Sorry About the Delay

1:52 p.m. August 9, 2012
I had been meaning to throw up a post yesterday and was planning on doing so but I of course fell asleep around quarter after twelve.  A little disappointing but I'm not too concerned as I've picked up a new attitude towards this experiment that I'll share later in the post.

First off, two days ago was not a very good day.  I woke up at five right on schedule then I took a quick nap that turned into a one hour nap from nine to ten.  Then my afternoon nap went fine enough but I fell asleep at about eleven; much too early.  That day was pretty bad but yesterday went better.  Yesterday everything went according to plan except that I fell asleep about half an hour early as I shared before.

And today I got up at seven and am going to have my nap in five minutes.

The reason I'm not too concerned about sometimes sleeping in or missing naps is firstly because this is an experiment and secondly, few people actually live their live in such specific and exact schedules.  I realize that's not always the case with polyphasic sleep cycles but it's still applicable.  I view going to bed half an hour or an hour early the same as I would if I was just doing one big block of sleeping.  It's not a big deal.  If you disagree you can leave your comment but this feels like a huge burden being lifted.  Until tomorrow or the next day, have a great sleep!

Post Long Weekend Update

5:28 a.m. August 7, 2012
I know that it's now been a few days since the last post so we have a lot to get caught up on. I'll move through the days fairly quickly starting with Sunday.  I got up late again (a few hours), but lately I've been saying it's okay on the weekends since I'm sleeping in.  I then missed my afternoon nap but I was able to stay up until one.

Yesterday was a holiday in Canada so my family visited some friends at their trailer.  I got up at about seven thirty and had a quick half hour nap around five.  This was kind of on schedule.

Then this morning I was awake at five and out of bed at five twenty.  I was immediately going to go for a run but it was too dark so that's what I'm going to do now.  Until tomorrow, happy trails.

Late Night Post

12:46 a.m. August 4, 2012
So I woke up again at five but didn’t get out of bed until six this morning.  This isn’t too surprising as this has been pretty common lately.  Thinking about it though I am still rising much earlier than I have previously, even during the school year.

Then I had to have an early nap because I was on the road from two thirty until three.  I went to sleep at twenty after one and woke up an hour later without an alarm.  This surprised me that my body woke up right on queue, but it’s a good sign I think.

I won’t be able to have an afternoon nap tomorrow as I am helping out at a wedding by serving.  This is happening from one to six.  I normally don’t have a problem staying up all day, (I’m usually getting out of bed an hour late), so as of now the plan is to just stay awake all day.

I was very tired from about ten o’clock to right now.  I don’t know why this is the case; I had my afternoon nap.  Oh well, I’ll throw up another post tomorrow so come on back.

Fifty!

7:35 a.m. August 2, 2012
Okay I know I still haven’t gotten to the weekend summary but I swear it’s coming.  Yesterday I missed my two o’clock nap time again but fell asleep fairly quickly at three thirty.  I was very tired last night but tonight I woke up at five without much problem.  I then lied around until six because I couldn’t get my lazy butt out of bed.  Tomorrow when I get up to turn my alarm off I’ll try walking around the house just to get me fully awake.  Or I might try a cold shower.  I’ll let you know either way.  I’ll try to get the weekend post up this afternoon.

Also, it’s my fiftieth post.  I thought that this was exciting so I’d once again like to thank you guys for staying loyal and following my blog.  Without so many of you looking at my results I wouldn’t be doing this. So thank you!

Back From Up North

4:08 p.m. July 31, 2012
So I didn’t get around to blogging yesterday after we got back at around three thirty.  I hope that that’s okay with you.  I have four days to catch you up on so what I plan on doing is releasing a big blog post tonight or tomorrow that includes my weekend.  I’ll just post what happened today. 

I woke up late at eight thirty but I was okay with that because I was fairly exhausted from the weekend.   However, I forgot about the afternoon nap until my alarm went off.  I went to bed at three and could not fall asleep.  I guess I just rested my eyes.  This might make it more difficult to stay awake tonight; we’ll see.  I really want to get running again so I might make an effort tomorrow morning.  This would help keep me on track I think.  I’m getting pretty tired of not keeping to the schedule I set up and I don’t want to call this entire experiment a fail.  I realize there have been some legitimate reasons but it’s still frustrating.  I’ll post the big one later so stay tuned.

Au Revoir For The Weekend

5:11 p.m. July 26, 2012
Yesterday and today I slept in.  I wasn’t utilizing the snooze button so that messed me up.  I did rest in the afternoon though.  Yesterday was harder to fall asleep while today there wasn’t too much of an issue.  As promised here’s a picture of the painting I finished up;

Sunflowers

This weekend I’m going up north on a fishing trip with my brother, dad and uncle.  During this time I may be able to stick with the schedule or I may not.  I don’t really have a plan going into this; I’ll just work with what happens.  So until Monday, happy sleep cycles!

Getting Back On Track, For Now

10:29 p.m. July 24, 2012
I was kind of up at five today.  It was closer to five thirty but close enough.  After a very long break from running and the discovery that it was the physical activity in the morning that made me dread waking up, I have decided that I want to start the daily runs again.  I am hopeful that I was get my lazy self up before five thirty tomorrow and be back and showered before six tomorrow.  That’s the ideal plan.

Today my afternoon nap was delayed until three o’clock because I forgot.  I found it more difficult to fall asleep and had a much lighter rest than I normally do.  I’m not worried about it at all though as tomorrow I will hopefully have returned to my normal schedule.

I'm also planning on working on a few paintings tonight as I haven't even touched one since the last update I gave.  I'll post pictures once there's something to post.

Last Double Post

This is another double post but I promise it's the last.  After this point we'll be completely caught up and we'll be moving forward.  I'd also like to apologize for the recent lack of posts; I was away this weekend.  They will be much more consistent and frequent so stay updated!

My weekend destination

1:09 p.m. July 18, 2012
Yesterday I got my afternoon nap in and everything went well.  My brother and I however took a couple friends up to our trailer and needless to say we went to bed later than my normal bedtime of 1:00 a.m.  I also woke up at eight o’clock in the morning so that I didn’t disturb them too much.  I don’t really care that I didn’t stick to my schedule yesterday as it was a one time kind of  thing. 

Right now I’m really looking forward to my nap since I’m tired physically and mentally.  It will be very nice.

3:24 p.m. July 23, 2012
I know it’s been a few days since the last time I had an update but that’s because I was away for the weekend and I’ve been pretty busy overall. I went up to Peterborough on Friday with my youth group and while I was there I didn’t get an afternoon rest period for three consecutive days.  Today, (Monday), is the first one I’ve had since Thursday.  Switching back to a regular sleep cycle is a bit odd but not too difficult.  I was just more tired earlier, that’s all.


This morning I slept in to ten o’clock.  That’s the latest I’ve slept for the entire summer and it was a bit of a disappointment but I understand that I was incredibly tired and drained after spending a weekend with over a dozen people.  Tonight I should be up until one and tomorrow I should be up at five.

Getting Caught Up

5:13 July 14, 2012
I know it’s been a few days but there hasn’t been much to report.  I’ve been sleeping in lately which sucks.  I haven’t been meaning to; I just hit the alarm button and I fall back a sleep.  I even had a shower then fell asleep after that.  I have however been able to stay up until one o’clock so that’s good to see.  Other than that there’s not really anything to report

4:30 July 17, 2012
This past week has been not very good for the sleep cycle.  That’s mainly due to the fact that in the past five days I have not had the afternoon nap for five of those days, (today is the first time I’ve had the nap).  I’m a bit embarrassed by this lack of will power but it’s not entirely my fault.  I was out on Thursday, (Niagara Falls, Albright-Knox Art Gallery), Friday and Sunday were spent with my girlfriend and Saturday and Monday I just forgot. 

