Sleepy Time

2002-06-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've fallen almost completely into the mono lifestyle for the last couple of days. Things at work were getting a little hectic, so I wasn't able to get my naps... I took one about an hour ago, so I'm trying to get back on the schedule. There is still plenty to do with the extra time!

2002-06-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well, my blogging has been pretty pathetic. Actually for at least the last week, everything has been pretty pathetic. I went for at least a week without checking my email... I don't think this is so much related to the sleeping as it is to the lull at work combined with time to reflect on time passing and projects not moving forward. Basically, a sort of depression over spilt milk. Time passed and stuff didn't get done... I feel that my ennui is lifting, so maybe I can take more advantage of the time and make sure that some projects start moving forward.

In any case, the number of hours I'm sleeping has definitely increase over the 4 hour 20 minutes of the original plan. I'm guessing that I'm getting more like 6 a night, but broken up into many naps and a longer core sleep. I'll try to keep better track in the name of science.

Back to work...

2002-06-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

I stepped back into the "mono" life for the last three nights. I had a friend visiting, and if was a little awkward to try and stay up with him sleeping in the front room of the house. Plus, I was getting tired and was ready for a full night's sleep.

From a scientific point of view, I'm not acting as a very useful research subject. The inconsistency is problematic in terms of trying to draw conclusions. On the other hand, from a more personal perspective, I really just wanted to get more "free" hours to work on things. In that sense, things are going well. I know that the schedule can net me about 3 hours a day. So if I want those hours, they are there for the taking... I think I'm changing my focus to one of functionality. If I'm really tired and unproductive, I might as well sleep. I think that will increase the chance that I will be ready to work the next day.

I'm not at all sure that we are pushing ourselves far enough to reach the "true" ubermann sleep schedule where you supposedly are dropping directly into REM for your naps. I'm not sure that I want to try pushing it farther in that direction, so I'm thinking about how to best interface with the "mono" world and still extract some time each week for myself.

We'll just have to wait and see...

2002-06-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Tried to post this last night, but blogger doesn't seem to like any of my mac browsers...

--
Back from the diner... I just barely made it this time. I was either awoken by my own fear of being a complete loser or by the cosmic unconsciousness and Nori and Mark's concern that I had slept through...

I must say that my resolve has been weakening. Last night went ok, I stayed on the 2-5 plan, and got up an everything, but then when I went to wake Michelle up for breakfast and she didn't want to go, I ended up sleeping for at least 45 minutes or so. Then this evening, I don't remember exactly what happened, but I ended up asleep around 11, then woke up and then fell back asleep around 12:35 and almost missed the diner meeting.

As Nori put it, "Humans are so good at rationalizing things, that it only takes about 15 seconds to convince yourself that this is a bad idea." Very true! I'm trying to get back on task though.

I was pretty sure that juggling the naps and caffeine was a problem, so I stopped drinking any yesterday. That may have something to do with the difficulty in staying awake.

On a positive note, yesterday, we had to drive to Sonoma to pick up Michelle's new, used car, so I had about a 3 hour drive back, and didn't have any problems trying to stay awake. That's a good sign. It is also nice to be in the habit of napping, so if you do get tired, it is really no big deal to pull over and catch 20 minutes before heading onward.

Ok, bed now, then up in the morning to work on Viva...

2002-06-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, something else to note... When I went to nap at 1 am, I was really really tired. Fault of the mocha crash?

2002-06-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

Well... Tragedy has struck! I layed down for my 1 am nap and woke up at 3:30 am... I missed the 2 am Santa Cruz diner meeting! I was pretty bummed out, and just reset my alarm for 7 am, but then thought that I might as well try moving the core sleep earlier, since we had been talking about that anyway, and reset my alarm for 5 am.

So, here I am, up at 5 am... I don't know if I feel better or worse. Technically I got more like 4 hours of core sleep instead of the regulation 3, so that might factor into it. Overall, I still feel like crap... I'm really considering crawling back into bed for another couple hours. One thing to note is that it is pretty light out at 5 am, and I still need to wheel the garbage can down to the curb.

