Web Home of Mike Silva

Polyphasic as a Lifestyle

mikepixel — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:14:38 -0700

As you may have read on one of my last posts, I have been doing the Everyman-3-Nap schedule for over a year now. It really has become a part of my life now.

Now that it’s more of a lifestyle and less of a struggle, let me answer some questions about just what I think about polyphasic.

Do I like it?

Yes and No

Yes - I love the fact that I now have extra time both with my family and to do extra work. I also have extra time if I just want to do something fun during my free night time awake time.
No – I don’t like the fact that I still have to be careful schedule wise in order to keep this lifestyle going. (I miss the less scheduled days a little)

Would you do it if you didn’t need the extra time?

No – If I had a lot more time and didn’t need to make more time for myself, I think I would go back to monophasic.
The reason being is that it is easier to manage schedule wise. I also think I miss the all night sleep. (I am not sure about that since I haven’t slept all night for a LONG time. I might actually not like sleeping all night anymore.)

Do you feel as healthy doing Everyman as Monophasic?

I can’t tell because I know I am in worse shape due to diet and lack of exercise since I started the schedule. That is not because of the sleep schedule, but more because I am not forcing myself to be active and I have been in decline health wise for many years before I started the schedule.
I will tell you though that I have gotten sick a WHOLE lot less doing the Everyman.

Is your family supportive of your polyphasic sleep?

YES! – They are great, and since I am on a less strict schedule compared to Uberman, it really isn’t too hard for them to be supportive.

What’s your take on caffeine?

Well, I have a cup of coffee in the morning when I wake up from my core sleep, but my first nap isn’t for 7 hours and I only have one cup of caffeinated Joe, then it’s all decaf.
I have always had issues waking up. (I don’t like mornings) I have always since I can remember enjoyed a good cup of Joe in the morning, so I don’t get worked up about it like some people doing polyphasic do. Once again the Everyman-3 schedule is quite different from Uberman where caffeine would really kill your nap since they are all pretty close together.

Will the Red Sox win the World Series next year?

Boy I sure hope so!

Well that’s it for now. I hope it was entertaining for you and informational all at the same time.

For those going through adaption right now, I just want to say, “Hang in there!”

CornerPixel Portfolios

mikepixel — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:57:37 -0700

I just finished (well mostly finished) my portfolio web page for CornerPixel.

I used some jQuery for the animations on the page and I kind of like it.

It took me a little while figure out what I wanted the page to look like, and I am not 100% sure it is right yet, but this is what I will have for a little while.

Next I really need to update the family SilvaMoose website. I know Grace would like it, and boy it sure does need it. I have broken pages, and the site is chalked full of OLD family photos. Oh well, let’s see if I can’t get that done before Christmas!

Has my PC been hacked?

mikepixel — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:45:17 -0700

Man oh man was I worried.

A couple nights ago I logged onto my banks website. All was good. Then as soon as I tried to go to the Bill Pay page, I got an SSL expired warning.

My first thought was, “Wow, my bank messed up, oops!”

Well tonight I tried logging on to my bank, but this time I got the SSL expired warning on the main login page. OUCH!!

My first thought then was, “Uh oh, I have been hacked!” The reason I thought this was because I could log on just fine on my other PC.

Well, I tried all sorts of things. Different browsers, clearing cache … you name it I tried. I also ran malware scans and anti-virus scans with nothing bad coming up.

I looked all over the internet for an answer and then I found one.

My time on my PC was off. I updated the time and “Viola!” my bank site worked!

What a simple fix. I can’t believe it was that easy, especially after I spent so much time worrying and trying to do everything else. I was almost to the point of wiping my machine and re-installing windows!

A little White Noise

mikepixel — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:25:45 -0700

Yesterday marked my 1 year anniversary doing the Everyman Polyphasic sleep schedule, and since day one I have been using my BlackBerry to wake up. I used the “Timer” feature as a 20 minute countdown with an alarm, and I used the built in alarm clock for my core sleep.

This has worked okay, but there have been times that I have missed my alarm because of some BlackBerry fault, or even a user (that’s me) fault due to just being tired before bed.

I needed and wanted to find a better solution, but hadn’t. I had tried several timers, but their alarms were never loud enough to wake me.

So finally I tried downloading a 20 minute white noise mp3 and added it to my iPod.

For my naps I have a playlist with one 20 minute white noise clip, and then and Enya song followed by a heavier metal song. (The Crucified)
For my core sleep I created a playlist with 9 20 minute white noise clips and the same wake up music.

