Everyman in the true sense of the word

Polyphasic Sleep Day 167

I am close to completing 6 months on my polyphasic sleep schedule and I thought writing an update would be a nice idea. I believe what I have achieved in the past 6 months is everyman in the true sense of the word. I am now able to shift my naps around, skip them or change my core (of course within limits) and yet be polyphasic. With this I average about 4.5 hours of sleep a day. My normal day comprises of 3 naps and 3.5 hours core. I have a lot of snacks throughout the day which on most occasions is after a nap. My heaviest meal for the day is mostly lunch. I also try to exercise whenever I can get the chance to.

Lessons learnt during this period:

  • if the drive to do things is lost, I cannot be polyphasic
  • extra hours earned if put into something other than work tend to make my work more productive & enjoyable
  • I can tolerate small amounts of alcohol & coffee but it is best avoided
  • inspiring someone to take this up reinforces my belief and encourages me to do more

An observation that I found very surprising but pleasingly true is that polyphasic sleep keeps me in a positive mindset. It sets in something like the opposite of a negative mindset cycle. Let me explain. When I am polyphasic, I need to know why I have to get up after my core, I need to have that inspiration to get up after just 3.5 hours of sleep. So before I got to sleep, I see what my next day looks like. If it’s full, voilà I have my reason. If it’s not that full then I look at things I need to get done and fill it up. Once I’m up, the nap schedule follows as it has to and then before I hit the bed I do a little recollection of the things I did in the day and feel a little happy that I managed so much and then look at my next day. Looks like a pretty positive mindset cycle to me! The day I enter a negative mindset cycle, my routine forces me to jump out of it. I never set out to gain this but I guess this is a side-effect of polyphasic sleeping that works for me!

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About Akshat Rathi

Science and Technology Journalist
This entry was posted in Polyphasic and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Everyman in the true sense of the word

  1. Pingback: Another lucid dream « Contemplation

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