One thing to note is that I don't think I can maintain this schedule indefinitely even if I start to feel better overall that I do now. It is somewhat difficult living with someone on a "normal" schedule, because you see when they are sleeping and awaking. Also, I my friend Tim is coming to visit this weekend, and with the basic layout of the house, it would be almost impossible to stay on this schedule and not disturb someone almost constantly.

Ok, time to get that trash out...

BYE

2002-06-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

Crap, I just nuked my whole post by missing Post & Publish and hitting BLOGGER instead...

To summarize...

Last night went well. Don't get dehydrated. Snacking at 3:00 am is impossible to avoid. I think exercising might help settle one down for the short naps...

BYE

2002-06-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

After I blogged last night, things got ugly... It was cold out, so the notion of going and working in the garage didn't sound too pleasant. I took my last nap with Michelle on the couch. My alarm woke me up, but I layed back down just to rest... I got an extra 30 minutes there. After waking up, I was really struggling to think of something to do. I started to try thinking about the CSSSA project, but that wasn't going so well. I eventually remembered the Game Cube and ended up playing pikman and luigi's mansion till 4.

In the morning, I was again woken up by the alarm, but stayed in bed and guess what, caught an additional 45 minutes or so there.

Moral to the story: get up when the alarm goes off.

I've generally felt pretty good today. The hard part is finding thing to occupy your mind when sleep sounds like a really really nice idea.

The weekend is harder because I feel more alone in the endeavor.

BYE

2002-06-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

About to enter the fourth "long" night. Except for the initial grogginess after waking up this morning, Today has been a good day. Naps seemed effective. Far cry from yesterday's zombie warfare. I was physically active most of today building storage in the rafters of the garage. Yesterday was definitely a wasteland...

I think part of the problem might the the schedule for the naps. Also, as Nori mentions, caffeine. Today I took naps at 12:45, 3:20, and 8:30. I'd like to push the first nap a bit earlier, but other than that, I think this schedule worked well. I wanted a coffee in the afternoon, so that accounts for the 3:20 nap...

I'm going to check for Nori and Mark on EQ...

2002-05-31T01:48:00.000-07:00

I just put Michelle to bed. Now what?

Nori's right on the money about the time thing. We are facing it now, but I think it is actually pretty common. I know quite a few people, including myself, that spend a long time thinking about the right circumstances to get something done, and then when those circumstances arrive, what to do? The habit of not doing or putting something off is pretty strong... I should head out to the garage and work on Omega Man II restoration or at least do some organization...

Woke up today without a problem. Actually like other days where I'm getting less sleep than usual, I only noticed the lack during the lulls. My last two naps seemed like I really slept in contrast to the two this afternoon where it seemed like I either didn't fall asleep, or only did so for a couple minutes. I got home and had to run over to Elda Lane to finalize the clean up there, so that kind of got my schedule messed up.

Sleep for 5/30/02
-----------------------------------------
12:40 am - 20 minute nap
4:05 am - 3 hour core sleep
1:40 pm - 20 minute nap
5:20 pm - 20 minute nap
11:15 pm - 20 minute nap

BYE

2002-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, now the templates are working and I can publish... Yee Haw!!!

I just finished another nap, and I thought I'd see if blogger was working yet. The basic idea is to sleep 3 hours from 4am to 7am, then take four 20 minute naps approximately every four hours throughout the rest of the day. I've had the four naps, and I'm looking forward to the 3 hour rest. I think trying to stay busy is the key. I was working in the garage trying to get everything organized before my last nap. I have about 45 minutes until I meet Nori and Mark at the Santa Cruz Diner. Maybe some everquest....

BYE

2002-05-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I just woke up from my first power nap and started this blog...

Several of us are starting a new, polyphasic sleep schedule to try and squeeze more hours out of the day and get more of our own stuff done. Actually, it is also an attempt to keep things interesting. Basically to throw a wrench in the works.

More later...

BYE