Kirk’s Blog

• SSS: 2

So much has happened in a single day that I can hardly believe only a day has gone by. Just two days ago, I was utterly confused at what had (not) been achieved during the nearly complete 10 days in New Orleans that I allocated to the polyphasic adjustment. I was beginning to accept the fate that I had not acheived transition before my stay ended, and that stimulated a renewed determination to see the process through to completion in the midst of school, work, and whatever else life throws at me. Just at that moment, the clouds parted, and a divine light showered down upon me. I had my first dream. I knew that my body had finally begun to utilize the the little cat naps for its primary sleep needs.

Then I had an entire day of transportation in cars, trains, planes, and busses, which I knew would impact my young, fragile sleeping schedule, not to mention the simultaneous switch in time zone and the change to Daylight Saving Time. I ended up not being able to sleep for my planned 11:00 AM nap, then I slept for most of the 3 hour plane ride and woke up probably a dozen times or so. I had set the loud alarm to wake me up from a nap, but I didn’t hear it because I was wearing ear plugs. So a woman nudged me, and I opened my eyes to see everyone with their heads turned around staring back at me. I turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. I don’t think I was thinking very clearly at the moment because I think I thought my nap was not over yet. Not surprisingly, when I arrived home in New York, I could not fall asleep for the planned 7:00 PM nap. When I took my next nap at 11:30 PM, I lay there for 15 minutes after awaking from the alarm and then reset the alarm for another 30 minute nap. I did manage to have the next nap at 4:15 AM, relatively on time, so now I will work on regularizing the naps at 4 hour intervals.

I am still not completely decided as to how strict I want to adhere to the schedule. If I can’t fall asleep during a planned nap, then it would be better to deviate slightly so that I start the nap at a time when it’s easier for me to fall asleep. Restless naps would just need to be compensated for later on anyway. I think that having maintained a strict schedule in the very beginning of the transition was necessary and beneficial, but flexibility (within limits) may be more valuable at this stage. I’ll just have to see how it works out. Afterall, I am now on largely uncharted territory.

There are still areas where the transition has not completed. For one, I’m still finding it much more difficult to fall asleep during the daytime than it is to fall asleep at night. I have a sustainable level of energy during both time periods, and the hours that seem to be the best are very early in the morning just before and after sunrise. Part of the reason may be because the more successful naps generally occur throughout the night rather than the day. Although yesterday was characterized by grogginess, I attribute that to my schedule getting messed up. Also, the social activities of the day seem to get me excited so that it’s hard to fall asleep. I wonder if the circadian rhythms will still apply to me once I’m more fully adjusted. Currently, it’s almost reversed since my nighttime hours seem to be more reliably infused with energy and vitality. Sometimes, I even try to psyche myself into feeling sleepy so that I can fall asleep more easily during the daytime naps.

Another thing that seems to interfere with my ability to fall asleep is the anticipation of falling asleep. Every time I lie down and think that I have to fall asleep, I almost always have difficulty doing it. On the other hand, when I don’t plan on falling asleep or try so hard to fall asleep, it happens more easily (falling asleep during my “pre-naps” instead of the actual nap itself is a case in point). Hopefully, as I get used to napping with such frequency, it will become easier and more automatic to fall asleep without having to think about it so much.

One other thing is that my throat is still bothering me.  Steve Pavlina also reported having cold-like symptoms during the initial adjustment but he later reported that they had gone away.  I’m taking some Airborne just in case.