Lessons Learned

In no particular order: 

1. Idleness leads to sleep!
2. If I stay in the house after midnight, I'm likely to fall asleep simply because the environment is too comfortable. Even video games will not keep me awake!
3. Around 4am I will face a devastating level of fatigue and lethargy. I must be prepared for it, or I will fail.
4. As Stephan Johne said in his comment in this post, eating too much is a serious impediment to the adoption of the Powiull schedule. 
5. Sitting down on the bus or train when sleep deprived is dangerous in the 2 hours preceding nap time. 
6. Having to engage in intellectual activity whilst adapting to the Powiull Schedule will make the adaption more difficult to bear. 

Another attempt I recorded

Day 1
04:11 - Feeling really tired now. Had a choc bar and packet of crisps about 15-20 mins ago. I was feeling find then. Now I'm feeling really tired... I'm on Oxford Street. This is the thing keeping me awake or I'd be in bed by now. Eye lids are heavy.

04:30 -been staggering down Oxford Street. My body wanted to go to sleep, but I kept walking. I've now got a second wind.

04:45 - in a 24 hour internet cafe. I'm drifting off to sleep. I will leave soon.

05:00 - I left the cafe and was essentially sleep walking for about 5-10 mins. It felt very weird. I could feel myself walking but my mind was in a semi-unconscious state... I had no idea where I was going. I couldn't really even SEE where I was going. I was just going. I actually bumped into a telephone box on Charing Cross Road. Thankfully, it was my right shoulder that hit the telephone box and not my head! When the collision happened, I was jolted out of the my sleepy state.

05:30 - I've arrived home. When I was on the bus, on my way home, I sat down on the bus seat aware of the possibility that I might sleep again. Yet, because at the time I felt relatively awake, I thought I would be ok. I should have known better. I fell asleep for around 15 mins. I luckily woke up at the correct bus stop.

06:45 - I've been playing video games since I arrived back home. I'm engrossed iin the game, and haven't felt tired (probably because I slept on the bus!).

07:00 Nap - mum woke me up from nap. Took a bath straight afterwards. May have slept for about 10 mins in the bath!

Cycle 1 complete  
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I survived to the second night - but failed eventually, due to the fact that I relied on my brothers to keep me awake! They were in the sitting room at 2 am in the morning. I was in my bedroom playing a videogame to keep me awake. But I remember stopping and lying back in my chair just to have a little rest! Big mistake! IDLE-NESS LEADS TO SLEEP if that idleness is taking place in a comfortable environment and you are sleep deprived!

The Story so far...

I'm really really sorry guys for the gap in posts! I didn't have access to a PC on the weekend of the 12th November due to my being at my girlfriend's place. Saturday (13th November) was Day 3, and it didn't end well. Here are the notes I made:

Day 3
14:51 - Feeling tired. Yawning. And a fog of tiredness has just entered my brain. I'm on the train so I better stand up before I fall asleep.

15:51 - I'm trying to read some book on statistics, but my brain won't assimilate the information. Every time I try to understand, there is a fog of mental fatigue that immediately passes over my head area. Thisis making it impossible to read without falling asleep. I'm going to avoid studying for now... But I'll use this as a test of full adaptation.

19:00 - took a nap at 19:06. I didn't want to get up 30 mins later.

* EDIT: I took my nap at my girlfriend's place

I accidentally slept again! It lasted from 22:00 - 00:00! It then happened again from 05:00 - 09:35.

Both cases were due to the fact that I was with my girlfriend!

My girlfriend and I discussed this, and we both agreed that there was no way I'd be able to adapt being around her place. Additionally, she's told me that can't handle seeing me go through the pain of sleep deprivation. The bloodshot eyes, the tired face, the headaches, the long periods of me not saying anything etc... it's all too much for her. So we've agreed that I won't visit until 3 - 4 weeks have passed, which is the time I need to really get a handle on this schedule. I didn't start again until Monday November 15th.

Monday 15th November Restart Day 1
There was nothing special to report during the day. The attempt officially started at 7am on Monday morning. Well, there was almost nothing to report, except that, after being awake for 20 hours, at around 3am I crashed and woke up 6:45!

The reason is that I didn't listen to my body. I had prior warnings that I was feeling tired and that I needed to act by taking a walk or a douse or something. However, I didn't listen. I just continued playing my game. I remember being ok for a while after the initial warning... maybe an hour. But then all I remember is waking up in my room hours later. (I was playing video games in my brother's room on his new hd tv, so I must have got up, walked to my room, sat down on the chair and slept).