I was still able to stay up until my bed time though so that’s positive.  What’s not good is that I slept in every day that I missed my rest period.  That means I was sleeping in about six hour blocks and that’s it.

Today was different though.  I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and got up half an hour later.  I also took my one hour afternoon nap.  I really hope that this is the start to me getting back on track. 

It should also be noted that I didn’t go for a run once since I was wanting to see if I hated getting up because I was running.  This was definitely the case but it meant that I also allowed myself to sleep in.

Until next time good luck with your sleeps!

I'm Back

As you can see by the previous post Allyssa can't continue the sleep cycle.  That's fine; it's not for everyone.  This means that I will be taking over the blog again after her brief stint.  I have only taken a few notes during this time frame so I will be posting a couple a day until the blog and I get on the same page.  At this time I will be doing daily or every other day posts.  I realize now that I had been blogging much too frequently.  So, here's the first post of my return;


7:34 a.m. July 9, 2012
A couple days ago I went without the afternoon sleep period and not entirely on purpose.  I would not recommend doing this for anyone out there wanting to try a new cycle.  I fell asleep before my bedtime and I was tired for much of the night.  You are able to do it but just once.  Any more than that and it becomes unhealthy.

I have had a dread of waking up.  Initially I thought that this was because I was getting up so early but now I think it’s because I knew that I had to go for a run.  So for a few days this week (including today), I won’t be going for runs.  This is just to see if that the anxiety will be gone once I don’t have to worry about running.


3:55 July 11, 2012
After having gone a few days without running in the morning I can definitely say that that the desire to not wake up in the morning was directly because of the runs.  Now I don’t really care if I wake up at 5:00 because I won’t have to be running.  This kind of sucks but it’s the truth.

Another thing that has happened is that I consistently sleep in now.  I will hit the snooze button half a dozen times and then I might doze off after my shower.  This of course is not done on purpose but it is still happening.

Allyssa's Cycle - Resignation

10:39 pm

To my disappointment I will not carry on the sleep cycle for the ten days or any time after that (for now). Here are my reasons:

1.     I have personally found it has no better effect on my tired levels than my normal 8 hour night sleep

2.     It hinders the amount I can do in the day (social wise, and waking up from the nap is difficult)

3.     My family goes to bed around 10, and work early in the morning so I have been accidentally waking them up all week.

4.     I am getting canker sores from being over tired

These reasons are all because of my personal experience, I encourage everyone to try the sleep cycle and contact Corbin about how it’s going, and maybe this blog could just be full of people’s experiences with the cycle? Just a thought

thank you for reading about my experience!

Corbin will be posting shortly about how the cycle is still working

Good luck :)

Allyssa's Cycle - Two Day Post

10:45 am

Wednesday Night:

I found that working without the nap difficult to remember, which happens to be a major part of making sure who gets the right food. From now on I am going to sleep an extra hour the night before and have a power nap before or on my break to refresh myself so this doesn't happen again. I don't know if it’s because I'm not used to the cycle yet or because my body can't handle loosing those hours of sleep.

Thursday:

So my youth group had an event planned that went from 8am-8pm  (I slept an extra hour and a half so I wouldn't need a nap in the day) we went to Niagara Falls, outlet shopping and to an Art Gallery. The extra hour and a half didn't help, and I was still very tired from the afternoon on. 

Friday Morning:

Because I was so tired from yesterday, I fell asleep an hour early and woke up an hour late. It was really nice to go for a bike ride this morning because it hasn’t really gotten hot yet, this cycle has opened more doors for exercise schedules

That’s all.

Allyssa's Cycle - The Sleepover

9:05 am

Last night my friend and I went to go see People Like Us (quick review: it was cute but not life changing, should have seen The Amazing Spiderman) and then went home and played some card games. Its tricky to be in this cycle with social activities, and I think it would be easier if there was more routine that summer doesn't bring.

I am not too focused on the whole physical mental side of this but more of a schedule side of this. I can handle the effects it has on my body but its much harder to do in social situations.
I work 11-4:30 so I will be missing my nap again today, or I will take it when i get home  we'll see if I can handle going without one 
Last night I slept the right amount of time and my dog needed to go outside and she kept me awake which was good.

I will blog about how my shift goes! I have a feeling it  there will be mistakes and forgetting to give people theirs fries or something.
Anyways, have a good day :)

Allyssa's Cycle - Change of Plans

5:40 pm
My summer goal is to build a platform/captain's bed in my room, and to do that my room needed to be emptied. Lucky for me my little sister cleaned it out for me (she is not a cheap worker) so that was pretty great! The reason I'm telling you this is I was busy organizing and my chores and missed my nap time (not that I was planning to have it anyways).  This shouldn't be a problem because I slept longer this morning, and I don't really feel tired.
My friend and I are going to the movies and I have to work tomorrow 11-4:30 which will be interesting to try to nap around. I wanted to start this cycle on a calm week and I thought this week was going to be that.
So you will see how this cycle works with a busy week ahead!

I will blog again in the morning (and will wake up on time!)
Until then :)

Allyssa's Cycle - Day 2

9:05 am
I  made a big mistake this morning, I didn't wake up. My alarm went off at 5 and then I hit snooze and didn't get up, that happened until 6 and then I must have hit dismiss because I woke up at 7.
I learned two things:
1. My sleep walking has moved to alarm changing, and I need too fully awake myself every morning\
2. It solidified how much I love my sleep

these two things I kind of knew in the beginning but now need to be fixed in order for me to succeed.
I didn't say this before, but I am a champion sleeper, I can fall asleep anywhere and with speed and ease. Which is really great, expect when I am trying to stay awake.
I think I will not have my nap today, or have a 20 min one for refreshing because of the extra sleep I got this morning.
Mentally and physically I feel very normal.
Thats it for now!
Enjoy :)

Allyssa's Cycle - Game night

12:15pm
So my dad thought it would be a great idea to ride our bikes to our game (we play on the same team, weird sounding but the league doesn't have an age restriction and I love any opportunity to beat him), and of course it pour rain for the ride home (but hey, I still beat him home)

The game went well, i don't believe the sleep cycle effected me in any way physically wise, I actually think the early morning improved my endurance. The problem I did have was the effect on my mind, a couple times i got really mixed up which isn't usual. If this cycle stops that or at least lessens it, I think it will be extremely helpful in the future so I'm not a dough head every time I'm tired
Staying up at night isn't really a problem because its impossible for me to fall asleep in front of the TV and I cant really do anything productive (not yet at least) because I'm not one for concentration; especially when I'm tired.
Corbin has been able to be awake enough to work at night so the competitive side in me is determined to get used to working at night, and if its quicker than him; well...that's just the name of the game. right?

For those of you reading this at this time of night, koodos, you are half way there to the sleep cycle, just wake up at 5 every morning and you'll be good to go :)
Sleep tight!

Allyssa's Cycle - First Afternoon

4:30ish pm
I am so tired!

I napped from 2:20-3:20 and it was very deep, but then when I woke up I was even more tired and slow minded. Like this  morning I forgot to tell you how I was physically and mentally handling this so far. This morning i just felt dopey, nothing out of the normal tired feeling. Although I do have a headache from not having any caffeine (For this experiment and other reasons I am going without my daily morning coffee) so i hope I can get over this quickly.

