Monday, September 21, 2009

Events

My last few posts have been all about my thinking and nothing yet about the actual experiment. That's common in my writing. I tend to focus on ideas before events, and quickly get tired of writing just about events. This project has consistently held my interest, though, and I want to see it through.

Anyway, after I found out about polyphasic sleep, I spent my free time for the next several days reading about it. I really, really wanted to try it, but I felt that it was necessary to study it first and figure out what -- if anything -- was wise to do. I definitely wanted a change over the depression and sleep deprivation I was experiencing, which I felt like stemmed from my lack of a consistent sleep schedule and the stressful work that was both taking time away from sleep and making what sleep time I had uneasy.

Last Monday, around the time it was transitioning to Tuesday, September 15th, I decided I was going to have to stay up late to finish a project I was working on. I wanted to sleep, but knew that I couldn't really take the time -- and this is when I decide that circumstances had presented an opportunity in which I could either suffer through my usual sleep-deprivation or give Uberman (6 x 20 minute naps) a try. And so I went for it, deciding if ever there was a time to start the experiment, this was it. I had been contemplating it over the weekend and had a burning desire to try it, and now I knew that if it worked, I needed it.

From my previous experiences with having to wake myself up during the night, I knew I had trouble actually waking during the night. I have a tendency to sleep through almost anything during the hours between midnight and six, if I'm tired enough. And I was. From my previous experiences, I knew the only sure way to cause myself to actually wake up during the night, as opposed to simply turning off the alarm in my sleep, was to keep the room well-lit, and sleep with my eyes covered. The idea was that I would be able to sleep lightly with the brightness mostly blocked from my vision, but once I woke up and removed the blindfold, the ambient light would help me awaken. In this way, I was able to not miss my alarm, although I still had trouble wanting to stay awake. This is my biggest struggle with sleep-deprivation: once I get to sleep, I do not want to be awakened for anything, especially something unpleasant, like finishing a really dreary and taxing project. When I wake up in that sleepy state, I have trouble convincing myself to get up. The light helps with that a bit, as nothing is so depressing to my sleep-deprived mind as waking up in the dark.

I discovered the helpfulness of light in waking incidentally, as I occasionally fall asleep while reading in a relaxed position. I will naturally wake up no more than three hours later if I fall asleep with the light on, usually. So I began to figure out that this was a necessity if I absolutely had to get myself up during the night. However, on successive nights where I considered employing this tactic to help me with Uberman, I felt uneasy about doing it, as I remembered that my father used to remind me why it was important to sleep at night.

The reasons why it's necessary to sleep at night and why I find it hardest to awaken at this time are the same: melatonin. And this was my biggest concern with attempting the Uberman schedule, or anything else other than monophasic. Melatonin is what makes one tired, and the onset of darkness is what produces it in the greatest abundance, apparently, which is why it is sometimes most difficult for me to awake at night. If anything is evidence for why people must sleep at night, this is it. The production of melatonin is necessary to the hormonal system. Lack of melatonin may be what worsens my depressed states. It's also believed to be helpful in general physical well-being, and to perhaps prevent certain forms of cancer that may be hormonally related.

So, this has been my greatest difficulty and concern in modifying my sleep schedule. But if I can't get enough monophasic sleep at night anyway, due to either time constraints or being unable tos leep, sleep during the day or with a light on is better than no sleep.

I found that, as is normal for most people, I wasn't able to get much sleep with Uberman. It became apparent that it was going to take several days to adjust. Meanwhile, I wasn't sure that I wanted to miss the sleep. I only got very light sleep with my naps on Tuesday, and that night, I was sick with food poisoning. I decided, when I found it difficult to get up from my 8 o'clock nap, to let myself have some free-running sleep in order to help me feel better, or at least be knocked out and not in pain. I slept from about 9 PM until early the next morning. I went on trying 30-minute naps every 4 hours (I decided on 30 minutes because I was hardly falling asleep with 20), and succeeded in at least falling asleep with my naps during the day on Wednesday, but again was left with the dilemma of whether to sleep with a light on or have a very difficult late night.

After doing some reading, I found that most people experience a sleep cycle of about 90 minutes. Earlier, my best friend had suggested to me that, because of my school schedule, I try sleeping every 6 hours for an hour, rather than doing the 6x20 plan. I liked the idea that I would have more time to fall asleep, have more flexbility on naps, and perhaps get more total sleep while still sleeping only 4 hours a day. I decided to try starting out with four naps of 60-90 minutes, depending on how tired I was/what time constraints I have. I barely have time for a 90 minute nap during my lunch break, and 60 minutes might be a more realistic goal for that one. From my previous experience with napping, I believed it was true that there was an optimal nap period in which one could get enough rest to feel refreshed, but not sleep so long that they entered a longer monophasic-like cycle. I believed this optimal nap time seemed to be less than 2 hours, so 60-90 minutes seemed about right.

With embarking upon trying Uberman, I realized that it wasn't really a good time in my life to be sleep-deprived, the highs one gets from being sleep-deprived aside. So, I liked the idea of trying to slowly transition into being polyphasic by starting out with longer naps. Perhaps my thinking on this is completely wrong-headed, but I figured that, if I was suited for being polyphasic at all, it would be easier to find that out by starting with longer, more comfortable naps, and then perhaps trying to cut down on the time spent napping in the future. Others advocate that, if you are going to do 120 minutes of sleep today, the only way to do it is to jump right in. Perhaps that's so, but I'd like to try this more appealing schedule first. I don't like the idea of a strict schedule, and it would be very difficult for me this semester, since I spend a good deal of my day in class, only getting a significant break at lunch.

Anyway, after trying this for a while, and finding that I'm still having a hard time becoming fully-alert at night, especially when sleeping in the dark, and with my added concern of not getting enough sleep during the dark hours, I'm considering trying a core sleep and three naps instead. The schedule I originally outlined for myself was to sleep 60-90 minutes at 11, 5, 11, 5 (except on some days when I have to skip the 5 PM). I'm now thinking that, to assure I have enough sleep at night, and to avoid the difficulty of getting myself up when it's hardest, I should try something more along the lines of having a core sleep from 11PM - 2 AM, and then having one hour naps at 5 AM, 11 AM, and 5 PM. I don't know yet if 2 AM is the optimal time to wake up, but I like the idea of having my 5 AM nap also be in the dark, and still awakening at 6 AM, leaving me a couple of hours to get organized before classes start.

Anyway, this is the current state of my experiment. I wish to give it a fair try before assessing it further, but it sounds workable. I'd be getting about 6 hours of sleep a day, and having naps begin at regular 6 hour intervals on most days. It sounds feasible, as I've gotten by for days at a time on less sleep. But my tolerance for sleep-deprivation may make it difficult for me to judge how well I feel on it until I've been doing it for a while. I'm not cutting back on my sleep much, but I probably can't, unless I have more time for guaranteed naps. As it is, I'm still not sure I'm getting much sleep during naps, but it will probably take a while to become accustomed to having a nap schedule at all. If the premise of polyphasic sleep works, I should soon start getting to the point where I get more out of my naps. At least I can now rest easier with the assurance that I will get some sleep. If nothing else, what I want to get out of this is the ability to nap well and refresh myself so that I no longer have sleepless days after I'm unable to get a full night's rest.

With all of that explained and a trial schedule finally settled, I'll try to start doing day-by-day updates of how I'm getting along with it, and what advantages, if any, I'm gleaning.

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