Remedy:

1) Just like Nick said in a previous email to me, I have to act whenever the signs of sleep deprivation arises and not a minute after.
2) Another option is to leave the house between the hours of 2am and 6:45 am, the hours I find most difficult to stay awake in (unless someone is awake with me). I can go to central London which is only 40 minutes away by bus and relax at an internet cafe... or go to Bar Italia -  a 24 hour restaurant, which also resides in central London. For now, this will remain just an option, until I deem it a necessary step to take.



Tuesday 16th November Restart Day 2
11:12 - starting to feel tired. But nothing major. Slightly sore eyes. And there's a slight ache in the front region of my brain.

13:36 - still feeling slightly tired. But the fresh air is doing me good.

14:34 - still feeling a bit tired. It's hard to work like this with this nagging ache of tiredness in my head. It's a lot easier when you don't have to think.

14:43 - the sore eyes and aches have increased in intensity. I'm now beginning to develop cold like symptoms (runny nose and sneezing).

17:43 a headache is developing on the left side of the my head.

17:57 - on the train heading to my parent's house. I'm feeling quite sleepy. But I won't fall asleep. Need to get out by 2am now on daily basis for at least 2 weeks, or at least until I've adapted.

I can feel the headache increasing in intensity.

18:41 - headache gone after eating a fish o filet and French fries. So the headache was due to a lack of food and water as opposed to being caused by a little lack of sleep. Interesting.

00:18 - headache is back on the left side of my head

03:23 - playing video games with my younger brother.

06:50 - I was having so much fun playing my brother that when my brother told me it was almost seven o'clock, I didn't believe him.

07:00 - took my nap. Woke up on time. I didn't really feel tired.

Wednesday 17th November Restart Day 2

It's 13:12. I've got a slight headache and my eyes are slightly sore. The ache in my head is related to sleep deprivation. There is a knowing, that if I just go to bed and have a lie down, all this pain would go away, but I refuse to entertain this suggestion for long.

13:40 - headache has intensified.

14:17 - I'm feeling really tired now.

15:37 - headache is still present.

15:47 - sleep dep symptoms intensifying. It's impossible to do my job while like this! Sore eyes, aching temple, and there's a mental fog over my brain which is preventing me from taking anything in mentally in.

02:20 - feeling good. I'm finding myself eating too much though.

Thursday 18th November Restart Day
08:55 - overslept again. I found myself in the chair at 06:55. I then took the  nap at 07:00. This has now happened two days in a row. I'm going to eliminate the possibility of this happening by staying outside the house after midnight. I'll return home as late as possible - 06:30 perhaps.

18:18 - feeling slightly tired. Nap time soon. I'm going to leave the house tonight at around 1am. It's the only way to stop myself oversleeping.

02:25 - I'm on my way to central London. I'm on a bus 176 heading towards Leicester square. I was feeling tired before I stepped out the house. The fresh air has revitalised me somewhat

05:04 - I'm in trafalgar square. I've been walking for over 2 hours now. While my legs are tired, my mind is wide awake. If I had been at home playing games, eventually I would have fallen asleep, of this I am sure.I'm coming here evey night til I adapt. I'm gonna head back home now.

05:44 - slept for about 25 mins on the bus! I sat down on the seat and just snoozed! Next time I have to be careful...

05:58 - it's really interesting that when I step outside the bus, my mind is wide awake. But as soon as I sit down on a seat in the bus my mind beginst to fall asleep again!

06:06 - I'm on the bus back home again. I've yawned three times in the last two minutes. As I look at my reflection in the mirror I see that I don't look good. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that I look worse than usual ;). There are bags under my red eyes.

06:20 - Just got home. Mind is awake. 40 mins left til nap time.

07:00 Nap - took my nap at the correct time and woke up at the correct time thanks to my mum. (I thought I had set my alarm correctly but it didn't go off. Luckily my mum made sure I was awake. I looked again at the alarm I had set and saw that it was set for 7:30pm!

Friday 19th November

11:54 - ok, I feel quite crap now. I'm currently at work typing out some documentation and I am unable to think straight. Reading is difficult. Every time I read, my eyelids start to get heavy.

11:54 - I think I just lost consciousness for a split second. I'm struggling to keep awake.