 
Today I shouldn't have watched so much Scrubs and actually did something productive like clean the house like I was suppose to. Tomorrow I will defiantly find something to do, like the gazillion craft ideas stumbleupon.com has given me.

   
My game tonight is at 6:30 and my position is only running, so we will see how that goes! I am actually very interested to see how athletic I can be with this cycle.

as of now if I continue this after the 10 days I would continue to wake up at 5 and go to bed at midnight  because the morning is actually very nice and the extra hour wouldn't hurt and there's not a whole lot for me to do at midnight anyways. 

That is the up-to-date news and I will be back tonight to post about how the game went

Bye for now

Allyssa's Sleep Cycle - First Morning

8am

I didn't end up going to bed until around 1:30 because my sister was watching her show and then Scrubs is just too good to not finish.
5:30 this morning wasn't that bad actually, I stayed in bed for a while and talked to Corbin but didn't fall back to sleep which was pretty great! Hitting snooze instead of shutting my alarm off was the best advice from Corbin on how to get up on time because really, who wants to get up at 5 in the morning?
Since i have a game tonight i decided to just go for a walk instead with my dog. This morning was so cool I should have bundled up more, but it also helped me wake up.

London the Labradoodle also referred to as: meathead, and snickers

so today I don't know when i will need the hour nap, i will just see how it all goes and blog afterwards
Enjoy the day :)

Allyssa's Cycle

So as you have read, I am Corbin’s Girlfriend, and am very forgetful so we will see how this goes!

The reason I chose to follow Corbin’s steps in the sleep cycle is because I’m staying up to 1 anyways to talk to him, and I am up for a challenge to keep life interesting. My main concern is time; I usually use sleep to fill time and to replace boredom, so I will have to find some way to fill my time and to patch my boredom. My secondary concern is how I will function; when I am tired I am irritable, impatient and I kind of become an air head. this may be because of the amount of sleep I get in a 24 hour period (around 10 hours with an 8 hour night sleep and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon is too much) and if this sleep cycle decreases that my family and I (mostly my family because they so lovingly put up with my over tiredness) will be overjoyed. I am opposite to Corbin in many ways and that includes my schedule, because I don’t have one, I pretty much just go with the flow and see where I end up. So now I will consciously have to plan out how my day will go

 I just graduated high school and am going back for a victory lap to catch up on credits I lost from my full time co-op with an electrical company. So its time to pick a new career path and I pray I can find it this year

I work at McDonalds (small stepping stone) and get about 15 hours a week, I usually work in the evenings but this week I have 2 shifts in the afternoon, so we will see how it works with the whole napping part of the day.

Two nights a week I play Ultimate Frisbee in a league (it gets pretty intense) and I mostly use it as an excuse to run around more than actually caring if we win or lose.

My Plan:

Sleep 1-5

Go for a run

Sleep for an hour whenever in the afternoon

Fill my time somehow in-between and repeat

I will follow the same blogging schedule as Corbin and I’m keeping it on his blog to keep everything on the same page

I will keep you posted because im starting tonight!

Tips and Tricks For Your Sleep Cycle

After trying this sleep cycle for ten days now I have accumulated some knowledge of what  and what not to do if this is something that interests you.  I thought that I would be generous and share this information with the public because I'm a swell guy.  So ahead you'll find the most important things that I learned while trying this new cycle.

First up: don't ease into it.  I know this sounds appealing and you probably think by slowly cutting back your bed times and wake up alarms you'll be better adjusted.  This is false.  You will be less committed and more willing to cheat.  You may be thinking that you have a lot of will power and won't cheat when doing this.  That's great, but if that's the case then just start with schedule you're planning on using. 

Use time effectively.  At first it seems awesome that you're awake for nineteen hours a day (it is), and you have endless amounts of time to do whatever you please.  The reality is that you don't have an eternity and the day will end.  I know this sounds needless to mention or condescending but it's very important to realize.  If you decide in the morning to catch up on your favourite website or TV series and that takes you ten in the morning, you wasted more time on that than you would on any other given day.  This also leaves less time to do the important things that need to get done.  So don't spend hours playing video games because the day will end and you will have spent 24 hours playing FIFA.

The second part to the previous tip is to start being productive early.  If you can get all your hard work out of the way first thing in the morning then it opens up the entire day so that you can do whatever you'd like.  My personal example is running.  I haven't run consistently in years and had it not been for this sleep cycle I still wouldn't be running.  I didn't have time and my days were too sporadic.  But now I can get the run out of the way and still shower before anyone is up.  There's a sense of control that comes with getting annoying tasks out of the way first thing in the morning.

Know that times can change, but don't abuse this.  I used three or four different times for my afternoon naps effectively.  This was good news because that means your schedule can be flexible.  I noticed however that the more I switched it around the harder it was to go to sleep.  That's obviously because I was throwing my body off constantly.  So know that your sleep time can change, just do it cautiously.

Plan ahead.  It sucks when you're having a great time with your friends then realize you were supposed to be sleeping 47 minutes ago.  Remember to tell people in advance.  Mostly everyone finds different sleep cycles at least interesting and they will give you a couch and pillows.  Even if they just give you some quiet almost everyone respects different sleep routines.  It's important to tell people though and make sure you yourself remembers it.


That's about it for tips and tricks for now; if I remember anymore I will blog them or possibly add a tips and tricks part two.  I hope this has been helpful for you go-getters.

As for where this blog is going in the future here's the deal; my girlfriend is going to try this sleep cycle as well.  As I mentioned in a previous post, she is more forgetful than I so this will create a nice contrast between two different styles of committing to the cycle.  I or she will be blogging her thoughts and reactions for at least the transition period.  That way we will together be able to compare and see how the sleep cycle effects two people differently.  I'm excited about this new tactic and I hope to see you again very soon!

Just A Quickie

9:02 a.m.
Before I'm gone for most of the day I just wanted to throw a quick update on the blog.  I hadn't intended on doing this but I thought that these two things were important enough to share.  Last night after posting the summary, I was able to stay up until 1:00 without any tiredness.  This was exciting and it made me wonder if there was something to the transition period after all.

The view out my bedroom window every morning

The second thing that happened after I got out of bed and went for my run was that I was tired.  From about 5:00 a.m. to 7:30 I was completely fine but after that and up until a few moments ago I was extremely close to falling asleep.

These two things have gone against most of what has happened before and everything in my summary yesterday.  The blog post yesterday still should be taken at full value since it was an accurate summary up until that point.  These are just very notable occurrences.

Stay tuned because later today (5:30 between 10:00), I will be posting my tips on how to successfully transition from a monophasic cycle to a polyphasic one.  In that post I'll also be telling what's going to be happening with my cycle, the blog and other stuff that is secret right now.  So stay tuned!

The End Of The Transition Period

As was promised earlier, I will give a summary of the first ten days (transition period) of my sleep cycle.  It goes as follows;

Before the experiment began I was nervous and excited.  I had imagined that it would be difficult to stay up at first because I would be tired all the time.  I had also thought that it would take longer than ten days to make the adjustment because I had been sleeping in eight hour blocks pretty much since I was born.  I had many concerns going into the project; I wouldn't be able to follow through, I would be too tired, and many more.  This however was not the case.

