Polyphasic sleep days 6-10

I have begun to keep a log of my sleep records on my computer, so I'll just post what I've been writing onto here as well. I track the sleep for the day as it goes, adding text to each day as the day progresses. Enjoy!

      Day 6 (1/15)

Core: 3-6:30
First: 11:50-12:10
Second: 5:10-5:30
Third: 9:20-9:50

Total sleep: 4 hours 40 minutes

Woke up extremely tired, was difficult to get up. This would be the first time I had a good reason to stay in bed, so I wasn't motivated to go back to sleep...Still got up alright. The mistake I made was to give blood that morning, as when I got home around from giving blood around 9:30 AM I was worn out. I drank a lot of water and stayed awake as long as I could, I ended up passing out a little earlier than expected, but I was able to set my timer so I didn't oversleep. I couldn't get the energy to get up and do anything after my first nap so I read a book to keep myself from drifting back to sleep. An hour or two later I felt better and was back up and moving around. I didn't fall asleep well for my second nap, but I am noticing that even though I don't fall asleep immediately it feels a LOT longer than 20 minutes. Even though I didn't sleep the full 20 minutes I felt fairly well rested after awaking. Third nap didn't go well, I can't get used to sleeping in my car. The rest of the night was tough missing most of that nap, but I made it through okay.

Day 7 (1/16)

Core: 3:00-7:00
First: 11:55-12:20
Second: 5:00-5:25
Third: 10:00-10:25

Total sleep: 5 hours 15 minutes

Overslept slightly, but woke up feeling refreshed and revitalized so I'm not too worried, I think that I might have needed the sleep to catch up a little. Went for a 10 mile unicycle ride this morning as I'm training for a big ride in April and I figured it was about time to test my recouperation with less "sleep". Was exhausted from the ride so I fell straight into my first nap, it went very well. Spent the day cleaning and organizing, second and third nap went fairly well except I tried to take my second nap in my car again and had pretty poor success with it still. Was very tired at night and had troubles staying up until 3, I am putting some blame on the ride and physical exhaustion. I also had a pretty high appetite most of the day.

Day 8 (1/17)

Core: 3:00-7:00
First: 12:00-12:20
Second: 5:30-5:50
Third: 10:40-11:00

Total sleep: 5 hours

I overslept a bit again today (woke up and laid back down, as soon as my eyes closed I passed out again), but again woke up fairly refreshed. My ride the day prior should have been taxing (I have ridden 10 miles before, just not in a long time) and post ride I felt like my weird sleep schedule should have vastly reduced my recovery capabilities. That being said, today I feel fairly remarkably uneffected as far as soreness goes. We will see over the next day or two how I fair, especially since I am doing another 11 mile ride today. Took my first nap on time and fell asleep quickly, feeling refreshed after awakening. I've noticed feeling less tired during the day and only getting fatigue near my planned nap times, I think I am beginning to acclimate...if only I didn't mess up my nap times! Got off on each nap later in the day, and writing this at 11:45 after my last nap I'm still very tired. I blame taking another ride today, making that 20 miles I've ridden in the past 2 days on my unicycle. My body isn't as sore as expected (yet) but there is plenty of time.

Day 9 (1/18)

Core: 3:00-7:00
First: 2:00-2:20
Second: 5:00-5:20
Third: 10:00-10:20

Total sleep: 5 hours

I'm making too much of a habit of oversleeping, so I think I need to take the advice I found on some forums where I put my alarm somewhere I have to stand up to get to it. First nap was WAAAY delayed, had to wait for a delivery man to come and install something at my parents house since they both had work...plus side is they were installing a sleep number bed with a built in massager, so I got to take my nap on a pretty badass mattress. Second nap was on time and although I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go to sleep with my other nap so close I had no problems falling asleep. I even woke up before my alarm feeling refreshed, which according to the forums means I got up and skipped the rest of my nap as my body got the rest it needed.

Day 10 (1/19)

Core: 3:00-6:30
First: 11:50-12:10
Second: 2:30-4:30
Third: Skipped


Total sleep: 5 hours 50 minutes

Slept very solidly during my core sleep, actually woke up before my alarm went off feeling refreshed. The morning was hard to get through, had moments of tiredness but again I put a lot of this onto my physical exhaustion from riding as much as I have. I plan to continue amping up the amount that I ride and hoping my body will adjust to it sooner rather then later. First nap went really well, I was thoroughly exhausted and passed straight out, problems waking up and I still felt tired for most of the afternoon...a fact not helped by me stuffing my face with WAY too much food causing me to go into a food coma. My second nap was both preemptive and waaaaaay too long, but I woke up feeling much better than I did prior. I think my body just needed a little more time laying down.

Days 1-10 total sleep: 47.5 hours

On my normal sleep schedule (7-8 hours a night) I would have slept somewhere between 70-80 hours by now, so it's a pretty substantial difference in functional hours awake. I'll keep updating as I progress.