17:47 - heading home from work now. I struggled to continue work over an hour ago . My head felt sore and productive thinking was very difficult. Sore eyes and goggy brain are the most sever symptoms I'm experiencing right now. I feel that if I'm not careful I'm going to sleep on the train....

00:07 - I fell asleep on the train for about 15 mins! Had my nap at 19:00 and alarm woke me up 30 mins later.

Right now I'm feeling ok. Was feeling tired a minute ago but I quickly ate some chips. Will leave the premises about 1am-2am.


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That's where the recording stops.

There were a few more attempts that didn't go well due to some mistake I made or another.

Day 1 and Day 2

When I post on my experiences, they are copied straight over from the note pad I wrote them on. These experiences are written in note form, and thus my sentences will not necessarily be grammatically correct.

Day 1

Day 1 was pretty uneventful until 04:45 in the morning of the following day, when I sat on the couch and found myself waking up at 06:45. Yes 2 hours oversleep. I took the nap at 07:00 anyway though. But because I had already slept for 2 hours, it wasn't difficult to wake up from.

Day 2

13:16 - Starting to feel really tired now. Just ate some salad. Brain feels tired. Eyes feel slightly sore. I'm yawning frequently. I'm currently in my work place. This is the first instance of tiredness I've felt today.

19:00 - Took nap. Didn't really get to sleep.

01:40 ish - Took caffeine pills.

02:20 - I'm feeling ok now. Faced increasing tiredness and weariness. I experienced a significant increase in energy after bowel movement.

03:00 - Felt really tired again for a second. Splashed cold water on my face and the tiredness disappeared.

03:34 - I was just slipping into sleep, could feel my eyelids closing, and my body falling... before being jerked awake by my body (due to the falling sensation) - this happened three times. I got up and splashed my face with cold water. I feel ok now.
05:16 - I'm fully awake at the moment. Was falling asleep about 45 mins ago, but my brother was awake and I managed to stay wide awake by facing him in various Streetfighter IV battles on the Xbox. I lost most of the battles though. Damn.

05:55 - I'm getting a bit tired now. But I'll be able to stay awake til 7 this time no doubt due to caffeine.

06:30 - Feeling really tired!

07:00 nap - I sat on the sofa at 07:06 and napped for 30 mins. My mum got me up and kicked me out the house (thanks mum!). I walked out and only completed half of the pre-defined journey before the thought popped into my head, "You don't need to complete the rest of the route! Go home!" Not realising that I was still dazed, I went along with this thought, (I didn't really have any choice - the thought appeared and I just saw myself go along with it), walked back home and sat on the sofa at probably around 07:50. I blinked, and an hour went by. It was 08:50! I slept whilst in the sofa!

Thoughts:
I think it's time to shake things up a little.

The Powiull Schedule - 3rd Time Lucky?

Hey guys,

Sorry for the long hiatus. Alot has happened between the last attempt and the time of this writing. I won't bore you with the details, but these events have made long term adaptation to the Powiull schedule almost impossible. However, here I am, talking to you guys, which means that the third attempt at the Powiull Sleep Schedule is already underway!

I woke up at 06:15 yesterday morning (10th November) , and I'm making that the official start time of this attempt. It's now 00:31 according to my computer and so I've got just under six and a half hours to go to my next nap.

I'm not going to ease my way into the Powiull sleep schedule (through first adopting a Dymaxion sleep schedule) like I did before. Instead, I'm going to adapt to the Powiull schedule straight away. Thus, my nap times are no longer at 1am, 7am, 1pm and 7pm. They are now at 7am and 7pm only.

Given that I woke up at 06:15, I didn't bother taking a nap at 07:00. I didn't take a nap at 19:00 either because I would not have been able to fall asleep. So by the time I reach my first nap, I would have been awake more than 24 hours.

My naps will take place on my living room sofa when possible. I'll be staying with my parents through my adaptation, and my mother will wake me up at the specified times (07:30 and 19:30). She will then promptly kick me out the house, and I will walk (or jog) along a predefined route. This walk will be followed by a head douse (i.e. I will dip my head in a bucket of cold water).

I will give you a daily update of my progress.

Days 4, 5 and the end...

Hey.

Sorry for the hiatus. I haven't had access to my laptop for a few days. Here's my post for Day 4:
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Day 4 – 5th October

All morning and afternoon naps were fine.

21:45 – Feeling slightly tired now. Eating some grapes seems to have relieved some of that.