The first few mornings in I woke and got up right at 5:00 a.m.  This surprised me as I thought that I would be too exhausted to wake up.  I also went for runs almost immediately and I'm sure they helped prepare my body for the day.  There were some other surprises for me; ones that I had just been too busy to notice.  One was how cool it is in the morning.  I have never gotten up this early in all my summers and due to this schedule I have discovered that mornings are awesome even just for their coolness.  I normally dislike the heat and in the morning there usually isn't any.  Another observation was that I had to eat more and constantly be eating.  I didn't gain any weight, fortunately and I haven't been eating any better.  The last thing was that I had so much time in the morning.  Usually on the weekends I would sleep in to 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. and would eat and shower taking me to 10:00 or later.  Then I would do some pointless things (reading, TV) and I wouldn't start doing homework or yard work until the afternoon.  Now I can be lazy for a couple hours and it will still be 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning; I still have the entire day open.  This was a huge revelation.

As the transition period wore on I became more lazy in the morning.  I would wake up at the alarm but then sleep in to 7:00 or 8:00.  This was easily fixed by using the snooze button but it's still worth noting that my body was less comfortable with the schedule as the trial wore on.

For my afternoon rest periods, I got used to them almost immediately.  I didn't find working my way into these challenging at all, and if you've been keeping up with the blog, you'll remember that I was able to freely change the periods from 2:00 to 1:00 to 4:00.  This is an important aspect for those of us needing a flexible schedule.

I was never able to grasp the nightly sleep periods.  Once in bed I was almost at once asleep however the most challenging task of this project was to stay awake until 1:00 p.m.  Now I know that this doesn't sound hard but for me it was.  I had trained my body to fall asleep around 10:30 and to push this back two and a half hours was very foreign to my body.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to combat late night sleepiness better in the future but this is something that I will still keep an eye on.

As far as the miscellaneous stuff goes there wasn't too much to note.  It felt weird sleeping in someone else's home but everyone was understanding.  It did not feel strange to sleep in the afternoon even though I had never done this before.  These periods just felt like naps and I never took the risk and tried to power through a day without my afternoon nap (soon, maybe).  As mentioned before, I usually always want to sleep longer in the morning when thinking about it the night before.  I rarely want to sleep in once I wake up though.  I also always want to go to bed earlier and it feels like nonsense when I HAVE to stay up.  That's about it for there though.

My last point that I would like to make is about productivity.  I had envisioned myself being more creative and more productive and able to handle more.  The truth about this is that you have to be productive yourself.  You have to do it.  You can't depend on parents or sleep cycles or agendas to make you more productive.  You get what you put in.  I would like to end this post with a quote from Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try."

This is what you can expect tomorrow; tips and advice for when you start your own cycle.  I'm personally excited as the survey shows that most people are looking to do something like this.  After that post I will also be explaining the next step with this blog.  You'll want to read it.

Three Birds With One Post

8:21 a.m.
I know that I only had one update yesterday so I’ll have to summarize three posts in this one.  Starting with the afternoon rest period.  I went to sleep at 2:00 and oddly woke up at 2:45 before my alarm went off.  I don’t know why this was the case but either way I’m not too worried about it.

Then there was late last night, I stayed up until 12:50 because I was so tired that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.  I haven’t been able to get rid of this tiredness at night although it does help to keep your mind active (reading, painting, work).  If you watch TV you will fall asleep early.

Then lastly there was this morning.  I slept in and I’m aware that this is a bad ending to the transition period but it makes it more difficult that it’s the summer time and I don’t have a schedule that I need to abide by.

For all three of them there was something slightly off but I’m not concerned about any of them.  I think that it’s still going well and the transition period has been relatively successful.  Today I will have only one more post.  That update will be the summarization of the transition period.  That means I will briefly describe the transition period and how my mind and body felt.  I will also have another special post tomorrow and the day after that so keep informed.  I’ll see you again very soon.

Thank You!

As of right now I have reached 1,000 views of this blog and I'd just like to take the time to thank everyone who has stopped by and helped this thing keep going.  I didn't expect it to get very big and this surpassed my expectations.  The following list is the top ten countries that are following my blog;

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Hungary
4. United Kingdom
5. Sweden
6. Germany
7. Ireland
8. Australia
9. Denmark
10. Argentina

If one of your countries isn't up there that's okay; you'll just have to spread the word.  I truly appreciate each of you guys and I'm glad to keep doing this for you.  Since tomorrow is the last day of the transition phase, I will be giving a brief summary and update of how that went and what you guys can expect in the future.  Again, thank you!

Skipping The Run

6:45 a.m.
I went to bed and got up right on time again; I’m really getting the hang of it.  I did not go for a morning run though.  I got up in time to go on the run and I was ready, then I remembered that me and my quarterback are going to throw the football around after we work out.  That’s why I decided to skip the run so that I would be better prepared for our practice tonight.  What did I do instead of go on my run?  I continued to read this book:

It may be long and boring, but it sure is long and boring

I have a few desires.  One is right before I go to bed.  At this time I wish that I could forget the alarm and at least sleep in to seven or eight.  I did however notice once I woke up that I felt completely rested and to sleep in would have been a waste of time. 

The other thing that I constantly wish for is to have a normal bed time.  I’m not saying that I wish I used the monophasic sleep cycle like everyone else; I just wish that I went to bed at eleven or twelve.  Thinking about it now though, this could be a viable option.  It would just mean that I would have to wake up at four o’clock in the morning when it’s still very dark.  I would then need to change my schedule too.  It’s something to think about.

Quick Update Before Bedtime

12:19 a.m.
This has been my first night update in a while.  I promise I’ll try to make the most of it.  I think that no matter how many times in a row I stay up this late I will still be tired.  I haven’t been able to remain alert past 11:30 once through out this entire experiment.   I’m not too frustrated by this although it is a little disappointing.

I promised an updated picture of the painting I’m working on and I delivered.  I wasn’t able to completely finish it tonight but I did make a lot of headway.  If you can’t figure it out by now, that’s a stream surrounded by trees during winter.

Almost done, hang in there

If my math is correct, this is the tenth day, (July 5th).  That means that the transition period should be coming to a close and I guess I’ll have an official report later on how this has gone and my plans for the future.  I still need to figure most of that out so hang with me.

Another North American Holiday

6:27 p.m.
I apologize that this one is going up so late but it’s the first time I’ve had some time with the computer.  I was going to have a late afternoon rest period but I was tired around 1:30 so I went to sleep at 2:00.  I had a little difficulty falling asleep but I think it went well.  I was also tired in the morning around 9:00; I don’t know why.  I’ll see tomorrow if I’m still tired in the morning.

It's America's Independence Day

A big shout out goes to my American friends to the South.  It’s their Independence Day so I hope they enjoy their day of barbecues and fireworks. Up here in Canada it would be a perfect day for that so I hope the weather is good down there too.

Overall today has gone well.  I worked most of the morning away and am about to head out to the gym.  I’ll see if I can throw another post up late tonight with my finished art work attached.

Early Bird Gets The Worm

6:08 a.m.
I woke up right on time this morning at 5:00 and was out the door half an hour later for my morning run.  In case you were wondering, that’s three days in a row that I’ve been on time.  This is exciting news for me; I’m finally starting to get the hang of it.  The only problem is that I dozed off last night for maybe half an hour in front of the TV.  This means two things; one is that if I am actually using my brain a little (painting, reading) I will be able to stay up much better than if I sit in front of the TV.  The other thing it means is that the later afternoon nap didn’t help as much as I was hoping.

These are the shoes that have carried me in all my runs

Nevertheless, I will have another late afternoon rest period today (third day in a row) just to see if it really doesn’t help at all.  And I should be able to finish the painting I started and posted a couple days ago.  That should keep me awake at night.

One last note is that when I meet people who know what I’m doing it always surprises them that I’m usually not tired at all and even during the transition phase, I wasn’t very tired at all.  This shows that no matter where you are in your school or job, you can make he change at any time so long as you are committed and have a schedule flexible enough.  If some of you guys decide to try this sleep cycle out or another one let us know in the comments!

