End of the day reflections

I ended up incidentally taking short naps today, and did pretty well with it. I was busy almost straight through until now. I only took a 20 minute nap at lunch, and comfortable in my new napping spot (I figured out that I could lock the door from the inside, and I remembered to bring a scarf with me to use as a pillow), I actually slept for most of that time, because I was well-tired by then from working most of the night and morning. I had some nice white noise of the building in the background, a little sunlight streaming in the window (I always prefer to wake up to light, makes it so much easier to get up), and the only disturbance I had was what sounded like a squirrel briefly jumping around in the ceiling. I actually dreamed, and I feel confident that I experience dreams rather than hypnagogia, because I forgot where I was during their duration, something that I usually don't experience when merely dozing and having twilight-sleep images. I had lunch when I woke up, felt rather refreshed, and went on working. I got tired again around 3:30 and had about 20 minutes of downtime then, relaxing in an armchair, although it was too noisy around me to sleep. I also had one cup of coffee and a Powerbar around this time, because I needed to be awake and alert for several more hours before I could get home and nap.

Overall, I was a little tired, but had no problem doing mental tasks and being energetic. I felt like I wanted to sleep toward the end of my evening class, but I wasn't too tired to concentrate and didn't actually fall asleep. So, I went a day without a core sleep and with minimal naps, and I felt better than I would if I'd not slept at all. Also, just the knowledge that there are polyphasic sleepers who get by on about as much sleep as I got helped me to feel okay with it and to not feel the despair that I used to feel at having to work late and early and not catch much sleep. I didn't have the extreme tiredness or mood swings of sleep deprivation, but I still had some of the light-hearted, easy-going, uninhibited feeling that I sometimes get when I do voluntary sleep-dep. I think this is probably something like the "euphoria" that some polyphasic sleepers say they feel. It's a balance between being refreshed from napping but also having that "Eh, whatever," feeling that you get from being very sleep-deprived. I'd like to know what hormones it is that cause the latter, because it's been such a common feeling for me with being sleep-deprived. Being in that state actually sometimes makes work easier. I procrastinate when I'm afraid of screwing up or feel overwhelmed, and I lack these worries when I'm sleep-deprived, so it's easier to just go along with circumstances and get right to work and get it done when I need to. It's not a feeling that I dislike.

Anyway, after today, I think I could do something like Dymaxion or Uberman, and I think I'm feeling what it'd be like to be on those plans, but I'd rather get more sleep than either of those afford (when I can get it) and have more flexibility on missing naps. I'm going to stick with my "Quad" schedule of 4 x 1 hour naps, I think, and see how I feel. I'm not dead-tired, but feel as if I'd have no trouble napping at anytime now. It's an odd feeling, and I'm going to have to reflect more on whether or not I think this is healthy. It sure beats the depression that often accompanied my "monophasic-fail," though.