Polyphasic Sleep: pre-day: -2

It's Saturday... Jan 14th, 2006. I just found Steve Pavlina's blog on Polyphasic Sleep today, and have decided to try it out myself starting this Monday!

I'm going to try a few things slightly different:
1) I'm going to make a blog entry once per cycle (4 hours), not once every day (24 hours).
2) I'm going to include very specific things like activities and food eaten, as well as just how I "feel" over all.
3) I'm not a vegan (further away from animal products than a vegetarian)... In fact, I love my daily does of meat, and this is something (diet) Steve seemed to comment on a lot.. and how that was a major factor.... we'll see.
4) I'm going to start off with a less rigid, more workable "nap" schedule, and try to include moderate exercise right from the start.

There are a few other things I might mix in as well too, but will talk about those more as I do them.

Some background...

Like Steve, my current schedule is VERY flexible as far as my time goes. I think this will be a KEY factor in success. I do various contract work which (currently) allows most of my weekdays totally free, and my weekends are taken up by 12 hours "shifts" on Sat/Sun.... but my time there is very flexible also, and so I'll be able to take a break for 2 or 3 naps. The 2nd and 3rd days are suppose to be the toughest, so since I'm starting on Monday, that gives me 5 days to "adjust" before needing to be alert for work on Saturday.

Although I'm not a vegan, nor vegetarian, I do try to eat fairly well... kinda. I tend to eat a lot of salads, stay away from soda and caffeine almost totally, lots of raw fruits and veggies, nuts, juices etc. However, I probably take in a fair amount of sugar, and do enjoy mostly chicken, sometimes fish, and occationally a nice and tasty slice of juicy cooked cow. ;) Because Steve made so many comments about diet, and I DO want to give myself the best possible chance of success, I am planning on increasing my raw fruits and veggies most.. especially for the first week during the adjustment phase, but don't plan to cut out all the meat.

I'm single, and so don't have to worry about waking other family members during the night, and since I live alone and tend to be much of a hermit anyway, my time at home wont seem much different during the normal day light or night time hours, so this might be a good thing, since it's one less "reminder" that I'm out-of-sync with most of humanity... perhaps if more of us see the advantages and switch to polyphasic sleep then WE will be in the "normal" group again! :)

I very very rarely remember any of my dreams. As it is now, I might remember one or two every couple of weeks to a month. Because of this, sleeping seems like a big waste of time to me... something only done because it's needed to survive. Of course, I feel the same way about eating. I can get so wrapped up in projects that suddenly my stomach is growling... I look at my watch and .. duh.. it's been 12 hours since I last ate! And at that time it's a hassle to break from what I'm doing to have to feed my body. However, when I DO remember my dreams, I almost always seem to have some kind of control in them. I wasn't aware this had a name.... and I thought everyone's sleep had this ability, but apparently not. Anyway, I have always been jealous that others can so often remember their cool dreams, so I'm hoping this will be one big benefit I see.. as well as requiring less "hibernation" time.


So, today, I ate my normal oatmeal and a few prunes for breakfast. Had the 2nd half of a VERY large burrito for lunch... and since I'm now going to start trying to do a LITTLE better for the adjust period, I had some prunes and half an apple for a bit of a snack near dinner time. I'm going out for a friends bday party tonight, so we'll see if I have anything else... not hungry now.

VERY excited about getting started with this!
I'm going to buy a countdown timer tomorrow to make sure I get no more than 30 minutes per nap. Also, going to the store to stock up on more fruits and veggies.

Wish me luck!

UPDATE: it's 3am! Just got back from Lisa's Bday party, and then grabbing a bite to eat with Lori... I ate 2 (rather large) breakfast-type tacos (potato, egg, jalapenos, bacon). I was thinking I should not be eating so much so late, but... ate them anyway... off to bed -- up at 06:30 for work! (tomorrow will be my last 'normal' day)