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.

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.

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.

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.

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).