Late Afternoon Nap

6:02 p.m.
I had another late nap this afternoon as I said I would yesterday.  I started it at 3:30 and woke up an hour later.  Like yesterday I had a little more difficulty falling asleep but I did rest better than when I was on the couch a day ago.  We will have to see tonight if the later sleep period keeps me awake longer.  If it does then I will definitely make 3:00 or 3:30 my normal time.

I was able to get a full morning of work in and was fairly lazy this afternoon.  I remember my older brother saying how some of the editors at his university news paper get six hours of sleep a night.  When I heard this I was at first discouraged because they were functioning with only an hour more than I am.  I then thought about their caffeine and coffee consumption.  I don’t drink any coffee and have very little in the way of caffeine.  This sleep cycle is also healthier I believe so my mind was put at ease.

Consistency, Finally

6:16 a.m.
Good morning everyone.  If you were wondering if I stayed up until 1:00 last and got out of bed this morning on time, the answer would be yes.  Two days in a row now I have stayed right on schedule.  Last night though I went to bed ten minutes early because I was very tired.  I was actually tired at about 9:00 p.m.  I am going to chalk that up to me not getting a full one hour sleep.  Overall though, I am pretty happy with the results.

Talking to my girlfriend yesterday she had said that she wanted to try the cycle and was actually planning on starting last night but I don’t think she did.  I encouraged her to do so since if my routine becomes boring and predictable, I can post her results from the beginning.  This would provide a cool contrast between two peoples experiences especially since she is much more forgetfull and laid back about her routines.  Either way, I’ll give you a heads up.  Unless you want to hear her results sooner just comment or tweet me that that’s the case and I’ll get on it.

Bowling And Sleeping Elsewhere

5:16 p.m.

I had the latest afternoon sleep period today.  I came to my girlfriends house today in the morning and I'll be staying for dinner.  We went bowling today with her family and I think I did all right (92). I didn't want to beat my girlfriend too badly so I kept it close for her sake.  After bowling we came back and that was around quarter after three.  Being the generous people they are I was set up with pillows and blankets and slept on the basement couch.  I was able to sleep for at least half an hour so I'm  a little hesitant to claim that it was a success.

Temporary sleeping quarters

I have been considering moving the afternoon sleep block back to 4:00 so I will be less tired at night (11:00 to 1:00).  I will try this again tomorrow and see what happens.  My hope for tonight is that I am once  again able to stay up until 1:00, am less tired, and finish the painting  I started yesterday.

Back On Track

5:59 a.m.
Last night I went to bed about five minutes early on purpose and today I woke up right on time.  I’m very glad that I decided to use the snooze button otherwise I would probably still be in bed right now.  I would also like to add that my bed has never been as comfortable as it was at 5:00 a.m. during summer break.  It was a struggle to get out of bed to say the least.

My run today went well, I’m very happy with today so far and I’ve been awake an hour.  As far as my plans are for today, I’ll try to finish up that painting I posted last night and put some man hours into yard work.

I’ll be putting another update on the blog after my afternoon rest period.

The End Of A Day, The Beginning Of Some Art

My work station, for now

12:31 a.m.
I’m not too tired although I fell the tiniest bit drowsy.  It’s so small that I even considered not sharing it but I did.  Because I care.  With this lack of tiredness that I have been experiencing I started another work of art.  I had meant to take a picture of it as I was priming the board but I forgot so below you can see my temporary work station (dining room table).  This work is about half done and so far I’ve spent half an hour on it.

Overall today has went well.  Church in the morning and my family went out for lunch and then I was fortunate enough to have a lazy afternoon and caught the CFL game between Calgary and Montreal.  I have felt pretty good today.

Tomorrow I think that I’ll start the real physically demanding work in the yard and outside so that will be interesting to see how my body reacts to running on little sleep while physically working a lot.  I hope I have some interesting results for once.

A Late Nap After A Late Morning

4:33 p.m.
I was very worried today because I realized around two thirty that I was not sleeping and had forgotten about the afternoon sleep cycle.  Initially I was even more frustrated as I had already messed up today but I think it become something positive.  I went to sleep at 3:00 and I fell asleep pretty fast.  I went to sleep quickly and this shows that I have practiced falling asleep enough that I can now make my body sleep much better than I could before.  This is very useful as I almost always had difficulty falling asleep. 

Happy Canada day!

 The other good thing that came out of this is the fact that I have utilized a rest period at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00.  Three different times for my afternoon nap and they were all done successfully. This is exciting because it means that this rest period is very flexible.  If you’re looking to try this biphasic cycle, don’t worry about needing a very strict schedule because you can actually change the time around daily. Granted, I haven’t strayed outside of the three hours but I don’t think much more than that would be an effective sleep schedule.  This is still good news either way.

Another Late Morning

7:56 a.m.
I slept in again today.  If it weren’t for sleeping in I would have no problems with my experiment.  However, as it is, I’m sleeping in about half the time.  This is getting to be very frustrating since it would make the project pointless if I continue to do so.  I hope that simply hitting the snooze button no matter how awake I am will do the trick.  I haven’t once used it so far because I didn’t feel like had a need for it.  I’m thinking much differently at this point.

Last night went well, I stayed up right until 1:00 p.m. and I watched my first episode of Mad Men.  It’s very well done but I’d recommend watching it in order and not jumping in wherever your older brother is.  I was glad to have stayed up that late even though I almost dozed off a couple times and was drowsy.

My typical breakfast, delicious

So as this post shows you, I’m doing the sleep cycle but it’s the details that I’m getting ahold of.  I don’t have anything wrong with me mentally or physically and I’ll stop telling you that after this because I haven’t felt off since the first couple days.

Art Work Is Almost Done. New Cycle?

Almost done!

4:17 p.m.
I had my afternoon sleep period at 2:00 today and it went well.  I went to sleep within minutes and even though I felt a little groggy afterwards I was still refreshed.  As far as this morning went however, I was slightly tired up until about 9:00 or 10:00.  I’m not sure for the reasoning behind this as the mornings have usually been a time of alertness so far.  I don’t think that this was a sign for concern as it was only a slight drowsiness and I functioned completely fine.

This morning I got a lot of stuff done.  I did some work for my dad, I almost finished the art work that I had posted earlier in the blog and I also updated the blog a bit.  I don’t know if the sleep cycle has given me a new mentality or it just allows me to get more work done but for the amount of work that I have completed I am very satisfied.

I have no side effects to mention although I had been thinking and since this biphasic sleep cycle has gone so well and the transition has been relatively easy, I might be able to try another sleep routine later this summer.  I would like to try something that has even less rest in it.  I am thinking of the dymaxion cycle.  For information or an easy to understand graph, go here.  This cycle looks to be the most extreme as it calls for four 30 minute naps a day.  That’s a total of two hours slept a day.  Hopefully that will provide a greater challenge.

Let me know what you think of these ideas!

Another Early Morning

6:16 a.m.
I am very happy this morning.  This is because not only did I get work done last night, but I also went to bed right on time and fell asleep within ten minutes.  Then this morning I got and stayed up at 5:00 a.m., which hopefully means I am back on schedule. 

I went for a run this morning so I am also excited about that.  If anyone really dislikes the heat, like I do, but they live in a climate where they will get lots of heat all day, there’s a simple step you can take to be cooler; get up earlier.  It is much much colder early in the morning.  I am extremely happy I found this out as I am a lot more comfortable for most of the day.

