Day 6

At this point continuing to attempt the transition to the Everyman sleep schedule is becoming less and less appealing. Again, I overslept hugely from my late nap and was unable to sleep for either of the earlier naps. This brought up the realization that maybe the schedule isn't all that it is cut out to be. The naps are a bit inconvenient, the transition is painful, and everyone thinks you are a total freak, haha. But then I imagined "normal" sleeping. Needing about 8 hours of sleep to suffice each day? Being screwed over because of late nights? Sacrificing two-thirds of my life to maintenance? I don't think so. Plus, the Everyman had already done some great things for me (though most I could have probably (however unlikely) achieved without it): it motivated me to wake up on time every morning and make it to class on time, it motivated me to stay awake during all my classes, it motivated me to eat more meals, it motivated me to do productive stuff at night, and the list would go on. Besides, "TGAP" doesn't do "normal." So to anyone still following this blog, know this- this battle is far from over.

Days 4 and 5

So as many of you know, I've kind of messed up the schedule :( On day four, things were actually looking positive- I managed to beat my nap-alarm by a few seconds. Unfortunately... I also managed to doze off around midnight before setting an alarm. I then proceeded to wake up 11 hours later. Doh. Since there was no chance of me falling asleep during that day, I decided I should just pick up the next day, which also didn't end up happening, because I went home to visit the family and thought I should be coherent for that. So basically, I am back to starting from scratch. Awesome!

Now, I would like to take this time to address all of my "fans." Although they are all loving and supportive (some more or less than others), there are a few things they must understand about this attempt of mine to do something crazy. First of all, I am not trying to prove anything with this- simply, the whole idea of needing less sleep and feeling great sounds pretty enticing, so why not give it a shot? If you are too weak, too boring, or just too scared to try it yourself, then don't. A French historian once said, "Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history." The same principle applies to this: If I may seem tired, exhausted, or just completely out of it at first... what did you expect? Sleeping less for a day never did anyone any good.

If there is anything to take away from this, it is this: There are two types of people in this metaphor- knights and goblins. For those of you who never knew or were miseducated, goblins are the little ratty things that set traps, hide, and wait for someone else to suffer so they can jump on them and take advantage of their mistakes. Knights, as we all probably know, are the courageous guys that slay dragons and get the chicks. Speaking of which, when's the last time anybody every faced a dragon? Imagining for a moment that they existed, that's some scary crap. Just watch "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," and pretend to be Harry without a wand or a lightning-fast broom. Gooood luck with that. Anyways, back to the metaphor. It's so easy for everyone to simply be one of those goblins, just waiting around, doing their thing until something bad happens to someone else. But those goblins don't go anywhere- why do you think they are never the heroes of fairy tales? No, it's the knights that are remembered for their bravery and will to succeed, even against something as impossible and ludicrous as battling a dragon. I'm sure it's pretty clear how this metaphor relates to this whole sleep schedule attempt, so I am simply going to leave you with this- after the dragon is slain, YO NEXT GOBLINZ!

Day 2

Alright folks, so today was pretty weird... due to my stupidity and not paying attention in class, I had to cut my "core sleep" short last night in order to study for a test that's actually tomorrow... great job :). Given this, I thought that I would have no hope of sticking to the schedule- but get this: I actually stayed awake for the first time all the way through math! And the weirdest part was that I wasn't the least bit tired when it came time for the nap, to the point where I couldn't fall asleep. Anyways, I was fine without that nap. The two following naps went smoothly- I fell asleep and woke up on time, though getting up after so little sleep is still a little rough... sort of like trying to keep your eyes open after a bug flies into them.

Next, I'd like to share a short story that I've heard recently. There once was an individual named Peru (yes, like the country), who was just like everyone else in the way he lived his normal life. One day, he met a peculiar guy named Ambitious. This guy, Ambitious, caused a sense of inner turmoil in Peru, who was unable to understand the reasons and ideas behind Ambitious' lifestyle. See, Ambitious decided to embark on a daring challenge to improve himself, which Peru could only see as insane. Not knowing any other way to conceive it, he decided that the challenge must be a substitute for a normal life and wrote Ambitious off as "stupid." The problem with Peru's thinking, is that unfortunately, he has been ensnared by the trap of mediocracy. Too cowardly to attempt something great, he will forever be normal and no better than the nameless guy next to him. What he needs to understand is that Ambitious, though he might fail the challenge, will eventually succeed in life and surpass the other "Perus" around him who lack the balls to do anything exceptional with their one shot at life.

With that uplifting metaphorical story, see y'all in the morning! If you know any "Perus", let them know that they should "never settle for normal simply because that's all they know."

P.S. I am a very happy person. In case anyone picked up on a slightly hateful tone... refer to:

http://imtherealjeffxie.blogspot.com/

Day 1

Ok, so as of today, I have decided to adopt the "Everyman Sleep Schedule," which, for those of you that have not heard from me already, is the practice of sleeping for short amounts multiple times in the day. The Everyman consists of a three-hour "core sleep" at night and three twenty-minute naps roughly evenly spaced throughout the day. The whole point of this polyphasic sleep pattern is that supposedly it makes one's sleep much more efficient, requiring them to sleep less and do fun stuff for longer. Also, it supposedly enhances performance/awareness/energy, etc. Basically, it's supposed to be good stuff.

However, the transition sucks. Everyone knows that I already sleep not a lot and at weird times, so one would think that it would be easy for me, right? Wrong. Although I was fine for a long while after only three hours of sleep, the trouble came when I actually had to wait to take a nap. My roommate can easily testify that I was pretty loopy by the time I finally collapsed in bed. The nap was nice, but did I mention that it's only twenty minutes!? WAY too short when you're really tired. Thankfully my roommate was there to actually get me out of bed, because every ounce of my body wanted nothing more than to ignore the alarm I set, which is what I am used to doing.

Luckily, I had plenty of stuff to do until the next nap, which was also readily welcomed. Once again I woke up dead-tired with the urge to collapse, but this time I had set multiple alarms so I was able to get out of bed, though I lacked the strength to do much more than lie on the floor...

Finally my last nap came around, the time being about 1:00 in the morning. Same deal. Get startled by a bunch of alarms and feel like crap. Thankfully, my normal nocturnal-ness kicked in and I had the energy to get my homework done. Now, I am finding things to do with my extra time- until I sleep again at 3:00 for three whole hours. Yay!