Day 3 – Biphasic Sleep Trial

by Crystal on October 19, 2011

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series biphasic sleep trial

So a couple of days in to the Biphasic Sleep trial and I’m learning this is definitely something that needs customisation.

The evening of my first day, I napped from 7:30 to about 8:45pm.  It was a Sunday, which helped.  I had no problems getting up from the nap, made and had my dinner, and enjoyed having a few hours in which to unwind (TV) as well as get things done.  I was pretty much through what I wanted to do by 11:15, but made myself stay up until the clock ticked over to 11:30.  After that first night on the regime, I woke up like clockwork, got up, did some exercise, had my breakfast, and headed off.

sleep That evening I had something I wanted to do at 7:30, so I napped from 6pm.  Not quite so easy to get up from that, and I ended up too tired to do anything by a little after 11pm.  Determined to stick it out, I pulled out the ipod and played sudoku for a bit – then realised it was 20 to 12.  Oops.  4am this morning came and it was NOT easy to drag myself up out of bed. I was so tempted to let myself have ‘another 15m’ but we all know what that turns into!  I’m thinking the nap yesterday was too early, and/or I need to work out when is the right time for me to nap to fit in with my circadian rhythms.  I ended up resorting to the paraliminal recordings to wake myself up again during the day a couple of times.

This afternoon I went back a little closer to 7:30, at 6:45pm.  I woke up, exactly half an hour later.  Since that session is supposed to be 60-90m, I went back to sleep until just on 8pm (45m later) when I got up again, but I’ve been yawning since.  I don’t know if I’m tired because a) I’m still adjusting to biphasic, b) I’ve not been napping at the right times, c) the exercise I did after my first night made a difference  or d) I’ve varied the nap times too much.

I am enjoying having what feels like a second day, all to myself, after I wake up in the evenings.  Once I’ve put my dinner, breakfast & lunch together, my time is my own and that’s a pretty good sensation – as is going to bed knowing I’ve accomplished at least some of the things I would’ve been struggling to fit into my overcrowded weekend.  The quiet would probably be a bit unsettling for a lot of people, but I’ve always loved the night-time silence.  I think it’s a pre-requisite for most geeks, isn’t it?

So, plan of attack:

  • First off, stick with it.  At least 14 days, but aiming for 30.
  • Secondly, have a set time for the afternoon nap, for at least 4-5 days without variation.  I’m thinking 7-8:30pm because that still leaves me the 2 hrs I want between dinner and sleep.
  • Third, set an alarm to make sure I get to sleep at the right time each afternoon and night, until I get used to it.  By eliminating the variation, I should be able to get a better idea of just what adjustment I’m going through in adapting to the new sleep patterns.
  • Finally, starting from week 2, I’m going to include a short yoga/tai chi stretching routine every morning, just to see if that was part of what made the difference these last few days. I don’t want to start it immediately or I won’t be able to tell what the effect is, separate from the fixed nap times.

Tired as I am tonight, even if I wanted to drop the trial, I’m not sure I could, considering the reasons why I started it..  This week and next I’m up for early starts most days at work ;-)  Plus I have to admit, I am enjoying the extra personal productivity time.  So, wish me luck?

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Sleeping Less, Doing More – Biphasic Sleep Trial

by Crystal on October 16, 2011

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series biphasic sleep trial

Like most of us these days, I have too much on my list and not enough day to get through it.  I’ve been trying to get a job closer to home to cut down on the 3hrs + commuting time per day, but so far it’s not happened.  So, I’m going to try something different and raise the bar a bit.

Biphasic sleep.

If you (like me) read Steve Pavlina’s blog, you’ll already know all about it.  I was fascinated when he tried polyphasic sleep, even though there’s absolutely no way I could fit that into my current lifestyle.  Earlier this year, he started on biphasic sleep, which is something I’ve been doing informally when things get too stretched, except I always knew it as “nanna naps”.  I like his name better. ;-)

In a nutshell, you have one full sleep cycle of about 4.5 hrs, and one ‘nap’ of about 90m, in every 24hr period.  I’m thinking this could solve a few of the problems I’ve been having.

  • Not having enough time between dinner and going to bed.  I know it’s supposed to be 2 hrs, but I often don’t have enough leeway between getting home and having to hit the sack for an early start again the next day
  • A run of very busy, very early days coming up at work, while one of my colleagues is away and I inherit a few of his jobs.  This means having to leave by 5am, which last time left me a wreck – I came down sick as soon as he came back
  • No time during the week for the basic stuff, like keeping my place tidy enough that I don’t have to spend half of Saturday making it look decent again
  • A work project that pushes my Excel VBA skills beyond where I’ve ever gone before, and no time at work to develop them
  • Wanting to spend time with friends and family on the weekend, but having too many other outstanding jobs to be able to relax and do that
  • Never managing to fit the time in to do the writing etc that I want to, online
  • And of course, like everyone, having too many interests and no time to pursue them

I figure if I have a nap between 6pm and 7:30pm (or somewhere an hour either side of that), I can get up from that, have dinner, pack lunch, get through some VBA, job hunting and ‘internetting’ – and maybe even catch the one or two good shows that are on tv these days, before taking my full cycle from 11:30-4am.  That leaves me enough time in the morning to not only make and have a proper, raw breakfast (I’m doing the Raw Balance initiative again) but probably even fit in some exercise beforehand, and still get away by 5am.

Tonight is the first night.  I’ll be trialling this for at least 14 days, but I’m hoping to track it to day 30 and then decide if it’s right for me to continue.

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