This worked GREAT the first day. I am going to start using this as my alarm clock. It actually helps in two areas. The white noise will help drown out any noise that may wake me up, and the music should do better at waking me up. My only worry will be at work. The alarm clock (BlackBerry) has ALWAYS worked at work. I am not sure if I am just more careful, or something else, but I just hope that my new 20 minute nap playlist will get me up during my naps I take at work.

I guess we will just have to wait and see. Going to try it and will post here my successes, or failures.

Final note: I may end up downloading a cool alarm clock sound that is loud and obnoxious. That might do the trick if music won’t.

Everyman For a Year!

mikepixel — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 02:41:30 -0700

It’s been a YEAR since I “officially” started the “Everyman’s” polyphasic sleep schedule!

I have been doing, or trying polyphasic sleep now for over a year, but it wasn’t until November 27th 2009 (one year ago today) that I actually found the right schedule for me.

I tried the “Uberman” schedule and it was a disaster. I just couldn’t pull off the 20 minute naps every 4 hours, and the sleep deprivation killed me.

After struggling with a couple different schedules, I found the “Everyman” schedule to fit my needs and schedule. The “Everyman” schedule consists of three 20 minute naps and one 3 hour core sleep.

For anyone out there wanting to give it a try, it isn’t always easy, but it sure does change your life.

You learn a lot about your body’s sleep habits.
You learn just how well you are about adapting to change.
You gain a bunch of hours back, which really causes you to evaluate just how you’re spending your time and how better you could be spending that time.
The process can be extremely challenging, and it is interesting to see how you handle this challenge.

I’m sure there are more, but everyone is different, and your list may be quite different than mine.

Well, I am quite happy on my “Everyman” polyphasic sleep schedule. I am not sure how long I will do this, but I would imagine I won’t stop anytime soon. I haven’t noticed any health issues, and I enjoy the extra time I get for work and family.

For those who have questions, I am working on creating a good resource page on polyphasic sleep, and you can find that page by clicking on the “Watch for Sleepy Sheep” warning sign to the left of this page.

Coming soon to Silvamoose.com

mikepixel — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:40:48 -0700

After much discussion between Mike and I we have decided that a new design of Silvamoose.com is in order. Mike, of course, will be the one to plan and carry out all the work. I will merely sit back and give him my seal of approval when it’s finished. I can’t wait to see what he has in mind. At the very least there will be updated pictures of the children :)

And for my husband who is going to be wondering why I didn’t post this from my account…It’s because I didn’t know how to do that on your computer :) Love you, Mike!

Polyphasic and Some Advice

mikepixel — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:36:35 -0700

It has been a couple days, so I will combine them on one post.

Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 25th 2010

02:00 - 05:00 -- Core Sleep (4 hrs )
13:30 – 13:50 -- 1st Nap -- (20 mins )
17:00 – 17:20 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)
21:30 – 21:50 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 4 hrs
Total Awake -- 20 hrs

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Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 26th 2010

02:15 - 06:15 -- Core Sleep (4 hrs ) -- overslept
13:00 – 13:20 -- 1st Nap -- (20 min)
~~17:50 – 18:10 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)~~ -- no nap
21:00 – 21:20 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 4 hrs 40 minutes
Total Awake -- 19 hrs 20 minutes

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Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 27th 2010

02:00 - 05:00 -- Core Sleep (4 hrs )
12:10 – 12:30 -- 1st Nap -- (20 mins )
17:10 – 17:30 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)
21:55 – 22:15 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 4 hrs
Total Awake -- 20 hrs

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As you can see up there in red, I overslept by an hour on the 26th, (Tuesday morning), and I ended up missing my afternoon nap. I don’t have any real good excuse, but at least it didn’t seem to effect me.

That is the nice thing about the “Everyman 3” polyphasic sleep schedule. Once you are adjusted, you can have a day like that without messing up everything.

IRC Polyphasic Resource

I have found a neat resource, or at least a small group of people who are doing the same thing as me. (Polyphasic Sleep)

There is an IRC channel on irc.freenode.net called #polyphasers. There are always at least a dozen people on at any time. Some are lurkers wanting to start polyphasic, some are beginners and a few are polyphasic old timers.

The one thing I love about the channel is that inevitably during any conversation, someone will say, “nap time, talk to you in 20 minutes.” It’s great during those heated conversations. :)

Those of You Who Are Struggling

Lastly I just want to say, “Hang in there” to those people who are struggling with their sleep schedules. If you keep trying, you will get it.

Just remember to find a motivation for getting up, or it will be VERY hard to wake up after that 3 hour core nap, or any of those 20 minute naps.