23:04 – Eyes are feeling really tired now. Trying to read but I’ll fall asleep if I read any further. Time to play video games.

01:00 Nap – Success!
I woke up from my nap, went outside and walked for about 5 mins. I then walked back again, eating food I had purchased from a McDonald’s drive through. The key thing was walking for a long enough time period for the tiredness to pass. The real test though will be whether I can do this repeatedly. I look forward to seeing this.

03:04 – I’m watching a film.  Eyes are slightly sore, but that’s about it. This really shouldn’t be day 4. But anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

04:09 – Eyes are still slightly sore, and pinkish red in colour.

06:02 – Just felt a shot of well being/happiness rise up spontaneously and pass through my body. The thought that went along with it was, “Yes! You’ve completed a full day on Dymaxion!” Let’s hope this continues.

I now need to clean up my sister’s living room, before she beats me up.

06:27 – I have a lot of energy right now. I’ve got a CD playing out loud from my (sister’s) xbox and here I am dancing and humming along to it.
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But the happiness didn't last long, because at 1am the following day (Day 5) I took my nap, and didn't wake up til hours later. Failure!

So I decided to rest for a few days, and think about my approach.

My first attempt lasted 9 days. The physical presence of my sister on most naps, and the use of caffeine to help me through the period between 1:30am - 7:00am, helped me to get that far I think. My failure was due to the absence of an activity to keep my mind occupied on the 9th night.

My second attempt, as I'm sure you've read about in these posts, didn't really get started. The absence of the physical presence of my sister, (she wasn't able to physically be there for me in this attempt, although she was able to make phone calls), meant that I found it difficult, nigh on impossible, to wake up and stay awake from my 1am nap.

So I flopped.

This attempt at adopting the Powiull schedule is finished.

But it isn't completely over...

Days 1 - 3 Mistakes Galore

DAY 1 - 2nd October 2011

07:45 – It begins.

13:00 Nap – Woke up feeling rather normal. This is to be expected. Did my routine. Immediately left the house. Didn’t jog though. I walked to Asda. Did some food shopping. Went back home. Stripped naked and carried out a cold water douse in the bath. It took me a minute to get over the thoughts of “I don’t want to do this douse!”

17:14 – I’m feeling rather normal. Heading off to my parents’ place now and will likely take my 7pm nap there. I’ve got to be careful – whenever I take a nap at my parents’ place, I tend to oversleep because I nap on my bed… Not this time. I’m prepared.

19:00 Nap – This nap wasn’t good at all. I slept on the floor, but I didn’t really get to sleep as the floor space I occupied was small. Most of the 30 mins was spent by me moving around, back and forth, trying to find a comfortable position. However, when the alarm sounded, I got out of the house, walked around the block, came back in, and got some food.

23:30 – Oh my God I felt like crap for about an hour. The bout of tiredness was concentrated in my head area – signifying to me that it wasn’t physical, but purely mental. I tried washing my face with cold water, but that didn’t work. I was at my parents’ place so I didn’t want to do a cold water douse. I was talking with my brother at the time and he was asking me to formulate a sentence that he could write in a document, and you know what? I couldn’t do it. My brain was just too tired. At one point I had my knees on the floor and my head was resting on my arms which in turn were crossed on the seat of a chair. I knew I wouldn’t fall asleep because my brother was present – but it was a struggle. As soon as an hour passed – it disappeared! Now I’m fine and can move around again!

00:12 – starting to feel mentally tired again. Eyelids feel slightly heavy and there’s this fog over my brain clouding my thinking. My nap can’t come soon enough!

01:00 Nap – Oversleep!

I was at my parents’ house for this nap and I overslept by 3 hours, waking up at 04:33! The plan was to wake up, get my stuff, and go to my sisters’ place, (where the Xbox 360 and other games are). What actually happened was that the alarm sounded, I got up from the floor, sat in the comfy sofa, switched off the phone alarm and texted my sister that I was awake.  After this, I seem to have gone back to sleep, because the next minute I looked at my phone, it was 04:33!

This could have been avoided if I had simply followed the routine of: immediately leaving the premises once the alarm sounds; going for a jog or something and then coming back. But instead, I planned to grab my stuff on awakening and get my things ready to leave for my sister's place. As a result, I overslept. This is a lesson: always stick to the routine. Do NOT switch off the alarm. Do NOT text. Just get out of the house. That’s it. Get out of the house. I have to tell my sister to ignore my texts from now on.

