Something EpicEncouraging radical lives that matter

I quit last night. (Yes, even after suggesting that I’m more disciplined than that in my last post. I think God probably laughs and laughs when I make such arrogant comments.)

It’s kind of sad to find out that I’m a quitter (especially after this year’s NaNoWriMo) but apparently it’s true. There were a number of factors; I had been mildly sick the first night, and last night I was worse (upset stomach, hot-and-cold, racing heart). The heart thing worried me more than just being sick. The other main factor is that I am a social creature who is mostly alone for my waking hours; it eventually occured to me that perhaps adding more waking hours to be alone in front of my computer doesn’t really accomplish a lot—it mostly just makes me lonely. Couple that with the fact that I don’t even get to sleep with my husband, and it’s a lot less appealing.

So there you have it. Will I try it again? Possibly, when Daniel can do it at the same time. More time with him would be a serious benefit. More time by myself is just more of the same. I think that I also don’t really have a need to make it work, so I’m not as motivated as, say, an overloaded college student. So I guess either serious need or serious benefits would spur me on to do it (but even then, only if my health stays stable).

I’ve survived 24 hours of polyphasic, and at this point, that feels like a major victory. The downside is that by all accounts it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I intentionally started sleep-deprived (directly after returning from a Thanksgiving trip, with no night of monophasic sleep to start) because I’m hoping that it will help me adapt faster; not that I would have purposely deprived myself of sleep first, but since I’d already lost some sleep over the weekend, I didn’t want to take the time to recharge all the way only to drain again. Better to get it all over with at once, assuming it works that way. My theory is that maybe this way, my body will crave the REM sleep sooner and adapt faster. Of course, I’m pretty sure that everyone who tries this fantasizes about a really fast adaptation.

It’s definitely fair to say that I’ve been pretty tired the whole time since my last entry. I’ve mostly felt like I do when I stay up too late on a Saturday night, and start nodding off in front of my computer. The roughest time was the period from 12:30 to 4:00 a.m. I was so tired that I couldn’t remember that I actually had a contingency plan; I was going to clean the office (physical moving around work) and possibly go to Wal-Mart. But when it came to it, I forgot that I had options. Bah. I gave myself an extra 30-minute nap, not so much to relieve the tiredness (I knew it wouldn’t do that) but to try to make the time pass faster. Steve Pavlina did this and I don’t see how it could be detrimental, as long as the time is limited. I figure better an extra controlled nap than a crash.

At that early morning point, I really started to question the whole idea of this project. I couldn’t remember why I wanted to do it, and I couldn’t come up with any reasons good enough to offset the unpleasantness of being awake, dead-tired, by myself, while the man I love was sleeping in our bed alone. However, I know that I tend to think with my emotions rather than my head in the middle of the night, especially while sleep deprived, and I was not going to change course at the worst time. Better to wait until a good time and then consider it a little more objectively.

Tonight has the potential to be even worse. Ugh. But I’m going to try to be better prepared. For one, I’m going to hang out with my sister until she goes to bed (usually around midnight). That gets me through one cycle. I’m just going to take my knitting in her room and endure her crap TV shows because she’ll keep me awake.

I have a mental list (which I think I’d better write down here in case I forget it at 2 a.m.!) of things I can do. I like the way this idea was done on “Placebo’s Polyphasic Sleep Journal Attempt 2“, so I’m going to imitate it. Here’s his scale:

0 = not at all tired. I couldn’t sleep if I tried.
5 = Yawning from time to time. Bed is beginning to look enticing.
10 = My eyes are closed 90% of the time, I can’t keep them open no matter what I do.

Things I intend to do:

• Computer stuff: designing the interface for my new blog and working on several web app projects (when I’m between a 0 and a 6)
• Writing a necessary manual: it needs done (when I’m between a 3 and a 7)
• Knitting, sewing, and other crafty things (when I’m between a 4 and a 7)
• Online gaming: I think I’ll try my hand at some Unreal Tournament online (when I’m between a 5 and an
• Physical tasks: cleaning the office, unraveling sweaters (yes, for real) (when I’m at a 8 to 10)

The idea is that I will gradually move from activity to activity as each one is more appropriate. I liked Sean’s addition of stretching after naps, too, so I’m going to see if I can integrate that. Later this month or next, the plan is to borrow the church’s bass guitar and learn that. I think, unfortunately, that for the adaptation phase at least, reading and movies are pretty much out. I just nod off too quickly… well, at night. In the day, I’ve been able to read some. And we did watch an episode of Alias this evening.

Hmm, what else? I’m concerned about back pain. I have a hard time sitting in office chairs at the best of times for long durations, but I’m afraid to sit down on the couch for fear I might just tip over and zonk out. I’m trying to maintain good posture and hoping for the best.

Oh, and I tried out the “Jewelry Class in a Box!” and guess what… it’s utter crap. I reviewed it over on my new blog. Kind of a disappointment as I had visions of becoming a fabulous jewelry creator while shifting to polyphasic. Ah, well, I’ll just have to become a genius bunny-knitting bass-playing ricebag-sewing kook.

I’m kicking off my own polyphasic sleep experiment tonight. Steve’s blog posts have really inspired me, so I’m going to attempt to document my experiment in the same sort of way. My initial plan is to post at least daily on the topic for the next week and a half, and then as things change. I’m fully expecting the next week to be crap-on-wheels, but it’s all good. I am not going to slack on this experiment, and I’ve learned from other accounts that I need to be very careful about not oversleeping.

I’ve installed hooks for my hammock here in the (home) office. My hammock has carabiners on each end, and I have eye-bolts installed in several places—my bedroom, in the backyard, and now the office. Makes it very easy to set it up wherever I need it. I’ve just risen from my first scheduled nap; I didn’t sleep for more than a couple of minutes, but I didn’t really expect to since my body isn’t really that tired yet.

I’m trying to keep my schedule relatively light this week, and especially limit any driving to the bare minimum. I have a client meeting tomorrow, but I think (based on college experiences) that I’ll be tired tomorrow, but not especially impaired. It’s later in the week that I’m more concerned about. I have meetings on Wednesday and Friday mornings that I will have to drive to, but they are both within about 3 miles of my home, so I’ll be very careful and try to limit it to just that.

I’ve been thinking of what I’ll spend my night time hours doing. The household at large has suggested that a Wal-Mart run might be a good thing for tonight, as we are out of dishwasher detergent, among other things. I also bought a cool “Jewelry Class in a Box!” kit that will supposedly teach me how to make bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. I’ve wanted to learn to make that stuff for a long time, and it was on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics’ Black Friday sale. I have this idea that I might be able to use this time to work on my “Ten Dollar Project.” I bought some other craft supplies in the hopes that I’ll get some things ready to consign with some cool online stores.

I also need to work on some of my websites, so that’s another obvious option. I’m a little concerned about carpal tunnel and other related RSI stuff, since I’m already prone to it. I need to make sure I spend time doing things away from the computer. What would you do with the extra time?