Adventures in…Monophasic Sleep!
WHEW! Hi world; it’s been a crazy, crazy time over here lately. An accurate summary would be, "Damn near everything that could possibly be in flux, is." Eek.
None of it is stuff that you care or would benefit from hearing about…except this. Amidst trying to hold together various aspects of my body, mind, professional and family lives, I actually went monophasic!
It wasn’t by choice, at first — my "vacation" was an emotional rollercoaster the likes of which you really ought to be much bigger than me to ride, and so for a whole week I mostly slept like this: Stay up embroiled in either drama or insomnia until 4 a.m. or later, crash for 2-4 hours, catch a 20-minute rest period (I mostly couldn’t actually sleep) in the afternoon if possible. Rinse shake repeat. Even after I got home, for a few days I couldn’t sleep during naps, and could barely sleep at night.
So, then what happens? Bereft of immediate fuel, the insomnia eventually subsides, and I sleep for ten hours one night last week. Not surprising, really. I even managed to nap once or twice the following day…but then the next night, I slept for eight more hours, and then found that the following day I couldn’t nap (and didn’t really bother with trying, since I wasn’t tired and in fact, was rather sick of sleeping!).
Third night, I was semi-voluntarily monophasic. I didn’t want to stay awake and deal with my own f’d-up brain, and actually I was curious; I haven’t slept like that (you know, like a normal person) for over two years, and I wanted to try it out. I thought, maybe it’s time to go monophase for a while again; who knows? I’ve certainly proved my experiment, that one can be polyphasic for a long-ish period of time and not go nuclear. And lord knows everything else is changing, so…
So I went to bed "early" (11p.m.) in preparation for waking up at my usual 4:30 a.m. Except that I forgot that, you know, when you’re monophasic you have to sleep a lot, not five or six hours, especially if you’re me. So I slept through my alarm and woke up at 6:30.
And oh, what a waking-up. The second I opened my eyes I remembered….I hate monophase!
I’d written it off the first two nights as a result of being exhausted and/or sleeping too long, but that third morning I remembered…this is what waking up always feels like when you’re monophasic! The sticky eyes, the aching back, and the feeling that you’re prying yourself out of a coma or general anasthesia…oh, ugh, ugh, ugh.
Yeah, you can keep that crap, normal people. I got right to work getting my old schedule back, and I’m happy to report (third day back on it) that it wasn’t even that difficult to do; I was sleepy for a day, and a bit slow the next day, but today I’m fine (so far, anyway), and thank the lord my back has stopped hurting and getting out of bed this morning didn’t feel like being reborn as Frankenstein’s monster.
I really might never be monophasic again, at least not voluntarily. It’s funny, doing this long-running experiment, I sort of forgot that I used to loathe getting up in the mornings, and how much that’s changed…I still don’t enjoy it, but I’d forgotten how much it used to suck before, and thus lost my basis for comparison. My few days as a monophaser-again reminded me right quick: Give me the grogginess of having only snozzed three hours over the aching lethargy of having slept eight, any day. …Plus, as soon as I got back to work, I started really wanting my naps — they really do a lot for me by way of breaking up a tedious day, and "resetting" my brain so I can jump back into difficult work without burning out. (For example, if it weren’t for my polyphasic evening nap, I can’t imagine how I could have come home from work and done 2-3 hours of homework every single day, and more on weekends. So maybe I even owe my degree to this sleep schedule!)
Okay, back to dealing with everything else…I’ll write more when something relevant comes up, eh? Until then, enjoy your various lives and sleep-schedules!
PD
17 devoted students of Roshi accepted this page in 0.274 seconds without moving, or saying a word.
Hey, I’m right there with you.
I was on Everyman from March to May, and then was messing up and oversleeping too much so I decided to take a break.
I missed Everyman. Along with feeling half-dead after a full-night sleep (funny how that sounds different after being polyphasic), I hated how rushed the mornings always felt.
I’m back on Everyman since this past weekend. It has actually been harder for me this time, which is different from the experience of others I’ve heard.
But this morning was great.
Glad to be back.
Glad you’re back, too.
Interesting. Interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing this info. I’ve only been properly polyphasic (3 hour core, 3 naps) for the last couple of months, and I’m really loving it. Wouldn’t go back to monophasic for the world. And my wife, too, is currently easing into a polyphasic schedule herself (4.5 hour core, 2 naps). She absolutely loves the extra time she can now have in the late evenings to recover from being a mother to 4 young children all day!
Hi ! I’ve laughed reading your report, and I deeply felt how bad you could feel after this third night ! :-)
Why did I discover polyphasic sleep so late ? Why have I been told until now that there was no alternative to this awful tunnel ??
1 month and a half now on Everyman, hope it’s for life.
Welcome ! :-)
Thanks!! It’s nice to know that I’m not the only whackjob who cringes and hisses at the idea of a “full-night’s sleep”! ;)
Interesting how easy it was to revert back to segmented sleeping. Good post, but I dare admit that I’m one of those “normal people” :)