Update

No new news. For those of you that don't know I broke a rib this week, so I've been on pain pills all week. Needless to say I am screwing up my sleep because the pills make me exhausted. I have not given up though so stay tuned!

Ok, Time for a Real Update

So my weekend went really well, and then I had to come back to the real world on Monday. Monday itself went well, but Tuesday morning I pretty much just slept until 6am. That being said I slept about 4 hours during the night & missed my first nap of the day..

I was still good to go, made it to work, and was going strong.. Unfortunately thanks to traffic in Houston I had to skip my lunch in order to get my son from daycare in time. Without a lunch, I don't get a nap... Without a lunchtime nap I was stuck with a completely screwed up schedule. By the time I got home I was more tired than I have EVER been in my life. (This of course is exactly what all the reading I did on the subject said would happen if a nap was missed, so I am not WORRIED.... Just TIRED!)

I came home and spent a couple hours playing with my son, and then once my wife got home it was pretty much all I had in me... I literally passed out on the bed and was gone. After only about 30 minutes of sleeping Brittany woke me up to let me know she was going to watch some TV... As soon as I woke up, I was up and ready to go again... VERY STRANGE! :)

I have been up since.. Watched some TV, and now writing this blog before I take my last nap.

I wouldn't say today was a failure because I certainly stayed on track, but it was definitely a learning experience. Next time I need to be more careful about what naps I miss so I don't bring myself to the brink of exhaustion.

As for my theory on this whole experiment... I have decided that this might be exactly what my body has needed all these years. Sleep has always been a nightmare for me. Between my allergies, asthma, and acid reflux, simply laying down on my pillow is a chore.

My main allergies are animals & dust, and unfortunately unless I buy new pillows every week I will inevitably have to deal with dust, and/or dust mites. After a few hours of laying in bed my allergies take control & I will always wake up congested, unable to breathe, and just plain miserable.

Less Sleep = Less time on the pillow! = Less allergen exposure!!

Additionally with my asthma & the fact that I probably have sleep apnea (my wife has noticed me breathing funny or not at all some nights) my breathing during the night sucks. Probably 50% of the time I need to wake up and take medicine because I can't breath, and I am always tired because it is very hard for me to get into that deep REM sleep. With this experiment I am already noticing that I am falling asleep nearly immediately & I am OUT COLD. (Tonight I apparently got my wife a diaper & the wipes for my son and I don't remember any of it!)

The fact that the system is forcing me to sleep hard & immediately coupled with the lessened exposure to allergens is actually making this very easy for me. Additionally I can see immediate results, because I am so rested my energy has been through the roof! Sunday especially (since Sunday was my most successful day to date) I did more around the house than I have done in months, and I also drive to College Station to bring Zoe home & go shopping/run some errands..

So that is my thoughts.. I could probably go on for hours, but that would be boring, and it's time for my nap.. :)

Until next time...

Sorry

I thought I should update for those of you following my progress. I have not given up. Today was rough and I had some setbacks, but I also have a pretty amazing theory as well which could explain why this seems so easy for me.. More to come... Can't get too detailed updating from my iPod. :)

Easier today

Well, I ended up sleeping 4 hours again last night.... But, today has been much easier. Naps are coming easier, I am falling asleep faster, and overall I feel better. Tonight I am going to PUSH for the 1.5 hour sleep. If I fail then tomorrow I will officially move up to a lighter schedule (probably the one with two naps a day) that better fits my schedule.

I am not giving up though!!! :) Stay tuned.

Ok..

Just ok.. I am rather tired right now. Skipped my second nap to have lunch with my wife. I am considering changing to a four hour system if tonight doesn't go well. I won't have as much time in the day, but it is also not as extreme of a change to get used to. I could always move up to the higher levels later once the initial shock is gone. :) any thoughts?

Screwup!

Yeah well, it was inevitable. I love to sleep.. what can I say?
Last night I layed down for my 12am nap, and next thing I know it is 4am.... I slept through my alarm, and my extra 2 hours at the end of the day.
The good news, I still got up at 4am.... Also took my morning nap at 6ish.
I feel great today (of course I did sleep 4 hours last night instead of the 1.5 I should have...), hopefully I will have better luck tonight.

