Sunday, July 16, 2006

Compromise is where the optimists win

So.

Apparently there is something about me, or about this time, that isn't letting me adjust as easily as I'd anticipated; which, I sense, might adjust if I had the time to sacrifice to "waiting it out", like one of my role models, Heidi, who out-patiented her body for five weeks and won. Everything in me screams to be allowed to be this badass, but circumstances simply won't allow. I had a HUGE paper due today that I've been unable to concentrate on for several days now, and which I'd counted on the nights to help me finish. DAMN being a grownup; damn it to HECK.

The lesson here is "don't assume you can adjust in 4-7 days, even if you did before".

So I slept a few hours last night, feeling like a loser about it, but I woke up fresh enough to finish my paper.

Now, I've said that core-sleeping doesn't seem the same as Uberman, and it doesn't. I'm not sure how, or if, the body could adjust to it; reports on it are confusing and many people who go that route seem to fail (however, I've recently heard from a few who didn't). So, since I've put a week of gut-wrenching work into this and cannot continue it in its present form, I figure I'm in a good position to do some research. My goal is to lessen my sleep amount AND not be tired; since I don't have the time to beat myself into adjusting to Uberman for some reason, I'll take this core-sleep thing for a test-drive.

(Details behind the cut.)

I've noticed from the last few nights that, if I just pass out and sleep, I sleep a maximum of 4 hours, and I feel pretty much fine (as in, no sleep-dep symptoms). Four hours seems too much to justify all those naps, though, so I'm going to try 3. Naps at 10a, 2p, 6p, 10p, then from 2-5a. That's 4.3 hours sleep a day, a definite gain over my usual 8-minimum -- IF I can actually adjust to it and do it without being tired. If I can't, I'm just going to have to go back to the drawing board for now, and wait for another opportunity. To be honest, I'm still skeptical that this semi-uberman thing can work, so it feels like giving up to me to be trying it, like I'm just taking a middle step between failing and quitting...but this whole episode has had me in a pretty negative mood lately, so I suppose I should just attribute it to that and shut up so that I can give it an honset try.

Hmm, I think I may move the 10a nap to 9, too. That way I'm not up 5 hours in the morning, but rather in the midday, when it's easier; and it cuts into my workday less, too.

Thanks to all who encouraged me not to give up outright; it really made a difference. And I want to hear from everyone who's core-sleeping, especially who've made it work stably and/or are transitioning to Uberman...I'm still collecting data for the book, because, well, you never know. ;)

-PD

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home