Polysleeping update

Posted in: Sleep

I've been going on & off the polyphasic sleep schedule as needs must since Christmas. I have maintained the naps during the day only skipping the evening ones due to a hectic social life. I've fallen asleep in London pubs but it really isn't that cool and kinda freaks people out... So evenings now I'll stay awake and hit the mattress for a few hours at night.

Anyway, so yesterday I tried a full day awake - 8:30am to 1:30am last night, rising at about 8am this morning. This is less sleep than I used to have but not dramatically. I have no problem with sleeping too little for a single night; it's only when it's compounded it starts to get to me. What was interesting was that when I woke I felt qualitatively different from my previous mixed schedule - I came 'round with an aching tiredness that I'd more or less gone to sleep with. I had all those "just woken" symptoms like stuffier nose, red eyes, feeling groggy, all despite having made a point of hydrating before bed. So with my single datapoint to form a hypothesis I'd wonder whether it's actually the staying awake for a long period that is the factor or a factor that contributes, rather than or as much as volume or type of sleep.

I do realise this is only one datapoint but quite frankly I have no real intention of repeating this as an experiment... Back to naps for me!

Impressions, a month in

I'm finding the hybrid model entirely workable. The naps during the day, even when taken in less than lavish environs (cold marble sink in a toilet) are really refreshing and enable a useful night awake as & when needed. I'd like to spend more time awake and fewer nights asleep. It's about a 1:1 ratio at the moment I think but even at this point it's definitely a success: I'm getting more done, feeling fresher during the day, and have eliminated all traces of insomnia.

Posted by Paul Makepeace at January 24, 2006 11:46 | TrackBack