| Uberman's sleep schedule log created to document my, most likely in vain, attempt to squeeze out 4-5 extra hours each day.
www.xanga.com/sleepycoda
=====Copied from sleepycoda 12/29, 5:24 AM=====
5AM
Today will undoubtedly be one of several, if not the singular most, defining day of my Uberman's journey. Because of the way events have unfolded in the past 36 hours, I'm no longer optimistic about being able to adopt this schedule permanently. In fact, all signs lead me to believe that my body will simply fail to function sometime during the rest of tonight through the early afternoon period. At the point where all of my mental capacities are no longer strong enough to keep myself from collapsing or unable to drag myself out of bed, then I will have failed. However, in the miraculous event that I survive the next 12 hours or so, I will have bought myself more time for my body to adjust and begin a rapid process of adaption. My physical state cannot really get much worse; the only direction to go is up, either through adaptation or simply crashing and sleeping for 20 hours straight. If anything, my morale and determination will be greatly heightened if I can survive tonight's absolute hell.
A Review of My Experiment
The Uberman's sleep schedule (aka polyphasic sleep) calls for splitting the normal 8 hour block of sleep into short naps dispersed throughout the day. An integral part of the schedule is compacting the natural sleep cycles so that REM sleep is reached much more quickly than in a normal cycle (in Uberman, supposedly, one REM cycle is completed by the end of a 30 minute nap as opposed to the first REM cycle in normal sleep not even starting until after an hour and 30 minutes). As a result, the successful polyphasic sleeper will feel just as alert and refreshed, if not more, than a normal sleeper despite only sleeping 2.5-3 hours a day. On the downside, adapting one's body to this cycle is absolute hellfire, a combination of physical ailments, mental anguish and emotional instability (at least in my case) for a period of anywhere between 5?? days to two weeks or longer. Unfortunately, I began this experiment totally mentally unprepared. All I had was the desire to succeed. This has driven me incredibly far, much more than I would have expected. All in all though, I was totally unprepared for the mental and physical effects of multiple days of sleep deprivation. I knew it was going to be tough, just not as scathing as it has been. I've definitely made several mistakes in my planning and execution that have made this a lot more painful than it should be.
I began the experiment expecting to have a fully stocked supply of Red Bull, caffeine pills, protein shakes/bars, a good book, computer games, an alarm clock, and AIM. I also created a rough schedule of events to follow after every wakeup period, including washing my face, stretching, pushups/jumping jacks, and grabbing a quick bite before settling down for some reading, tv, computer games, etc. Finally, I listed my goals and reasons for undergoing this perilous and painful adventure to keep myself motivated. Alas, the Red Bull was not purchased, caffeine pills apparently will cause you to feel really tired after the initial "alert period", and AIM is terribly boring when only 15 idle buddies are online. Since then, I have added several alarms for a total of 4 alarm clocks (2 that blast music/beat high pitched squawks incessantly and strobe lights from my computer monitor, and 2 cell phone alarms) strategically scattered in my room and set to times 2 minutes successively apart from each other. The list of goals/reasons has long since disappeared under a heap of papers/clothes and is the least of my concerns. The last time I did a pushup or jumping jack was the first night.
The last night I slept a normal night's sleep was the 23rd. The night of the 24th/morning of the 25th were easily tackled as a typical all-nighter. Naps were largely useless as my body wasn't used to sleeping until 3 or 4 AM anyways. Beginning the next night, life sucked more than a cheap hooker. The auxiliary energy all but burned out, leaving me in a zombie like state for about a day and a half. From here, first signs of adaptation to the Uberman's cycle appeared despite a host of physical ailments (massive headaches, pain in my stomach) that had developed. I began to feel more refreshed after naps, with the pounding in my head lessening progressively that day. In addition, my first dreams appeared, signally REM had been reached at a much faster rate than in normal sleep (basically the primary goal of this sleep schedule). I consider this period the ultimate tease, like one of those really annoying hot flirty girls that gets you thinking that they are interested then coldheartedly drops you like a stone. This period gave me false pretenses as to just how incredibly easy the rest of the journey would be. Just had to maintain cruise control. The day of the 27th marked the beginning of a huge unexpected downward slide that has not stopped. For some reason, I began feeling agitated before daytime and evening naps. They ended up being inconsistent in length and sometimes virtually skipped. By early morning hours I was delerious and mentally anguished. Hallucinations, pounding headaches, and eyelids that weigh 100 pounds, coupled with more physical pain designed to wake me up (sticking my face in the freezer, grinding the soles of my feet into hard objects, slapping myself in the face, and shining lights in my eyes) have made this period perhaps one of the most challenging few hours of my life. First signs of failure occurred as I overslept a few of my naps. Apparently, sleep inertia occurs if you nap more than 30 minutes but less than an hour and 30 mins, making the effects less desirable than a short nap of 15 minutes. As such, grogginess has pretty much stayed with me at all times since then. However, the worst part of it all is now being totally incapable of sleeping at my 6PM, 10PM, and 2AM nap times. These naps are utterly useless as I only enter a hazy daze where I'm still semi-conscious. I've realized that these are probably due to minor anxiety attacks. I'm really afraid now that if I sleep then I will oversleep for hours, thereby ending my experiment. Coupled with the fact that previously those hours I was highly alert due to my circadian rhythm, I'm left with these periods of time where I am tired as all hell, desperately trying to fall asleep, but simply unable to. This is the most discouraging factor. Unless this can be reversed today, assuming that I somehow survive the early morning hours, I really won't be able to make any progress.
Motivations
Because tonight may be my last stand, I guess I should close with a few reasons why I'm doing all this. This will largely be for myself; I plan to re-read this whenever I'm about to give up the rest of today.
For awhile now, I've realized that I've been stagnant in my personal growth or whatever you want to call it. All my energy had been focused previously in other areas besides really discovering and improving myself as a person. I've always had high dreams, but haven't taken enough action to pursue them, only telling myself that I have the potential and will to achieve whatever I want. This experiment is the first step in trying to make my life that much more fulfilling and self-conscious. On the most basic level, achieving the extended hours of the day would give me a great deal of time to pursue whatever endeavors I wish to partake, all the while letting me relax or party like crazy and enjoy my college years. Intensity will be key, whether in academics, partying, spiritual life, or even simple things as working out. Equally important though, I feel as if this trial is symbolic of the person that I may become. Yes the experiment is one isolated incident and not really defining of my character, but success would definitely raise my confidence and awareness of my limitations. I've always been one that has enjoyed challenges (despite my whining) and have been curious as to how far I can push myself. It's been awhile since I've been really challenged to a point of discomfort and learned from it; rather I've grown complacent, leading me to be weak and fall in several areas of my personal life recently. Being able to overcome this rite of passage, even if its self imposed and raises serious concerns about my sanity and mental wellbeing (JK), will hopefully place me on the upwards moving track once again.
And so the next, maybe last chapter, continues...(hopefully now that I've made all this public, my pride will refuse to let me fail and get embarrassed, hehe) |
