Big Fat Official Announcement-ness
Hey, Internet…most of you are probably aware how crazy things have been lately (and in saying that I mean no offense to crazy people; they are generally nowhere near as unpleasant as the recent rollercoaster). I haven't been able to talk about a lot of it in any public forum (like this one), since it involves The Man, and The Man has a fragile ego; but you know how life can get. I hate to ask for your sympathy without offering details, but I suppose that's exactly what I'm going to do anyway. ;) When things change so that I can say more, I will (in a way that doesn't force it down the throats of those who don't give a crap, of course). .
The reason this merits an Announcement is that I think it's no longer fair to call me polyphasic. My once-predictable work schedule has dissolved into something, not unstructured, but structured in a different way almost every day. It's also (still) very stressful. That stress keeps me from sleeping well, and the random scheduling makes getting regular naps nearly impossible. I don't think I've kept the same sleep-schedule for more than three days straight since the holidays, to be honest, and I miss so many naps that when I can sleep at night, I tend to sleep all the way through, because I'm making up for other lost sleep. It's safe to say that I've been off my schedule since December (since that's when it really started to crumble), which would mean that my total "run" on Everyman 3 was from July 2006-Dec 2009, or 3 years, five months. Which is not half bad, right? Right! \o/
…But that certainly doesn't mean polyphasic sleep, as a subject, is over for me. Actually, my perception of it is that it's getting really interesting lately! I've gotten more requests for interviews, I hear from a ton of people by email (and I will get a system in place so I can stop falling behind on that, darnit), and I'm more than halfway done with the Second Edition of the book — which I'm really excited about. There's a lot of new information out there now, and I'm finding as much of it as I can.
My schedule-implosion will, if things go as I hope, resolve itself by August (at the earliest), and I am keeping all relevant body parts crossed in the hope that my new situation (which may not be settled until next Xmas, eek!) allows me to do at least a three-hour Everyman schedule. It's possible I could have stable-r periods before then, too, and if that's true I'll probably re-adapt again…though, my "re-adjustments" when I fell off the schedule for a few days or even weeks only took 2-3 days (for the last 2 years or so); I don't know if that'll still be true in a couple months, so I'll have to plan for that. Anyway, what I'm saying is that heck yes, I'll be re-adjusting eventually — to Uberman if somehow life magically lets me, but I'll be honest, full-time work is going to be my order-of-the-day for a while, so that's probably a ways off — and heck no, I'm not done with the whole polyphasic thing. I've just been thrown into one of those life-situations that flat forbids the kind of sleep-schedule I'd like to have. ARGH.
What I'm back to, for the most part, is the ol' uncomfortable-adult-5-to-8-and-10-on-weekends schedule, the one I like least, but also the one that takes the least planning and cooperation from the rest of the world. BUT, on days that I know I'll be able to catch one nap (which is most days; I can usually get *one* nap somewhere), I'll sleep 6 hours at night, because I find that equally tolerable to sleeping 8 hours, and they both make me feel the same: "Eh." If I don't have to get up in the morning and I was tired the day before, I'll sleep 9 hours, and wake up rested but really, really sore. This utilization of 6-1 Everyman-style-sorta-like-siesta napping has surprised me by cutting 1.5 hours off the total sleep-time I need at no cost to how I feel. (Mind you, I don't feel great; but I don't feel great on 8 hours, either, and regardless of whether I get 6-and-a-nap or 8, I still catch up on "free days" just the same.) So that's an unexpected win!
One upside is that, probably not long after the release of Ubersleep, Second Edition (oo! Can we call it "Mark II"?), I'll be doing a big really-from-scratch readjustment, and I'll be able to really do a nice walk-through of one, maybe even with video (depending on where I'm working & how they'd feel about that).
Weekly posts will continue; I probably have enough material "saved for later reading" to do posts on for a year anyway! Things around here (on this blog) will be getting re-focused and brushed up over the next year, too; I HAS PLANZ. Surprisingly well-thought-out ones, even. ;)
Now, a call-out: If you're polyphasic, and you have a thought on the topic that seems worth sharing, send it to me, will you? My email is the shockingly-hard-to-decipher "mynickname@mynickname.com", OR you can leave a comment here. If you're the verbose type, I'm up to being asked about you posting your own article here; having some guest-bloggers would be neat. Also, this is a good time-period to toss me suggestions for how to make this site more user- and community-friendly, if you have any burning a hole in your skull. Thank you in advance!
pd
P.S. Bonus awesome picture, for reading this far:
…Yeah, that's the signal I'm getting lately, too. ;)
16 comments
Hi:
Been struggling due to the winter and managing to sleep through alarm clocks. Usually sleep aroung 4 to 5 hours and perhaps a nap sometimes.
I plan to re-start again in the Spring, with more daylight and friendlier temperatures.
