Advice from Psuke
Hey there! My BFF from college and “buddy system” partner for the original Uberman Sleep Schedule experiment has been experimenting herself lately, working to get back on a polyphasic sleep schedule in spite of a pretty tight work / commute schedule to maneuver around. (She’s also my “human alarm”, and I hers. Awwww, right? ;)
Anyway, recently she posted some useful things she’s learned in this latest attempt, and I thought some of you might also benefit from hearing:
First and foremost that was pounded into my head – once a month (or every other month at least) I need a day, or two, of not being on schedule. …[Note: This is a good thing to know about yourself. But remember that you'll need to adjust first, before taking any days off!]
I’ve also noticed that while a core sleep polyphasic is more flexible than Uberman, it is not that flexible…certainly not while adapting. And adapting can take a surprisingly long time if one does not stick to a fairly rigid schedule in the beginning (for, say, the first month). This can, of course, be really difficult to stick with if you have any kind of social life…but treat it like NaNoWriMo (if you do that). For one month you are off limits to anything other than an emergency. [GOOD ADVICE!]
Another tidbit I’ve picked up is that whatever activity it is you want to include in your extra time should be started right away. Even if the quality, or whatever, won’t be the best. Or even passable. Habits established at the beginning have a tendency to linger – especially since they’ll be going to the pre-conscious part of the brain, making it that much harder to get rid of them at a later date.
Thus, if at all possible, avoid giving into the sneaky excuse “I’ll start once I’m adjusted and am more awake at this hour.” That could be quite awhile depending on the adjustment period and by then you might have a seriously entrenched bad habit. …[Also darn good advice!]
THANKS to Psuke for letting me repost these!
6 comments
That’s good, I’ve been telling people on twitter that they should plan on going at it for at least a solid month before they start screwing with their [everyman] schedule, glad you agree. :-D
Good Advice. Pity I didn’t take it.
Will have to start the Taichi in the mornings then. Even if my legs feel like jelly…lol
Just one question, what about drinking alcohol / takeing some drugs? It is still possible to do every/uberman sleeping schedule? Certainly it should be harder..
Yeah, it’s not a great idea, just like it’s not a great idea to go vegetarian while still smoking two packs a day. It will have a negative impact on your ability to adapt to, and keep, the schedule, and on how you feel overall…on the other hand, how much of a negative impact, and whether that impact is too much or not, varies by individual. When I first did Uberman, I drank quite a bit of coffee and smoked cigarettes, but at the age of 20 that didn’t seem to hurt. Now I have to watch when I have coffee or I’ll ruin a nap, and I certainly don’t think I could do it if I still smoked.
With regards to alcohol and harder drugs — getting high on anything will eff up your naps, during and possibly after. (You *aren’t* waking up after 20 minutes if you’re drunk, for instance.) ONCE YOU’RE ADAPTED, you can probably choose to throw your schedule to the wind for a day if you’d rather party, and recover just fine the next day, so it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you’re a) ADAPTED (this is me saying HELL NO you can’t get high while you’re adapting, if you didn’t catch that), b) very careful to get your schedule back afterwards, and c) don’t do it too often.
Sorry if that’s the obvious answer, but there you have it. ;)
Yeah, I hadn’t thought of it either, but she’s probably dead right.
Oh yes, a month *minimum*. Even after that, I tell people to be careful fudging or skipping naps. Nobody’s ready for “crazyphasic” where you can basically just figure it out as you go along, until at least six months IMO.