At day 4 I consider that i’ve “tried” polyphasic sleep for the purposes of the entry on the list. I had a near perfect day in terms of the nap/sleep schedule (finally got the 1.5hours right) but I don’t think it’s really going to work for me! I’ve decided to tap out at this point anyway even though I feel i could have gone further. general reflections, blow by blow and conclusions below:
Reflections:
I don’t think I could say i’ve tried it long enough to decide if it’s bogus for sure… however I spent some of my extra awake hours last night reading blogs of others who have tried this and noticed that many of them “accidentally” overslept every now and then, usually about 1-2 weeks apart. My hunch is that you can get by with this level of sleep dep for a while but eventually your body vetoes and demands a continuous block.
Also I’m less certain about this “straight to REM” thing being the way your body survives…the more i read the less it seems plausible.
Blow-by-blow:
I managed to have the correct number and length of naps today but couldn’t take the 6pm one on time because of a visit to the local taphouse. enjoyable premium beer, but not so enjoyable by the time i got home (at around 8). The tiredness and urge to sleep was extreme! Grabbed a few dumplings which jodie had out for dinner then napped immediately. Felt extremely crusty 20mins later after waking up.
Again the run up to 11pm nap was tough, but the 11:30-3 period was not too bad. I can stay awake without having to do an engaging activity but I notice the tired hazy feeling. If i’m engaged I don’t notice that feeling. I don’t think I could have read calvin during this period
I got the core sleep right – woke up after 1.5 hours but had to sleep on the couch (downstairs) and place the alarm away from me. This basically was the deal breaker. I realised why I wasn’t getting up at this time for the last two nights. Very much in zombie mode so it seemed clear that if i wanted to keep it up I would not be able to sleep in bed anymore. That didn’t sound great to me…that and when i woke up from 1.5hrs on the couch my knee was painfully locked into place.
Conclusions
It was an interesting experiment, but I can’t see how it could work for my schedule and marriage…that coupled with my suspicion that many of the claims made by advocates of polyphasic are a little bit bogus or self deluding has led me to stop at day 4. I’m happy to have tried it but happier to be drinking coffee right now, not worrying about the next nap and looking forward to a long nights sleep in bed with my wife.