Three-and-a-half years on an Everyman schedule is a giant accomplishment, and longer than most polyphasics are able to go without some external force knocking them back to the nap-less grind.
Regarding everything else, good luck (even if we don't know the details) and I hope August comes quickly for you.
PD, you're still the one we all look up to when we consider going "polyphasic"—a real role model. You and your friend really were the pioneers.
I for one never tire of reading accounts of polyphasic living. It seems to me that Ubermen, in particular, are the only ones on Earth actually living in a sci-fi world. The experience seems to takes on an other-worldy aura.
I look forward to the second edition of your book, except this time I'm going to buy the hardcover.
Good luck to you. I hope that the time that you can live polyphasic again comes to you soon.
Hey, long time no talk, sorry to hear about your hectic life, I'm in the same boat myself! The last blog post I wrote was in July and stated that I was going to be getting back into polyphasic sleep around September, well it turns out that shortly after I posted my last entry and was preparing for my vacation time; in fact the day before I left for a "week" I was laid off! Everything was in good terms, unfortunately due to a budget re-allocation, and I wish them the best, but in the end I wasn't coming back to an in-front-of-a-computer-all-day job, being able to blog and write during lunches and stuff. Also, adding the lack of any definite schedule and moving and helping some friends run a daycare/start a thrift store and a gazillion other things, my life in no way has had any reliable structure to go back to polyphasic sleep. I did have a 3-4 day spat, but that was about it.
There are many ups and downs to it all, I miss polyphasic sleep, my friends consider me more normal now (good and bad?) and I am *not* a morning person by any means. I hate hibernating. Perhaps someday, tomorrow I go to set up for my new job, so best of hopes, maybe it will work out again!
Best of wishes to you, I'll check up and read through the last 6-7 months of blog posts one of these days, take care and happy hibernating!
-Aximilation
Hi PD ! :-)
You ask for "suggestions for how to make this site more user- and community-friendly".
Here is one : Is the comments system working as it should ? I remember the few comments I wrote here months ago : each time I sent one, I was shown a page telling me it couldn't be accepted. Seems you had access to them though, but in such situations, especially after having written a long comment, you don't want to write another one ever !
By the way, I've been on Everyman since more than 1 and a half year, and hope it'll last years and years ! :-)
Always a pleasure to read you ! :-)
Exactly what I said… :-(
Hi Boreale,
I’d give a lot of money to fix that problem, but unfortunately years of wrangling with WordPress and I can’t figure out what’s causing it. All the comments still get posted (if they’re delayed, it’s because they’re in moderation, which is supposed to happen for first-time posters and posts with many links in them), and the error seems harmless, other than driving people (including me) crazy. I promise I’ll do some more work to see if I can fix it, but last time I left it, the only real answer was “build a whole new site” (which I actually already did once, and that didn’t do it either — I may need a new account or a new hosting provider, I fear). I am terribly sorry about it though. Maybe I will find somewhere I can put a notice about it, so at least people don’t worry their comments got lost…
Nice to hear from you too, Aximilation! I’m glad things are going well, and it seems, properly crazily, too. ;)
There’s no upside to not being polyphasic for me…I’m weird on any schedule, heh…and I already can’t WAIT to get one of my Precioussssss…er, schedules back. Let’s wish us both luck!
Thank you, Jerry! I hope I have enough time to write the second edition as soon as I’d like–!–but thank you very much for the encouragement! I agree about Uberman feeling like Sci-Fi-on-Earth — that’s an *excellent* way to describe it! Now I want a colony and a ship!! ;)
Thanks, Kevin! I actually had to work to remember what I’d accomplished, and not get too depressed about having to quit for a while. (Though it still sucks.) I have every finger, toe, and movable internal organ crossed that things settle into a polyphasic-friendly pattern soon!
Nemogbr–I hear you; it’s hard for me to start a schedule in the winter too. Being up at night is MUCH more palatable when it’s pleasant to go out! Good luck!
[...] The writeup explaining the experiment's end (and my absolute intention to do it again asap) is here. More information about the first six months is [...]
By the way, PD: I was getting ready to submit you, your site, and your book to….
….The Oprah Winfrey Show. No joke…
Polyphasic sleeping is too damn interesting to be so obscure to the general public.
I guess it's a good thing I didn't, since you were pulled off polyphasism against your will..
Well, Jerry, oddly enough, if I *were* polyphasic, then trying to travel to NY (or wherever) and dress up and be on TV would probably screw my schedule up good anyway. Probably best not to be seen yawning my way through an interview, or trying to nap in a busy green-room, eh?
Thanks for the thought! Though I can’t imagine Oprah and I would get along all that well. ;)
Hello, if you want to check out blogs go to trypolyphasic.com, we got a bunch, me included, that are adapting. We got one guy into dymaxion, but many have failed. Although many refuse to give up, including me.
I will definitely take a look, hatten. Thanks for the tip!