Beautiful sunrise in Canada

I am still not experiencing any mental or physical side effects so that’s exciting.  I have found so far that this transition has been much easier than I thought it would have been.  I have barely been overly tired at all. 

I should have another post up after 3:00 p.m.

Post Game Update

12:39 a.m.
I got back from the football game around 11:00 o’clock and I was never once tired at all.  This could be because the two friends that I went with and I were in a bit of a silly mood and we kept each other awake well enough. 

The game was enjoyable even though our somewhat home team got destroyed 44-16.  It was embarrassing but still a good time.

As promised I worked on a project tonight; one that I have been putting off for months for no real good reason.  I will post a photo of how far I am tomorrow if I can find a single camera in this house that works. 

The first play of the game!

I think when it’s said that these types of sleep cycles make you more creative, they refer to the arts that depend on a spontaneous element.  By that I mean music and sculpture or painting.  If the art however needs serious thought and preplanning (writing a novel, realistic art) it becomes much harder to do at night.  The reason I say this is because A couple nights ago I attempted to continue a story I had previously started.  My brain couldn’t continue the story fluidly and I gave up.  Tonight however, at about midnight, I worked on the visual work that should be posted soon.  I found that I was much more creative, took risks more often and added an edge that otherwise could have been omitted. In summary, I think these sleep cycles help art that relies on emotion and reaction and hinders art that is dependent upon forethought and precise requirements.

Lastly I would just like to comment on my physical and mental state.  There is nothing significant to note.  However I feel that I am more alert tonight than I was last night.

Pre Football Game

3:23 p.m.
I’m about to head out to Hamilton for the third time in three days.  Today it’s to catch a Canadian football game with my friend.  We are going to see the Tiger-cats play and I’ll be getting picked up in about ten minutes.

My afternoon rest period went fine.  Initially I was worried because it took about ten minutes to fall asleep but I eventually dozed off and only awoke to the sound of my alarm.

This morning and afternoon I started some art and I’m excited about that.  I’m considering opening another page on the blog for my artwork that I complete during this experiment.  I have heard that these sleep cycles are supposed to make you more creative.  We’ll see.

I know it doesn't look like much now but hey, I just started

Still no side effects.  I only hope that tonight and tomorrow morning go along as scheduled.

Some Bumps Along The Way

6:19 a.m.
Again I did it this morning.  I woke up at five a.m. when my alarm went off then I lied down and fell asleep until six.  Yesterday I was okay with it but today I’m frustrated.  This needs to stop as sleeping for an extra hour a day is not part of the experiment and is cheating.  Tomorrow I will have to get up and walk around like I mentioned earlier.
 
I also fell asleep half an hour early last night so that’s upsetting as well.  I guess I spoke too soon when I said that this project was going well and it was easy.  As of now, I have gotten up at the right time two of the four mornings.  I have went to bed three of the five nights.  These are not good numbers. 
  
I guess I should keep in mind that I have read that it takes ten days to fully switch over sleep cycles. This had been my goal before but I had just been thinking that it would take ten days to not be really tired in the day.  I’m not sure if they meant ten days to be able to fall asleep and get up on time.
  
I don’t want to speak too soon but it appears that the afternoon rest period is the only one that has been constant for me.  This at least, is a good sign.
  
I’m not experiencing any physical or mental side effects at this point.  I’m just frustrated with myself that I haven’t been able to stay up and then get up when I have needed to.  If you guys have any suggestions you can tweet me or let me know in the comments.

After Graduation, Before Bedtime

11:15 p.m.
And I’m back once again.  The graduation ceremony went well; the speeches were good, the auditorium was nice and the ceremony was polished.  I wasn't tired at all tonight except about five minutes during the ride home.  This is kind of expected though since I was driving in the dark. 

The city of Hamilton at night

Right now I am a tad tired but it’s barely noticable.  Hopefully this trend continues and my alertness at night increases so that I am able to get some side projects finished up.  I’m still not mentally ready to begin the other projects this late at night but I promise that tomorrow I will definitely give it a try.

As of now I feel a little worn out but that’s it.  I would kind of expect this anyway since I was around people all day and this drains my energy.  I did not think that this experiment would be so easy.

I am going to try to throw another post up tonight since it’s still relatively early for me. If not there will definitely be a post early tomorrow morning as there always is.

Pre Graduation Ceremony

2:55 p.m.
Just a quick update before I head over to my girlfriends graduation ceremony.  I had my third afternoon nap today and I think my body is starting to get the idea.  I fell asleep fairly fast and I slept well for about forty minutes until my pastor came and did some rugby drills and worked on technique with my brother and his teammate.  I fell asleep again easily though and slept until my alarm went off.
  
I didn’t feel tired this morning at any point at all so that’s good to see.  I’m thinking that if I continue to be this awake throughout the day I will try cutting out the nap and sleep for four hours at night.  This would be in the middle of the summer and if everything goes well.
  
I am completely physically and mentally fine.  My only concern at this point is staying awake and alert at night.

The Third Morning

6:43 a.m.
This morning I woke up at five o’clock on schedule but then I lied down in my bed and fell asleep to six.  I didn’t mean to do this but my body must have still been tired from last night.  It’s an odd feeling when you say to yourself that you should go to bed earlier so that you can wake up on time but then realize that you actually can’t.
  
I don’t think that this will effect the experiment that much as it was only an hour in the morning.  I am however annoyed with myself because this could have been avoided.  As soon as I turn my alarm off I should walk around the house because firstly it wouldn’t allow me to go back to bed and secondly it would probably wake me up.
  
I feel completely rested.  I missed my run this morning but I’m not entirely upset because my legs have been so sore from yesterday and the day before that.  I am however annoyed that I’ve yet to gone to the gym.  Looking it up, my runs have been about three miles and the gym is four miles.  I’ll try to run there tomorrow morning and take the bus home.  Hopefully everything goes to plan.
  
As far as my body is, everything is good.  No headaches, shakes, stomach aches, light headedness.  I feel completely fine and alert.

Post Prom Update

11:44 p.m.
That is the most tired I have been at any time for this experiment.  I had attended prom in Hamilton, Ontario and on my way home I could have easily fallen asleep within ten seconds at any given time.  I was so tired that it was a physical struggle to stay awake.  The transition from the car to being inside my home has waked me up a bit.

Earlier today I mentioned that this project was going too well and it was boring.  The struggle I believe will be at night.  Throughout the day it isn’t too challenging to stay awake because I’m doing things but at night it’s different.  I’m not up and about or working on anything.  Tonight I began to feel tired at about ten thirty.  This has been the case with the two previous nights as well.  I hope that being fully awake from ten thirty to one is something that I can achieve.

Me and my beautiful girlfriend before prom

Prom was fun.  The food was good and the people were social.  Being an introvert though, my energy was drained pretty fast and that could play a huge role in the amount of tiredness I experienced before. 

Up until ten thirty though I was completely alert and ready to go.  This will prove a big challenge to tonight.  I hope that I can stay up until one o’clock.

After My Second Afternoon Nap

2:35 p.m.
I just finished my second afternoon rest period half an hour ago.  This time I was able to fall asleep fairly quickly and woke up at the sound of the alarm.  I did get up right after the alarm went off.  I had to move this sleep block forward so that I could be ready to take my girlfriend to the prom.  Tomorrow I will have to keep the sleep period at 1:00 p.m. so that I can make her graduation ceremony.  After that I will push the nap time back an hour to its original spot.
  