Day one update

Well the day went pretty well so far. Granted I had a full night sleep, but the naps seem to fit my schedule perfectly. I had a minor setback with nap #3, as I was unable to fall asleep and probably only got about 10 minutes of real sleep in.
I am extremely nervous about tomorrow... First full day with only 1.5 hours sleep in the middle of the night. I doubt I will have the same issue falling asleep tomorrow though!!

Day One....

Well here I am. A successful 4am wake up on day one! Fasting was one of the hardest things to do, but my pancakes and eggs breakfast is amaaazing!!

I am very excited/nervous about today. First nap is less than 2 hours away!

Polyphasic Sleep Experiment.

This is the official blog which will follow the experiences, lessons learned, and ultimately the success or failure of my experiment with Polyphasic Sleep.

So you may ask "What is Polyphasic Sleep Rich??". Well, basically it is taking little naps throughout the day instead of the traditional long, wasteful 6-12 hours that we may sleep at night. In fact according to Wikipedia it is just that: "the practice of sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period". Sounds crazy right? Maybe not...

This past weekend I was sitting there thinking about all the things I had accomplished on Saturday, and then was upset that I had come to the realization Sunday would NOT be enough time to complete the rest of the tasks. I thought "how cool would it be if I could just pull an all-nighter on Saturday nights and give myself an extra 8-10 hours to accomplish tasks??"

Well, that unfortunately may never work. The reason is simple: our Circadian Rhythm. We are unable to change this natural cycle... and therefore we can not just force a 48 hour weekend to accomplish more tasks.

Being the stubborn person I am, I refused to stop reading. I knew that SOMEONE had to have succeeded in finding a way to extend their weekend. Then I stumbled on the goldmine. POLYPHASIC SLEEP! :) It does not give me a 48 hour weekend, but it DOES give me a 22 hour day!! (which is a 44 hour weekend... NOT BAD!!)

I won't get into the details of the way it works (you don't want my two-bit analysis of scientific research, TRUST ME), but I will post some of the best links I came across through my hours of research on the subject for your reading. Also I feel the need to note: that this is NOT "unsafe", or stupid. Crazy perhaps, but still safe. There has been research on the subject done in Harvard, as well as hundreds of people that I have found on the internet that have succeeded at changing their sleep patterns. I will however lay out the details of my plan. The plan which I start at noon on Wednesday!

The first step:

Starting Wednesday at noon I will fast for 16 hours.

This decision was made based on some other studies that were done claiming to help you "reset" your sleep clock by fasting for 12-16 hours.

http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-naturally-reset-your-sleep-cycle-overnight

This will put my new "breakfast" time at 4am starting Thursday.

Step two:

Thursday will begin the new sleep schedule. Note: I will NOT be pushing myself to the limit of the process (2 hours of REM sleep per day made up of 6 20 minute naps).

My planned sleep schedule is as follows:

Wake up & breakfast: 4am

First nap: 6:30am

Second nap & lunch: 12pm

Third nap: 8pm

Fourth nap: 12am

Actual sleep time: 2:30am

(4 20 min naps per day, 1 sleep period, total sleep time: 2.8 hours/day)

Third step:

I will assess my exhaustion levels after day one. If I am functioning (even tired) I will continue the experiment. If I am having issues behind the wheel (after all I have an hour commute) I will start moving my naps to DIRECTLY before I get on the road so I am the most rested just before driving.

Step four:

After week 1 has been completed successfully I will take another assessment of how my body is responding, and my energy levels and if appropriate I will start developing a workout schedule (simple things like the treadmill and small weights) to take up 1 of the extra 5 hours a day I will gain from the experiment.

Step five:

Laugh at the naysayers!

I will continue to track my progress through this blog as the time goes on, so if you are intrigued, or just think I am insane: STAY TUNED! :) All I know is that if I succeed, I will have a 22 hour day!! Eat that!

As promised here are some of the best links to read up the specifics on the topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep-log-a-wifes-perspective/ <-- This one was really interesting! :)

http://howto.lifehack.org/wiki/Polyphasic_Sleep

http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html