Thursday, July 20, 2006

Update & Uberman/Everyman Comparison Notes

Technically this is still "Day 4", since I've been counting them from 6 p.m., which is when I started Uberman on July 7. To keep things clear, however, I fell off Uberman with a 5 hour nap on last Saturday the 15th, muddled through Sunday with a core sleep, and decided to officially implement a 3-hour core and give Everyman a shot beginning on Monday. Starting tomorrow morning I'll refer to it as "day 5".

One possible advantage to Everyman for some people (or disadvantage for others) is that it doesn't mess with your senses of time nearly as badly. You have long days, but they're still days, broken up by a period of sleep, however short. On Uberman, after a few weeks, you start to feel very strongly that everything is one long speeding freight train of a day. I kind of miss that feeling, but I can also completely understand now that it wouldn't be at all compatible with my lifestyle. But hey, lifestyles change, so I'll just keep my ears open. You never know. ;)

I woke up this morning feeling *far* more human, and didn't have any trouble driving in to work. Was this related to the fact that I hit the snooze button again, this time for half an hour? I don't *think* so--one doesn't actually get that much more sleep by snoozing--but we'll see; I'm moving the alarm clock tonight so I can't do that anymore. (I've found that I have to move them periodically; otherwise I'll eventually get used to the sensation of getting up and turning it off.) I don't feel like I messed up the schedule, though.

To counter the dismality (yay, new word!) of last night, let me say that though I'm guarded about the feasibility of Everyman, I am really geeked about it and extremely hopeful that it proves workable in the long run (i.e. that I stop being tired). It's got a lot going for it, enabling one to sleep only about 4 hours daily (something I *never* could have pulled off before) and breaking up the day nicely (I like having to take breaks periodically; it keeps me fresh and focused -- it's something I've missed about smoking since I quit 2 years ago)...BUT it doesn't seem to zombify you nearly as badly or for as long as Uberman, and you get to keep the nice "snuggle in and sleep" part of nightly snoozing that many of us really dig on and/or rely on for reboot & relaxation. If it turns out that energy levels are as high, or close to as high, on Everyman as I and others have experienced on Uberman, it'll actually turn out to be a nice tradeoff. I can't tell yet, though...it being Day 4 of *this* schedule, I might simply be tired from adjusting; but since I've been polyphasic for 13 days now, I might also simply be experiencing the best that one get on this schedule, which I would find disappointing. So for now it's a coin-toss.

If I sound frustrated, by the way, most of that has nothing to do with sleeping per se; it's mostly that, because of this month being the Hell Month From Hades, I haven't been able to use *any* of my extra time for fun things, really, which is peeving me off. I'm either working, napping, or too tired to do anything but the stay-awake basics, like showering and walking and watching movies. It'll be so incredibly nice when that's over...but before it's *officially* over I have another challenge: I'm going to go on a week's vacation, and I'm determined not to let it ruin all this hard work I've done. Oo boy.

FYI, though I've been gathering tons of good info from all the lovely people I've run into lately who are also interested in this, I still don't have hardly anything on the longer-term use of Everyman. So feel free to throw it at me, if you find it laying around. ;)

-PD

P.S. Just noticed I was tired, and thought, "Maaaaaan..." BUT, I see it's actually half an hour till naptime. Well, isn't that nice!

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