Sleep Is For the Weak

What's Going Down

2010-01-28T22:55:00.000-08:00

So, Mara and I underestimated our sleep habits (or lack thereof) when we're on campus. We tried the first weekend to do the schedule and then... we failed. The project is over.

What We've Learned:
- Can you function on a very small amount of sleep and then, naps throughout the day?
Yes. It is possible, but not the best thing for your mental and physical health.
- Was it worth it?
Yes and no. Yes, because I did have more time to do more. No because I basically gamed the WHOLE time. Not very productive of me.
- Should you do this?
Not often. I recommend you do this ONLY if you know you have to do a BIG PROJECT IN A LIMITED TIME. Otherwise, I advise you to SLEEP.

EPIC FAIL!

2010-01-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

So this past week has been an epic fail for me. I did not stay at all on schedule until last night. Between cramming n doctors' appointments and seeing friends and family and packing and shopping, I had no time to nap and therefore, could not survive 3 hours of sleep a night. This caused me to turn off my alarm every morning.

However, I only slept 3 hours last night so i could finish packing. I plan to take naps on the drive to Vegas and I'll be on schedule. So this weekend, I'll only sleep 3 hours every night and then Monday is my night to acclimate my body to EST. By Tuesday, I'll start sleeping 2 hours a night! YAY!

Also, I don't know if I'll get internet in Vegas, so a new post probably won't happen until Sunday.

Night #8

2010-01-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

NEW and Current Schedule

So last night was an EPIC failure! I forgot to change my alarm, so I was still on the Everyman 2-nap schedule. :( I did manage to clean the house today and see Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes movie poster

Taken from imdb.com

Also, I am sad to say that my muscles are complaining from yesterday's workout. I'm so weak now!

Nights #6 & #7

2010-01-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

Current Schedule

So I forgot to post yesterday. Gomen nasai!!! After night #6, I spent the majority of the day at the beach enjoying the sun and shopping there. I bought a cute pair of board shorts and a tee for my R.A. I really love the sun, but I do miss Boston (I realized this when I was talking to my friend who also goes to college in Boston).

The Billabong "Gloria" boardshorts I bought

Taken from swell.com

Things I love about California:

1. The sun
2. The people (that includes my family and friends here)
3. Disneyland
4. Yogurtland

Things I love (and miss) about Boston:

1. My friends
2. The walkability
3. Emerson
4. Bova's
5. Being responsible for myself, only
6. Getting warm after being in the cold
7. Art scene

The score's 4-6, away team advantage.

Before I went to the beach, I watched Oldboy, a film recommended to me by my biff. I really, really enjoyed it even though I watched the subbed version. I liked it so much that when I came back home from the beach, I watched Lady Vengeance, the sequel. Both are gory and deal with morality and mind games and have dark humor. My favorite part of Lady Vengeance is the most violent part of the entire movie due to my love for dark humor. Both movies are part of Korean director Chan-wook Park's Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). I have yet to watch Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but I'm sure it won't disappoint. I do caution that both movies are extremely violent and not for the faint of heart.

Oldboy U.S. movie poster

Taken from allmoviephoto.com

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance U.S. poster

Taken from hubpages.com

After night #7, I spent the day doing the laundry and surprise, surprise watching more movies. I watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Ballet Shoes. Both movies feature names you will recognize: Tim Roth and Emma Watson, respectively. Both movies were splendidly feel good. And I did workout a little today. Woot!

My posts are getting longer and longer with each day... good or bad thing? It was my last night on Everyman 2-nap schedule. Tonight, I will get even less sleep!

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Don't forget to check out how Mara's doing.

Night #5

2010-01-06T00:36:00.000-08:00

Current Schedule

My body has successfully adjusted to the schedule. I went to bed around 2 am and woke up at 7 am. Since I knew that I was going to be spending the day with my biff, I went back to sleep 10 minutes later for 40 minutes instead of taking 2 forty minute naps in the afternoon. Hopefully, tomorrow, I can take my naps.

I definitely think this is working. I had no coffee today and I feel fine. I wasn't extra-productive however, which was the whole point of this. I spent all of my free time watching two movies - Ben X and Be With Me. Both are foreign films (very cliché for a college student, I know).

Ben X was a German movie about an autistic gamer who overcomes bullies thanks to the help of his perfect girl, who he met online. The movie creatively showed the audience how Ben views and relates to the reality through the mindset of the game. The flow is a bit disjointed, but in the end it all ties together very nicely.