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January’s Polyphasic (Everyman 3) Totals:

Asleep -- 127 hrs 35 minutes
Awake -- 520 hrs 25 minutes

Totals if I wasn’t doing polyphasic (monophasic)

Asleep –- 216 hours
Awake –- 432 hours

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Rest Day from Polyphasic

mikepixel — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:08:28 -0700

Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 23rd 2010

02:15 - 06:30 -- Core Sleep (4 hrs 15 mins )
12:00 – 12:20 -- 1st Nap -- (20 min)
~~17:50 – 18:10 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)~~ no nap
20:40 – 22:10 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 4 hrs 55 minutes
Total Awake -- 19 hrs 05 minutes

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Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 24th 2010

01:00 - 06:30 -- Core Sleep (5 hrs 30 mins )
07:00 – 09:30 -- 1st Nap -- (2 hrs 30 mins )
16:30 – 16:50 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)
21:50 – 22:10 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 8 hrs 40 minutes
Total Awake -- 15 hrs 20 minutes

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Above I have two days of sleep.

I didn’t actually intend for the extra sleep on the 23rd, but I found that without the “need” to get up, I slept through my alarm. I didn’t have to go to work, so there wasn’t much getting me motivated to get up. I will have to work on that, but I am not sure how.

As for today, I purposely tried to get some catch up sleep and rest. Being Sunday, it seemed like a fine thing to do.

I will continue on my polyphasic though this week and see if I can make it through a couple weeks without my next “Rest Day”

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January’s Polyphasic (Everyman 3) Totals:

Asleep -- 114 hrs 55 minutes
Awake -- 461 hrs 05 minutes

Totals if I wasn’t doing polyphasic (monophasic)

Asleep –- 192 hours
Awake –- 384 hours

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Just another Polyphasic Day

mikepixel — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:47:31 -0700

Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 22nd 2010

02:00 - 05:00 -- Core Sleep (3 hrs )
12:30 – 12:50 -- 1st Nap -- (20 min)
17:50 – 18:10 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)
21:45 – 22:05 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 4 hrs 0 minutes
Total Awake -- 20 hrs 0 minutes

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Today was pretty uneventful, except for my afternoon and night naps were a bit later than normal.

So far I don’t see any ill effects of doing it this way. I will tell you more tomorrow when any effects might actually be felt.

I feel good because I have been on my schedule perfect for 5 days now. I feel pretty good too. I am struggling though with what I want to do Sunday. I was thinking about sleeping a full night sleep every Sunday from midnight to 6am. So not a full night but double normal sleep.

Or I will sleep from 9pm Saturday to 6am or how ever long on Sunday morning. I have heard that it is good to get a full night’s sleep once in a while, but I am not sure I want to do it every Saturday night/ Sunday morning.

Maybe I will do that full night sleep once every two weeks, or once a month. What do you all think of that?

If you have an opinion, or have come across this with your polyphasic, please comment. It will be greatly appreciated.

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January’s Polyphasic (Everyman 3) Totals:

Asleep -- 101 hrs 20 minutes
Awake -- 426 hrs 40 minutes

Totals if I wasn’t doing polyphasic (monophasic)

Asleep –- 176 hours
Awake –- 352 hours

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Doing Pretty Good with no Oversleeping

mikepixel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:29:33 -0700

Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 16th through 20th of 2010.

Below are the hours I slept per day.

16th -– 5 hrs
17th – 3 hrs 40 mins
18th – 4 hrs
19th – 4 hrs
20th – 4 hrs

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Polyphasic Sleep Times for January 21st 2010

02:00 - 05:00 -- Core Sleep (3 hrs )
12:15 – 12:35 -- 1st Nap -- (20 min)
16:20 – 16:40 -- 2nd Nap -- (20 min)
20:40 – 21:00 -- 3rd Nap -- (20 min)

Total Sleep -- 4 hrs 0 minutes
Total Awake -- 20 hrs 0 minutes

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I haven’t been very good about posting my schedule. As you can see above (at the top), I have been pretty good about staying on my schedule. The last 4 days has been great. I haven’t overslept at all, and I feel pretty good.

I am still tired when my core sleep comes up, and still tired in the mornings after core sleep, but for the most part I feel good. So good that I find myself laying down for naps, worried that I am not tired enough to go to sleep.

I always end up getting to sleep pretty quick, but there have been those times I still worried.

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January’s Polyphasic (Everyman 3) Totals:

Asleep -- 97 hrs 45 minutes
Awake -- 406 hrs 15 minutes

Totals if I wasn’t doing polyphasic (monophasic)

Asleep –- 168 hours
Awake –- 336 hours

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