minutes to +90 minutes. + +The train trips are hard because they are both at the tail end of a 5 hour +awake period and sitting down initiates almost uncontrollable nodding off. I +tried taking the naps on the train on two occasions. Whilst it would fit my +schedule well to take the naps at this time they weren't of good enough +quality. Plus there's the possibility of interruptions from the conductor +checking tickets and I got a sore neck. + +I'm adapting to the naps in general though. Initially I felt I wasn't really +sleeping during them whereas now I feel like I'm asleep for about 15 minutes +out 20. The naps themselves feel extremely long. For the first few days I +would keep waking up around the 15 minute mark thinking that I'd overslept. At +this point I get tired about and hour and half before each nap and feel quite +rejuvenated afterwards. + +The first day was very difficult. I think I was already tired when I started. +During the day I felt dizzy, light-headed and "sqinty". In the afternoon I +ended up quite uncomfortable as I was dealing with the urge to fall asleep, a +headache and the feeling I was going to be sick. Fortunately the nausea passed +around 5pm and that made me feel a lot better. + +I have tried not to change my day-to-day activities to cope with the tiredness. +As a result I'm still riding my bike to and from the station each day, mowed +the laws on Saturday, took [Ruby] for a long walk on Wednesday and attended a +Australia Day get together. + +[Ruby]: /personal/2010/12/border-terrier-puppy-ruby/ + +Appetite +-------- + +Being awake more has certainly increased my appetite and not just during the +time I wouldn't normally be awake. Across the whole day I feel I'm eating more +and getting hungry more often. I have also switched to decaf for my morning +coffee. + +What I'm Doing With the Time +---------------------------- + +One of the questions that people ask me when I tell them about the schedule is, +"what do you do with the time?". This is a question that didn't even cross my +mind when considering starting the plan. To me its just obvious that having +more time means more time to work on all the things that I don't have enough +time to do. Some of the things I've done so far: + +* Watched screencasts about [CouchDB] and [Padrino]. +* Started a CouchDB backed [Rails] application to learn more about that. +* Released a [node.js XML generation module][genx]. +* Written five blog posts (a record for one week). +* Kept our expense tracking software up-to-date. +* Processed and uploaded [photos]. +* Played with [Bella]. +* Caught up on RSS. +* Made the Radiopaedia iPad app run as a universal app. + +[genx]: https://github.com/wezm/node-genx +[CouchDB]: http://couchdb.apache.org/ +[Padrino]: http://www.padrinorb.com/ +[Rails]: http://rubyonrails.org/ +[Bella]: /personal/2011/01/russian-blue-kitten-bella/ +[photos]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wezm/sets/72157625906833852/ + +The 2am -- 6am stint has been my most productive. Once I shake off the +tiredness after waking, which takes 15 -- 45 minutes I'm able to remain +focussed and busy until about 6. Although on week days I have to stop around 5 +to get ready for work. + +Socialising +----------- + +I've only attended one social event in the past week, which was a +birthday/Australia Day catchup with friends at a pub. I took my midday nap 30 +minutes early and then the afternoon one in the car when we left at 5, prior to +driving home. For this particular event the naps fitted in pretty well. + +Today I have a 30th birthday to attend. It starts with dinner and will likely +kick on after that. I'll be taking my 5:30 nap at work and then plan to take +naps about every 4 hours after that until I'm home and can resume the normal +schedule. Its not ideal that I have to mess with the schedule during the +adaptation phase but this is the reality of the situation. + +The Coming Week +--------------- + +For the coming week I want to focus on awaking on time at 2am and making the +train trips more bearable. I'm going to try having a small amount of chocolate +on the train as that has seemed to help shake off the nodding off feeling a +couple of other times. Hopefully the naps continue to become more refreshing +and the tiredness between them decreases. + diff --git a/content/personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule-week-1.yaml b/content/personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule-week-1.yaml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b0113cf --- /dev/null +++ b/content/personal/2011/01/polyphasic-sleep-schedule-week-1.yaml @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +--- +title: Polyphasic Sleep Schedule - Week 1 +extra: A summary of my first week on a polyphasic sleep schedule. +kind: article +section: personal +created_at: 2011-01-28 03:50:00 +keywords: +- sleep +- polyphasic +- schedule +short_url: http://bit.ly/eVEmwi