Taken from cinemarama.wordpress.com

Be With Me was a Singaporean movie detailing three stories of love: a lonely shopkeeper reads the autobiography of a blind and deaf woman, two teenage girls deal fall in love, and a security guard is head over heels for a co-worker who doesn't notice him. I highly recommend this to lovers of Paris Je'taime and Love, Actually. However, I caution that like many other Asian films, Be With Me has a quieter style of storytelling that is not dialogue-driven, but rather image-driven. (i.e. If you prefer to watch the dubbed versions of anime movies that fill in the silent scenes with voice-overs, this might not be your cup of tea.)

Taken from pochoclos.com

2 more nights to go until I start the new schedule!

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Don't forget to check out how my sister-blogger, Mara is doing here.

Night #4

2010-01-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

Current Schedule

I finally got the schedule down. I went to bed around 3 am and woke up around 8 am. I took a nap at 2 pm and then again at 4 pm. I feel less tired than the previous days - not on my A game, but much better than yesterday. The two cups of coffee at the Korean tofu house probably helped.

Also, I can proudly say I did something productive today. Shocked? Me too. But, that was the whole point of this experiment. Today, I ran some errands and cleaned a part of the house (living room, dining room, and kitchen). I'm planning on working on the bathrooms tomorrow. Ironically, I was listening to my "Girl's Night Out" playlist while cleaning.

Still from Disney's Cinderella

Taken from teensygreen.com

Also, I played Dragon Age, again.

Alistair, Aeru (my character), Morrigan, and Leliana

Screenshot

Night #3

2010-01-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Current Schedule

So, I finally got the schedule down...kinda of. Last night, I went to bed around 2 am and woke up around 7 am. I knew that I wouldn't have time to nap in the afternoon, so I stayed up for an hour, then went back to sleep for 40 minutes. Sticking to the schedule is harder than it looks. I have to get this down tonight so that my body will be ready for the next stage.

The new sleeping schedule has done little for my fatigue. I still feel tired, but I suppose I'm exactly doing it right. Not to mention since my family from out of town is here, it's been go-go-go for me.

I'm off to play Dragon Age: Origins. Worth the lack of sleep? Heck yes. I'm a true gamer.

Dragon Age: Origins PC cover art

Taken from reevoo.com

Night #2

2010-01-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Current Schedule

The second night went far better than the first. I went to bed around 3 am and woke up around 8 am. However, I didn't take my two naps. Instead, I saw Avatar. : /

I watched this instead of sleeping.

Taken from reelmovienews.com

Oops! I had a light headache thanks to my lack of sleep. And I didn't even do anything produce in my extra hours awake. I surfed stumbleupon.com and played Palisade Guardian 2.

I'm NOT addicted!

Capture from addictinggames.com

Third time's a charm, right?

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Don't forget to check out Mara's companion blog @ tumblr

Night #1

2010-01-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

So, the first night was an epic failure. I was supposed to get 4 1/2 hours of core sleep and then take two 20 minute naps.

The schedule I'm supposed to be on.

Capture from dustincurtis.com

But, what actually happened is that I spent the night in Pasadena... camping out for the Tournament of Roses parade. I ended up staying up until 4 am, then tossing and turning until 7 am. After the parade was over, I went home and conked out from 1 pm to almost 5 pm. I was so exhausted that I turned off my 4 pm alarm and went back to sleep. Hopefully, my next sleep cycle will be on schedule.

Opening float from the Rose parade

Taken with my BlackBerry Curve

Update!

2009-12-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

So, due to the holiday schedule and other obstacles, we have not changed our sleep patterns yet. I haven't been able to control my plans during the day since I spent most days at amusement parks with my cousins and Mara just got her wisdom teeth out! OUCH! But, we will start soon! We want too start at the same time, so we are waiting until our lives are less hectic. Please be patient.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

Feliz Navidad!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Photo taken from gooahucard.com

What is "Sleep Is For the Weak"?

2009-12-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

Andrea (me) and Mara

So, we're clearly Asian. And being Asian, we are over-achievers. There is never enough time in the day for us to go to class, eat, do our homework, hang out with friends, and sleep. And out of all those activities we ranked sleep last. Sleep is nice because it re-energizes, but is highly inconvenient because we could be using the time we are sleeping to be doing other things like studying or wasting our lives away on "stumbleupon". Our solution is simple change the way we sleep.

Mara found this site that claim a person doesn't have to get all his or her sleep in one chunk. This hypothesis intrigued and amazed us. We plan on going to the "Everyman 4-nap" stage during our break. This stage lets us take two 20 minute naps between 12 PM and midnight, sleep for 2.8 hours, then take another two 20 min naps from the time we wake up to 11 am.

Our goal

Capture from dustincurtis.com

Right now, our sleeping schedule is close to the "Everyman 2-nap". We get about 5 hours of sleep every night, but no naps.

Our current sleep schedule.

Capture from dustincurtis.com

We'll be blogging daily on both blogspot and tumblr. And you should also check out our other blogs via the sidebar.