Today marks the end of my first week of biphasic sleep. Compared to my attempt at the everyman sleep pattern, this week has been wonderful!
A lot of people have said that after 1 week of sleeping on this pattern that they feel fully adapted. I still don't feel 100% alert, and I doubt I am adapted yet. I think there are a couple of reasons for this.
The first reason is that I think I am still slightly sleep deprived from my everyman attempt. I have already had a couple of 6 hour sleeps, and I think I will probably have another one tonight in an attempt to shake off the lingering tiredness.
The second reason is that my naps have really been all over the place! I have tried napping at lunch time, after work, after dinner, in the evening, with Yu Lee, on my own... Basically I have tried a lot of things but not settled on anything yet. Yu Lee decided today that she is not going to continue napping, and is just going to continue getting up early with me, so I think next week my naps will be more consistent. I plan to take my naps some time after work, and hopefully if I take them at the same time each day my body will get used to them and I will have less trouble sleeping.
I have been keeping a log of how I have felt at each hour throughout the day, using the same scale as for my everyman attempt. Here is a reminder of the scale:
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | I give up |
| 1 | Microsleeps. Feeling like falling asleep when doing physical activity such as walking. |
| 2 | I could sleep at my desk by accident whilst trying to type something if I'm not careful. Occasional microsleeps a possibility |
| 3 | Uncomfortable (extremely tired) / very sleepy. Even just sitting down is uncomfortable and/or I have to fight off sleep constantly |
| 4 | Very Tired – I could fall asleep in less than a minute. Programming is impossible or at least very difficult |
| 5 | Reading would make me fall asleep or feel really sleepy |
| 6 | I could read without sleeping but it would make me feel drowsy |
| 7 | Normal Monday afternoon after missing a few hours sleep on Sunday night |
| 8 | Slightly Tired (definitely don't feel like I could fall asleep). Normally I would feel like this at about 8:00pm – 9:00pm |
| 9 | Normal Awake |
| 10 | Better than normal |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 02/09/12 | 03/09/12 | 04/09/12 | 05/09/12 | 06/09/12 | 07/09/12 | 08/09/12 | |
| 00:00 | Asleep | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | Asleep |
| 01:00 | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep |
| 02:00 | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep |
| 03:00 | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep |
| 04:00 | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep | Asleep |
| 05:00 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 06:00 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| 07:00 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| 08:00 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 09:00 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| 10:00 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| 11:00 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| 12:00 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 13:00 | Asleep | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | Asleep |
| 14:00 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| 15:00 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| 16:00 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 17:00 | 8 | Asleep | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| 18:00 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| 19:00 | 7 | 8 | 8 | Asleep | 7 | Asleep | 7 |
| 20:00 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| 21:00 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | Asleep | 7 | 6 |
| 22:00 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| 23:00 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Mean: | 7.28 | 6.53 | 6.60 | 6.47 | 7.05 | 6.58 | 7.17 |