What has surprised me the most is how hungry this sleep cycle is making me.  Normally I won’t have to eat too much and I won’t be hungry but my stomach constantly wants food.  I haven’t figured out an eating schedule yet either.  I just want some approximate times to base my meals around.
  
Prior to my afternoon rest I had not experienced any drowsiness whatsoever.  I was completely awake and alert.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fall asleep quickly but I guess I did.
  
I haven’t experienced any effects mentally or physically today so that is a positive sign.  So far this experiment has been much more boring than I had hoped.

Second Update of the Second Day

8:02 a.m.
This morning my body has reacted much better than yesterday.  I feel completely normal with no negative side effects.  This is exciting because I thought that I would be very tired today.  It is however still only eight in the morning so there’s lot’s of time for things to go downhill.
   
Since prom is today and I need to pick up my suit from the tailors (I know I’m cutting it close).  I need to do this around three o’clock this afternoon to have time to drive to my girlfriend’s school half an hour away.  This means that I will be taking my afternoon sleep period earlier today.  Instead of the 2:00 to 3:00 block that I’m planning on using, I will attempt to sleep from 1:00 to 2:00.  This shouldn’t make much of a difference or mess up the experiment.

My girlfriend's corsage

 
I also noticed that my journal updates are becoming smaller.  I view this as a good thing because I am just reducing it to the most important information and it is quicker for my viewers.  If you want longer posts I’m sure I can handle it, just let me know.
 
Everything is functioning as it should so that’s exciting.

Second Morning In

5:20 a.m.
I wanted to get the computer before I went to sleep last night but I couldn’t as my brother was using it.  As I said before, I felt a tiredness last night and this prevented me from continuing a story that I’m working on.  It was about ten thirty and I decided that I should be productive while I was still awake.  I tried to write but my brain was too tired and I couldn’t really come up with anything that was good quality. 

That’s when I decided to watch TV to keep me up again.  Right now I’m only using TV as a means to keep me awake until my body adjusts and I can be productive late at night.  That’s at least my hope right now.
 
It should also be noted that I fell asleep about half an hour early when I was watching Conan.  This of course wasn’t on purpose and I woke up at 1:30 then went to bed immediately.  I don’t think this will have a big impact on my sleep schedule as it was only half an hour and close to my normal sleep period anyway.
 
This morning I felt much more rested than when I woke up yesterday so that’s good to see.  My body doesn’t have any of the headache/light headedness, stomach issues or shakes that I had yesterday but that could change. 
 
I have had a banana for breakfast and I will be going for a run right now since it’s already 5:30.

The picture above is that of one of the three bunnies that I had spotted this morning on my run. I saw two within the first couple minutes and another within the last minute of my run.  I thought that they were cute so I'll include a picture of one of them here.

Evening of the First Night

9:13 p.m.
I’m reaching the evening of the first day of this experiment.  I’m surprised that my body has not been excessively tired.  When I first committed to this project I envisioned myself being close to unconscious for the first few days.  This level of unawareness could come later though but hopefully not.
  
I’m experiencing the first I’ve been a little drowsy since early this morning.  This could be because I had two slices of pizza for dinner and that would not give me any energy.  I know as of this far my eating habits have been atrocious.  My hope is that this tiredness will fade away once my body becomes used to the schedule.  Otherwise I will have to include a third rest period.  If I am forced to do this I will keep it as short as possible.  Probably thirty minutes and around eight o’clock p.m. 
  
Thankfully the mild body irritations I was experiencing this morning have not returned and that includes the shaky hands.  I will state confidently that the shakes were due to the cold I was experiencing.  Tomorrow I will wear thicker clothing in the morning and change into lighter wear once the heat kicks in. 
  
Everything so far is going well.  I just hope my body doesn’t react too badly in the next few days.

P.s. Prom is actually tomorrow night.  This won’t effect the experiment too much if at all.

After My First Afternoon Rest Period

3:01 p.m.
The first mid day nap did not go well.  I went to bed ten minutes before two to give my body some time to prepare to sleep.  I think I had dozed off or was at least close to sleeping when the phone rang.  Five times.  My mom was phoning at twenty after two but I wasn’t able to get the phone on the fifth ring. She phoned again later at three because there has apparently been a mix up with the dates for prom.   
 
After the phone call at 2:20 I couldn’t fall asleep though I did rest.  I hope that this is enough to get me to one o’clock tonight.  We’ll see.
 
So far the adjustment has not been bad at all which is a good thing for me.  Talking to my girlfriend though she believes the third day will be the hardest.  This makes sense as the body will be getting increasingly tired with so little rest.  My perhaps unrealistic hope though is that I maintain this level of tiredness (I’m barely tired at all) throughout the entire adjustment period.
 
I’m not sure if I commented again but the headache, light headedness and stomach issues all went away by noon.  It’s going pretty well so far.

Second Post of the First Day

9:10 a.m.
It feels extremely odd that I have been up for four hours and normally I would have been just getting started in my first class at school.  As of now it feels that I have opened my whole day up and I have an endless amount of time to do whatever I please.  So far I have read, set up the blog, and watched an episode of criminal minds (I dozed off for the last ten minutes).  I have been very lazy for four hours but the thing is it’s only nine o’clock in the morning; I still have my whole day ahead of me, except of course for one nap.
  
As I mentioned before, I dozed off for no more then ten minutes.  I wouldn’t be so concerned about this except I am not tired at all.  This is bad news because from about 7:00 until 8:20 I was extremely drowsy resulting in me resting for a few moments.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stay up until 2 o’clock on the first day.  Even if when switching sleep cycles you’re not supposed to be able to stay up for the nine or ten hours after the first night I count this as a loss.
 
The last thing to note is my hunger.  Normally I have dinner at around six or seven then don’t eat until breakfast twelve hours later.  That is pretty average for human’s eating habits. What I thought would happen was that my body wouldn’t get hungry until seven in the morning and I could continue to have three meals a day.  This is not the case.  Even though I had steak last night at six, I was extremely hungry at 5 a.m. today.  And since about seven I have been starving.  That’s why I am about to make some eggs for my second breakfast. I also had a banana at around six thirty but I’m counting that as my first breakfast.  It appears right now that I will have to eat about five meals a day with smaller portions.  The approximate times they would happen would be about 5:00, 7:30/8:00, noon, 6:00 and 10:00.  I don’t mind this new meal schedule at all and if I remember correctly, many smaller meals is actually much healthier.
  
I’m wide awake and alert which concerns me because of my ten minute nap.  I am also very hungry.  My mental state appears to be fine (maybe skittish) but I just noticed now as I’m typing that my hands are shaking.  I could attribute that to the fact that I’m slightly cold even with a cardigan on.
  
I thought about changing into pants because I was cold earlier (I never experienced being awake on purpose that early before). However, I decided against it not wanting to change outfits multiple times a day.  I think that I may have to wear pants and sweaters in the morning then change into shorts and t-shirts around noon or before my second rest period. 
  
I should have another update after three o’clock.

Morning After the First Night

6:09 a.m. June 26, 2012
Running sucks.  I thought that it would be a good way to start the day and it was.  That doesn’t change that it sucks.  I woke up at 5:00 a.m. right on schedule and was going to go for a run right away but it was still too dark.  Instead I had breakfast and waited half an hour.  Do not eat cheerio’s minutes before you go for any kind of run.  That’s an important lesson.
  