-Dane

Polyphasic sleep, days 1-5

So the week went a little different than I had expected, the convention was a crazy fiasco of fun and ridiculousness and my naps didn't always happen when I wanted or sometimes I even missed naps all-together...but that's OK. I honestly expected this weekend to be a little strange and hectic, and figured I would be leaving fairly sleep deprived regardless of my success sticking to the polyphasic cycle (last time I went to an event like this I came back from a 5 day weekend with about 20 hours of total sleep), but here is a log of the hours I slept and I'll try to talk a little about each day. I should also note that I shifted my planned sleep schedule to the following:

Core nap: 3:00-6:00
First nap: 12:00-12:20
Second nap: 5:00-5:20
Third nap: 10:00-10:20

Day 1 (1/10)

Core:3-6
First:9-930
Second:1:40-2:00


Total slept: 3 hours 50 minutes

First day on the new cycle, I also flew into Florida today. My first flight was from 8:50-9:45, and I have a bad habit of falling asleep on planes...which I did. All of my research has shown that if you mess up the sleep cycle you just need to try to stick as much as possible to your planned schedule, so I more or less pretended it never happened. Made the second nap at what looks like a little late, but I adjusted for the new time zone (1 hour later) so it was only a little bit behind what I planned. Got caught up in the convention I was at and lost track of time, missed my third nap. Day felt tired, but I was pretty amped up from the convention so I didn't have much problems staying awake.

Day 2 (1/11)

Core: 3:30-6:50
First: 8:30-8:50
Second 1:30-1:50
Third: 11-11:20

Total slept: 4 hours 20 minutes

Had an easy time waking up, went for a mile or two walk and then got back to wait for my room mate to get ready before I headed back down to the convention hall and while I waited for him I slipped back into sleep. Thankfully he woke me up when he got out so I didn't sleep too long, but it's still unfortunate. Next nap I made more or less "on time" (had to reschedule slightly due to lunch scheduling), but I have read that so long as you keep your naps within about 30 minutes of when you plan for them then you are fine.  Missed my planned second nap (at 5) so I made it to the third one and passed out pretty hardcore. I remembered dreaming, which is a good sign as it usually indicated I actually went into REM cycle.

Day 3 (1/12)

Core: 5:00-8:30
First: 12-12:20
Second: 7-7:20
Third: 11-11:20

Total slept: 4 hours 20 minutes

Stayed out drinking with friends and didn't make it back into my room until 5. I was going to wake up at 6 but I felt it was more important to get at least a little sleep. Second nap I only realized *after* I finished that I napped at the wrong time zone, but it was still a good nap. Second and third went as planned and honestly between sleeping hours I felt fairly alert but I could definitely feel worn out...I was beginning to have some fairly intense leg soreness. Some of this could be attributed to the fact I was standing for basically the whole day, but at home I have a standing desk and I'm usually standing for 3-4 hours at a time or more, so I am thinking it's more due to the fatigue. I spent some time stretching and using a roller to massage my calfs, quads and hamstrings to help relieve some of the tension.

Day 4 (1/13)

Core: 3-330
First: 1-1:20
Second: 7-7:20

Total slept: 4 hours 10 minutes

First three sleep cycles went as planned, but then I was able to visit an old friend who lives in Orlando and I spent the night out with her catching up, missing my third nap. Staying up was easy, after she went home around 11 or 12 I went back into the convention hall and found out the group was going out drinking again, so I joined in! Thankfully I didn't stay out nearly as late, I ended up getting to sleep on time.

Day 5 (1/14)

Core: 3:30-720
First: 1-1:20
Second 6-6:20
Third: 10:30-11

Total slept: 5 hours

Finally figured out that although I adjusted all the other times for time zone difference, apparently I forgot my core nap so I adjusted my sleep accordingly by shifting it half an hour over, which I will continue tonight. Had another semi lucid dream during my first nap where I knew I was dreaming but I'm not currently able to control what happens. This was also expected, many polyphasic sleepers report an increased ability to lucid dream when shifting sleep cycles so I will continue to read up on what to expect.

I am writing this at 1:15 AM on day 6, and currently I feel tired but not nearly as much as I should be for having....let me do the math real quick...just over 22 and a half hours of sleep over the course of 5 days. I joined a polyphasic sleep forum and have been in contact with another member who told me it's more common now for people to do a 3 and a half hour core nap (hence my shift from my original plan), so I have decided I will try that first since more sleep is probably always going to be better and maybe attempt to cut down that nap length later.

I know I promised photos in the last post but I need to unpack and get myself situated back home, so I'll have to tell you more about my convention (or at least show you some amazing photos) on the next post.

Until then!
-Dane

The Beginning....and Introduction

Hello world!

