Happy Gregorian Switchover, from your friendly Type A…
Okay, this is really disturbing…
So, for a New Year’s Revolution this year, I decided to make a go at getting back my old type of schedule. (Before my life did an Epic Falling Apart back in ‘04, I used to live by a fairly regular schedule … and I really liked it. I got a LOT done and hated myself very little. And this was while monophasic!)
So, since yesterday I’ve been working out said schedule. I decided to go full-bore, including everything I could think of in the schedule, short of bathroom breaks. Any schedule is going to undergo modifications when placed in the glare of Real Life, but I figured, for Resolutiony purposes, best to have it as full as possible to start.
Only…there isn’t room for everything! And I didn’t even add anything major — just tiny stuff like memorizing a poem every Saturday and writing one on Sunday, seriously. All of a sudden I looked up and it was done, full, and I still hadn’t put in some major stuff I wanted to carve out regular time for — namely, Art Stuff. (I have even less talent as an artist than I do as a writer, but I’ve been obsessed with the stuff for ages and ages. Now that I have a house again, there’s a whole table full of Art Stuff in the basement that I never seem to have time to mess with. …Now I guess I know why!!)
Okay, the two hours of homework/study time every day isn’t helping matters. And I’d put in something like "If homework is done, hit the Art Table", but with what I’m facing this semester, it won’t be done in two hours a night and I know it.
Lord I can’t wait to be done with school. Nobody remind me that once I’m done I’m going back, okay? I’m liable to spork out my own brain in defiance.
Now. To massage this thing into…a little more…give…
Hmm. P.S. then: Is living on a schedule freaky? I mean, I don’t do it "because I can’t abide to slow down for a bit" — quite the opposite; I schedule in time to slow down precisely so I don’t neglect to. (I have more than a couple "conditions" that are triggered by high stress, for one thing.)
I just…I really like to know what I should be doing and when, and I work way better on everything when I have a deadline (or know my quitting-time, to look at it another way). I’m SO NOT the hyper-organized Accountant Of Minutes that this habit / attempted habit probably makes me look like. Promise!
6 comments
I do not believe retaining a schedule is unusual. I’m a schedule-less and messy, and I am often commented as ‘having no schedule’ whereas many others it seems have a schedule, normally very general (school, eat, tv, drink, tv, freetime, sleep) schedule. The only things I keep as a daily thing are school, and sleep. I fit homework and eating, and TV, and sleep whenever I feel.
For example:
One day, I may wake up at 4 AM to do my homework for that day. Once I finish, I may go back to sleep until I wake up again (alarm clock, though alarm changes all the time), or I may dress and stay up. I sometimes wake up, have breakfast, then get dressed, or get dressed, then eat. I keep practical thing like brushing teeth as an after meal though. I’ll go to school according to it’s schedule then. Afterwards, I may go straight to watching TV, or I may shower when I get home, perhaps homework.
Almost everyone has a schedule, and I’ve noticed my friends tend to keep to a schedule (homework, then video games, or vice versa). By no means is it abnormal.
Oh, I’m sure some level of scheduling is normal. I went a little overboard with it a few years ago, and had a whole binder that basically mapped out every minute of every day — including sub-lists of what projects to address in what order, and addenda in case something unexpected changed my schedule. I’d never lived on anything stricter than what you describe before either, but after that…I just couldn’t believe how much easier life was.
You should see the new one — I just finished it. It’s ridiculous. And lovely. ;)
Now if only I could fit it in my pocketmod…rrgh.
Waait a minute! You’re going back to monophasic?
Please explain WHY! Is it because polyphasic sleep actually requires a lot of effort to maintain?
I’m trying to convert to polyphasic but I don’t think I will convert anymore if it requires a some constantly stupendous amount of effort to maintain (after the 1st few weeks).
Comment on schedules: I don’t think I’d be able to keep my promises to MYSELF if i didn’t have a schedule of what to do… people constantly pulling at me would probably throw my day apart. My detailed (to the hour or half-hour) but flexible schedule helps my day remain cohesive and unchaotic yet allows me to move around “chunks”, so I can adaptively respond to interruptions (chores, invitations, etc.) without conflicting too much with my main activities.
I agree totally about schedules; thanks for making me feel like less of a freak!
And, though it would also surely reduce my freak-quotient, no, I’m not going back to monophase. (Wouldn’t even CONSIDER it! I hope I didn’t give anyone the idea that I would…)
It DOES require a stupendous amount of effort for the first couple weeks, BUT, if you do that right, then it gets much, much easier. It’s only a bit more effort for me now than monophase was, except that I also have more time and am less tired, so totally worth that tradeoff. If you screw up in the first few weeks, though, it doesn’t get easier, so be careful!
Luck,
PD
PD - First, I appreciate your posts on your Everyman sleep pattern(more on that below) and secondly, I had few questions on your poly sleep cycle:
1. I was wondering how you came up with the times for your naps during the day for your Everyman (core 3hr nap + 2 -3 naps)? I believe you posted a schedule of core nap 1am - 4am and then a 9am, 3pm and 9pm nap or something like that. Did you find that after 5hrs you did best grabbing a nap or was it more “daily schedule” oriented (ie had to take a nap at 9am before school started, etc.? And have you found “sweet spot” times between your sleeps (ie 5 - 6hrs from core to 1st nap, 6hrs between each nap, etc.)
2. Have you found any particular foods, vitamins or supplements that seem to help you with your energy levels, sleep patterns and overall well being?
3. Lastly, do you drink caffiene or energy drinks (ie Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster, etc.)
I wanted to also thank you and the others that have posted your sleep cycles and experiences. You and others on the web have helped me understand my own patterns. Since early on, I have never done well with mono sleep, often waking up at odd hours and feeling “guilty” for being awake and working strange hours in the early morning hours (1 - 4am). Being an artist, I’ve found a lot of my creativity comes out in quiet hours when I’m not being bombarded by a noisy world and I can reflect on the day. Reading your posts has encouraged me be more self-aware and work on a sleep pattern that makes sense. So a big thank you to you and to everyone else who has shared their experiences!
Hi Mark,
The original idea for the Everyman schedule wasn’t mine; some other polyphasers and fans were researching the possibility of including a core sleep and came to those numbers, based, mostly, on the fact that an average person’s sleep-cycle is 90 minutes long. Through experimentation they figured out that one 1.5 hour nap seems to replace between 1 and 2 20-minute naps (sacrificing efficiency for that, of course, but gaining a little flexibility). Thus, when I decided to try Everyman, I went for the one that seemed like it would give me the number of naps and level of flexibility I need, and that was 3 hrs + 3 naps (which turns out to be the most common Everyman variant).
As to supplements, yes, I’ve found a fantastic one and I don’t take it because I can’t afford it. ;) It’s called “Aquazon”, by the Amazon Herb Company, and it’s the most fantastic superfood-in-a-pill I’ve ever seen. Actually, I think my mom may have gotten me some for my birthday coming up… ;)
I drink coffee, a few cups of half-caff in the morning (office monkey. Hard habit to break) and some decaf later on in the evening, when I just want something hot to drink and don’t want to mess with tea. (I drink tea, too, a cup or two a day, usually herbal or green tea.) I HATE those stupid “energy drinks”; that’s got to be the worst idea for a food product EVER. No amount of B vitamins makes up for that kind of sugar content!
Thanks for your comment!
PD
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