Days 4&5 of the Great Sleep Experiment

This is actually written on July 21st, but I'll try to keep these posts consistent so I can backlog them.

Saturday, I went out a movie, saw The Hurt Locker and it was a really cool, really moving somewhat indie film. No major stars (except for Evangeline Lilly, Kate from Lost but her role was so minor and only 5 minutes towards the end). The acting was superb and it just shows that we should be thankful every day that we have brave men and women in the armed forces fighting a senseless, unwinable war and putting their lives out there even if they don't necessarily agree with the politics of it. Thank you for our freedom, thank you thank you US Military. I really pray that Iraq will someday not need us, and have peaceful days without IEDs and senseless fighting. Someday we'll clean up our mess.

As for sleeping, the movie was from 1010pm, so I got back around 1 and went straight to sleep. Had to wake up by 630 to get to work at 7am. I guess I fell asleep around 130 and tried to wake up at 6, that's what 4.5 hrs? Really pushing it when I'm so used to 9 hours on the REM cycles. Woke up around 620,630 and then went to work. Yay.

Sunday, didn't really get to take my 1.5hr nap, but I slept at a reasonable time for Monday I think something like 12 or 1am.

Day 3 of the Great Sleep Experiment

So far I'm liking the results. This morning I kinda screwed up my brain a bit by hitting snooze repeatedly. Whoops.

Last night I fell asleep around 2am, and I planned to try and get just 4.5 hours of sleep and wake up at 630am. False.

I woke up at 620am, and thought I was doing okay. Then I fell asleep again and woke up around 9? I don't know how my cycle worked during that time.

Not tired enough to take my 1.5hr nap yet, but looking forward to it.

So far is this bi-phasic sleep pattern working? I'd think so. It might be psychological for now, but I do feel a bit more alert in the morning and I actually get a bit more done, instead of slowly trying to wake up. I kinda over did it with the 2am last night because I was in bed before 1, but I just ended up listening to music and not sleeping ugh.

Tonight I'll probably shoot for the 6hr goal, so maybe sleep around 12 and wake up at 6? We'll see.

I'm pretty excited for my job interview, well lesson planning, next Tuesday for Revolution SAT Prep. I think their job interview is really cool, basically I'll have to give a lesson for 2-3 minutes on any topic. Really dynamic and innovative, I like their thinking. Not sure what I'm going to cover quite yet, but I'm def. leaning towards something fun like hip-hop. Apparently somebody taught how to tango last time, but I wonder if I'm teaching hip-hop, which I never formally was instructed on, I'm sure I should cover the history of it first and then go into the dancing...yes in a shirt, tie, slacks, and nice shoes. Sweet. I'm really stoked actually, it'll be a cool little thing and I really hope they like it.

Really catchy Lil' Wayne, good work. And bringing in Young Money and Drake? Solid. Love the new track. Sadly I feel like there aren't that many great new songs recently.

Lil' Wayne - Every Girl f. Young Money, Drake

--> Young Money | Every Girl

Correction: Lil' Wayne, Drake and a bunch else from Cash Money Records are forming "Young Money", a hip-hop supergroup. I mean nothing will compare to NWA, but I guess copying Dipset....well, I've only been a fan of Juelz from there anyhow. Best of luck to ya boys.

Day 2 of the Great Sleep Experiment

Last night the last time I remembered looking at the clock before falling asleep was 1:08am.

The first time I woke up today was 5:43 am. Wow, pretty perfectly 4 1/2 hours. I had to piss like a racehorse, then again I drank a lot of water last night at Karl Strauss. Good free food, but $5.50 for a beer plus I was driving, no thanks.

So I went back to sleep, and I woke up, no alarms, at 8:40 or so. My alarm was set for 8:45am this morning trying to get 7 1/2 hours of sleep from 1:15 or so. I love waking up right before the alarm, but of course I snoozed it until 915. Then I set another alarm at 930, woke up at 10 ugh.

I'm starting to get sleepy, I need to take that 1 1/2 hour nap soon. Excitement.

Currently hooked on Dexter. What an amazing show that keeps you thinking. Big time fan of shows with a good narrator too. Love it and can't friggin wait until Nip/Tuck comes back in October. YES.

Update 511pm: So I took that hour and a half nap. Felt great. A little groggy at first waking up, with my usual snooze routine, but only hit it once and was able to wake up fairly quickly afterwards. Currently I feel great. It's hot outside so I do feel a bit drained, but so far I'm diggin this sleep schedule. That 7 1/2 from last night was a bit long, because eventually I will be able to cut it down to 4 hours. Maybe I'll try 6 tonight.

Day 1 of the Great Sleep Experiment (BI-PHASIC)

So I've been reading a lot about sleep recently. I tend to get enough sleep, but like most people I feel lethargic hitting that post-lunch time. I hate waking up early, I'm just not a morning person and I hit snooze a million times. But recently I've been better and better about getting myself to wake up around 9, and definitely before 10. BUT I love my naps. During the middle of the day, they suggest the 20 minute power nap...and that never happens. I tend to do a 30 min, sometimes the dreaded hour, which'll make me groggy. Whoops.

What I've been reading up on is to change from the monophasic, the standard go to bed at say midnight, then wake up at 9, kind of sleep. It's one "bed time" and you sleep that chunk. However, research shows that you tend to cycle every 90 minutes or so because of REM, Rapid Eye Movement, sleep. The good, deep kind of sleep where you have dreams and the time so your brain can categorize your thoughts, experiences, and memories properly as well as heal your body. And if you wake up halfway through, you're going to feel ever more tired than not have napped because your body isn't ready yet.

Given that I love my naps, I think the bi-phasic makes a lot of sense. The goal is to feel more refreshed every day when I wake up. Eventually I can even sleep less, making me more productive (apparently).

So here's the thing. Sleep in cycles of 90 minutes, followed with a nap sometime in the day for 90 minutes. That's it. Tonight for day 1 I will be sleeping 7.5 hours. Then later on I'll take my 1.5 hour nap. Simple? I think so, and if I can do this consistently and feel better, then I'll be really excited.

So wish me luck. Good night.