My name is Dane Dawson, and I'm a peculiar guy. For more information on how strange and weird I can be you're welcome to peruse my "about me" splurge located somewhere on this page or just continue reading, but to sum it up I am the type of person who likes to do things because they are new, challenging, fun, or exciting...and not always because they are the best or safest decision. In fact, the majority of my decisions are made because they in fact *aren't* what is considered safe, normal or intelligent, much to the dismay of my parents and close friends.

Sooo...you're a "Modern Renaissance Man" huh? Why so cocky?

I want to clarify something up front, I in no way compare myself to the skill and prowess of those in history who have been labeled as renaissance men. Geniuses the likes of da Vinci, Imhotep, Newton, and Jefferson (just to name a few) who have accomplished so much are examples of my greatest role models, not because of their intelligence but in their ability and desire to understand and participate actively in so many different fields of study. Their capacity for new skills and depth of knowledge in all the activities they decided they were interested in is simply...astounding. To be a first-class painter, scientist, mathematician, architect or philosopher is, in itself, something noteworthy and impressive, but to be able to produce literally world changing contributions in a variety of very different skill sets is simply awe-inspiring.  I do not call myself a modern renaissance man as a label for what I am, but rather as a guide for what I'd like to become.

That being said, I created this site to share what I am learning and doing for two reasons.

1. I have a terrible tendency to commit to things only if I make it public and receive positive feedback about it.
2. I truly believe everyone is capable of amazing things if they only give themselves the chance to try and maybe, just maybe, watching my growth with inspire someone else to attempt the same.

I have been attempting this lifestyle for quite sometime and have a fairly odd assortment of random skills I've picked up over the years, and I feel like I should introduce my skill set at least slightly so you can understand that I'm not just saying I want to do everything...I actually try to do everything. That being said...I can't think of a way to list of things that I've done that doesn't sound tacky or like I'm just bragging so as soon as I get a way to do that I'll let you know. But to tide you over until then I will introduce you to my newest project I am attempting, which is:

Polyphasic sleep cycles!!

If you need more information on some types of polyphasic sleep cycles and what they are click on this link here and brush up a bit...but basically the thought process is that when you sleep your brain only really gets rest during REM sleep cycles (which pretty much all science agrees with). What most people don't know is that when you sleep during the night your brain actually shifts through multiple "levels" of sleep, only getting REM sleep during the deepest cycle of sleep usually happening 4-6 times a night. Each REM sleep cycle actually only lasts approximately 20-30 minutes each time, meaning that when you sleep your brain only actually rests for about 2-4 hours while you sleep!

The theory behind polyphasic sleep cycles is to shift your bodies habits to minimize the amount of sleep you receive so that you will fall immediately into the true resting REM sleep cycles when you close your eyes. It sounds dangerous and harmful, but numerous studies have been done to show that, when properly attempted with a healthy diet and enough activities to keep you occupied, there is little to no health problems, physically or mentally!  In fact, many famous scientists and inventors throughout history have lived on polyphasic sleep cycles to allow themselves the time to create and do what they'd like, including Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. In fact, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison actually used to frequently brag to each other about just how *little* sleep they got the night prior.

Most people say that when shifting to a polyphasic sleep cycle you can expect a "zombie" like state for the first week to three weeks (depending on how quickly your body adapts to the new system), which has always been a limiting factor to my attempting the shift, but a recent vacation to florida has opened up my next week and a half, allowing me a golden period to give it a try! I am going to be attempting to shift over to what is commonly called the Everyman sleep cycle, which is defined (as I slightly paraphrase) as:

One longer “core” nap that is supplemented with several 20-30 minute naps. The most successful variations are either one 3 hour nap and three 20-minute naps or one 1.5 hour nap with 4-5 20 minute naps, all of which have equal amounts of time in between each nap.

To keep with a potential work schedule at my real job this will be my sleep schedule (the times I list are the times I will be asleep)

Core nap:     3:50AM-6:50AM

First nap:       12:00-12:20PM

Second nap:  5:40-6:00 PM

Third nap:     10:20-10:40 PM

This puts approximately 4-6 hours between each nap and allows me to leave for work by 7 (I get up and at'em very efficiently in the morning). This schedule may be tweaked a bit more, especially since it would only allow me to work half days as is, but I want to try getting into the habit. I am starting my new schedule tonight by staying up and only sleeping from 3:50-6:50, and I will be letting all my friends in Florida know what's going on. I will attempt to update my progress into sleep deprivation with blog posts and *maybe* small video posts from my phone. Wish me luck and expect some fairly peculiar updates.

As I always hate long posts, I am going to put this one to an end as I feel I have fairly adequately introduced myself and my newest idea. Please feel free to comment below, I have always loved attention and certainly would mind more of it. Until next time (which should be tomorrow night perhaps), take care and I look forward to my next posting!

-Dane Dawson