This morning when I awoke I did not feel rested at all.  I slept for nearly the entire 1 to 5 time-period with a little trouble at the start just because my body hasn’t had the need to fall asleep right away.  Nevertheless, I guess that I fell asleep with twenty minutes after 1 o’clock.  However, when I woke up I felt like I hadn’t gotten any rest at all.  This was not a problem until just now as my head is starting to feel a little funny.   It has a tinge of a headache and my head almost feels light headed.  I don’t quite feel myself this morning, (I had developed a bit of a sore throat a few days ago.  The physical senses being a little off might be a direct cause of having a small cold).
  
Last night it felt very odd making myself stay up until one o’clock when my body was telling me to go to sleep.  I watched the daily show, the Colbert Report and Conan.  Upon telling my girlfriend that I was in the midst of watching these, in all her subtly she texted me, “Ohhh so this sleep cycle will give you lots more time to watch tv.”  This was not my intention; to watch more TV.  I had just watched these shows to keep me up last night.  However, she raised a question that I had to mull over; “What am I going to do with all the extra time?”  I will attempt to finish as many side projects as I can.  These include unfinished paintings, short stories, books I’ve yet to read and other small undertakings.  So I guess that’s my goal; to have more time to complete more things.
  
It is now that I feel my stomach not agreeing with something.  Was it the cheerio’s before my morning run? Quite possibly.  It also could be messing around with me since I am messing around with my body.  I will comment later.
  
I guess I had not told my parents about this sleep cycle as both asked me at separate times this morning why I was up.  They showed some interest that I am starting a sleep cycle.  I am glad that I did not wake anyone up today though as the alarm went off for a couple minutes and the shower was turned on before six o’clock.
  
Looking back I realize that I have not disclosed my actual schedule.  It is simple and is as follows: 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. is sleeping time.  2 p.m. to 3p.m. is also sleeping time.  That’s all for now.  If I decide to include other activities in my schedule such as my morning runs or yard work I will write it down.
  
I have done minimal research so my hope is that the afternoon sleeping period is very flexible. I mean that some days I can start it at twelve and go to one or start it later at four or five.  If I have to rest at one o’clock everyday then this experiment becomes very restricting.
  
After the first night my body feels off and uncomfortable.  My eyes feel as if I have just woken up an hour and a half after I woke up.  My stomach feels funny and my head isn’t doing too well either.  Last night was a bit of a challenge to stay awake and I don’t feel rested.  I feel as if I am running off of four hours of sleep (makes sense).  As of now I am very much looking forward to my afternoon nap.

Preview for Things to Come

5:42 p.m.
Tonight’s the night.  I’m not too excited but I am a little hesitant.  I only had three exams this semester as I had a spare during one period.  My last exam was this morning, it was a geography course; resource management.  I’m starting the experiment so shortly after my school year because I’m afraid of putting it off too long as teenagers are prone to do.  I also don’t see the point in procrastinating when this can be started as early as possible.
  
At this point I have two main concerns.  The first is that my phone only allows me to set one alarm at a time.  That means that I will have to change the alarm twice daily.  Being forgetful doubled with the fact that I will be extremely tired I am worried that I might sleep through a rest period and destroy the trial up to that point.  I looked for cooking timers but we don’t have any in my house.  I will attempt to use my phone’s alarm.  I only see this as a threat for the first week because I hope that my body will become accustomed to the schedule and I will be able to fall asleep faster.
  
That leads into my second concern; falling asleep.  I’m naturally not able to go to sleep quickly, whether it’s due to too much natural sugar in the evening or I haven’t trained my body well enough I’m not sure.  Where it becomes real concerning is now that in southern Canada we are getting into the actual heat of summer this could create a discomfort that I won’t easily overcome and sleep.  I do not like heat and much prefer winter to summer.  If the heat continues (the forecast as of 5:48 p.m. is high 20’s and low 30’s for the rest of the week), I may not be able to fall asleep as fast as needed.  This is the lesser concern because I feel that since I’m going to be staying up until one o’clock, my body will be so exhausted it will fall asleep quickly, (my normal bedtime is 10:30). 
  
I’m strangely not concerned about how this experiment will effect my everyday schedule.  I won’t be doing much this summer, mostly yard and house work.  I will however be playing with my church’s band on Tuesday nights and performing on Sunday mornings.  Hopefully I will not be musically limited by the lack of rest I will be getting.
  
I also have a beautiful girlfriend that unfortunately lives half an hour away.  This could pose a problem if we are together for the entire day or at the very least it would create awkward or uncomfortable situations.  That reminds me though that I need to check with her to make sure we are on the same page with the sleep cycle.  I mentioned it to her previously but she may not have thought that I was going to take it seriously (I have many side projects with few completed).  She may be upset that I am starting now since her prom is on Thursday, three days from today.  I may be reporting back on this situation but if I don’t everything went smoothly.
  
Lastly, I should mention my habits and physical shape.  I am a six foot male that weighs 185 pounds who is a little concerned about the amount of fat I have put on recently.  I will be attending a gym hopefully six times a week to work out in preparation for football season.  I have an average diet, which is to say on the unhealthy side.  I have been trying to eat less meat and more veggies lately.  I think I should include what I am eating in this experiment.  Today I had nothing for breakfast (I usually do have breakfast), two hotdogs for lunch and I just had a sugar filled ice tea as I was writing this.  I have never taken drugs, I haven’t had alcohol in a year and I have taken a puff of a cigarette once.  I don’t plan on consuming any of those within the time frame of the experiment.  Now I’m a little excited.

The Basics

June 3
I’m going to sleep for five and a half hours a day. This is called the Biphasic cycle and is the one that I will be using.  I decided on this one because it takes the least amount of will power of all the sleep cycles except of course for the mono-phase, which is by far the most common sleep cycle ever. 
  
What surprised me a few months ago is that there are many alternatives to the common eight hours of sleep a night.  The only other cycle I had heard of was the Uberman; 20 or 30 minute naps six times a day.  I dismissed this because like most people, it’s not realistic for me.  I go to school and play football.  I cannot take naps throughout the day, it’s just not accepted.  Could you imagine if I said to my coach “could you just let me sit out for this set of drills; I need to catch up on my sleep.” Laughter from my teammates and disbelief from my coach would ensue.  The Everyman cycle involves a three hour nap added with three half hour naps while the Dymaxion cycle is four thirty minute naps throughout the day.  These have all been tried successfully before. 
  
I decided to nix those cycles and attempt the biphasic for one main reason; schedule.  I will be returning to high school in the fall for my last year.  As mentioned before, I can’t depend on another cycle throughout a school year.  This isn’t realistic.  The Biphasic cycle allows me to sleep at night, like everyone else but gives me an extra few hours during the day by adding a one and a half hour nap shortly after lunch.  I plan to achieve this be using a spare (period without a class) to catch up on my rest.  Whether this nap is done by going home or by finding a place within my school, (Brantford Collegiate Institute) I’m not sure yet.  I will decide when the time comes.
  
I have decided to structure this experiment or hopefully book by setting it up as a journal.  Experts have said that it takes ten days for one’s body to accept a new sleep cycle.  Throughout these days I will be writing down how my body and mind react to such a trial.  I will also keep journaling during the summer months as long as there is something significant to write down.  I will also examine how my school year is performed.  I imagine that there will be much to read about during the first month of this experiment, not much in the middle as my body has fully adjusted and then much again to read about as I have to adapt to the school year. 
  
I’m exciting to try this experiment as I have seen that those who try this have become more creative without any negative side effects.  If this experiment is performed    successfully I hope to someday set a sleep cycle revolution, if you will, in place.  This is to allow people the opportunity to use a different cycle without being prejudiced against.
  
I’ll use my Blackberry to set off alarms to keep me on schedule.  That said, you will not hear from me again for at least two or three weeks (until exams are over).