It’s now 05:34.

 

DAY 2 - 3rd October 2011

07:00 Nap Had nap at my parent’s place. Got up straight away and went outside the house for a walk, at which point my sister phoned to check I was awake. We talked for about 5 mins and then said our goodbyes. 

09:44 – I’m late for work! Right now, I’m on the train to Victoria Station in London. Eyes feel slightly drowsy but nothing major.

13:00 Nap – Missed!

I completely missed my 1pm nap. This will probably have consequences later on.

15:30 – Eyes are feeling drowsy and there’s a slight mental fog over my brain. I was reading a document on statistics explaining the intuition behind Principle Components Analysis. Everything was fine when I read this during the morning hours. But as of 10 mins ago, my brain just got tired and didn’t want to tackle any more theory. There is no physical tiredness present.

15:34 – Eyes have become more drowsy and I’ve now begun to yawn. Mental fog has increased. There is a desire to take a nap right now. But I won’t. As I write this, I’m sitting on a train heading to my parents’ place.  

15:45 – Struggling to stay awake. Keep putting my heads in my hands and/or leaning back in my seat, which I know from experience is my own personal involuntary response to serious levels of tiredness. But I’m on the train so I can’t do jumping jacks without feeling embarrassed, nor can I take a douse. I’ve just got to sit it out.

16:41 – The feeling of tiredness has largely gone. I’m feeling ok now.

19:00 Nap – This nap wasn’t very good. It was interrupted for a minute by a phone call at 19:10, and most of the nap saw me turning back and forth. (I was on the floor). At one point during the nap however, I felt my body suddenly straighten and my mind went into a kind of focused zone like state. A wave of well-being passed over my body for about 2 mins before fading away. When the alarm sounded I got up immediately and left the house. I went for a walk outside and spoke to my girlfriend for about 45 mins outside. I got back inside and ate some food.

21:30 – Feeling a bit sick. But this is not due to the sleeping schedule – I think it's something to do with something I ate. But it’s nothing major.

01:00 - Oversleep!

DAY 3 - 4th October 2011

08:55 – I woke up feeling tired from my nap. I got up immediately, left the premises, and took the lift downstairs (I was at my sister’s place). My sister phoned me as I left the building. I told her I was awake and outside the building. We said our goodbyes. I walked for 15 secs away from the building and then turned back thinking, “That’s enough”. But I was still tired. I went back upstairs and into my room. I got some food, egg fried rice and peas which my sister had cooked earlier. I sat down on the sofa, and began to eat. Whilst eating, I felt myself blacking out, the grips of tiredness was getting to me. But the thought in my tired mind at the time was,” If I continue to eat this food and finish it, I’ll be fine.”  Well I finished it, and I wasn’t fine. I blinked. And when I opened my eyes, 2 and a half hours had passed. It was 04:33. And I was still sitting in the sofa. But that’s not the end of it.

I was still tired when I woke up, and I had what seemed like a great idea of going to the bedroom and relaxing on the bed. The bed was perfectly made, and perfectly inviting. “Just relax for a little while,” my mind said. And dutifully, in my semi-unconscious state, I obliged the thought. I woke up 2 hours later at 06:30.

Thoughts: The past two days have been interesting. Both days I’ve failed to stay up during the night. On the first night I couldn’t get out the house. I woke up, texted my sister that I was awake. And then fell asleep, whilst sitting up, on the couch. So I changed the strategy. I asked my sister to phone REGARDLESS of whether I texted her that I was awake or not. This solved the problem of me not getting out the house.

But what I didn’t realise, which now seems blindingly obvious, is that it’s not enough to just get out the house. What is necessary is that I wait for (or somehow invoke) the second wind.

There are two ways I can think of right now to do that. The first method involves doing what I did last time when I reached 9 days of adaptation – namely, using caffeine. After you wake up from your nap, or even better, at the point  immediately preceding your nap, you simply drink coffee or take a caffeine pill. This will take under 60 minutes to kick in. In my previous attempt, I did this after my 1 am naps only because I knew I would struggle otherwise. 

The second method is to stay outside and not go back inside until the second wind has arrived. Nick and I discussed this via email. His experience is that if you manage to keep yourself up long enough, the second wind WILL come, guaranteed – and the maximum time it will take to arrive is 1 hour.

Anyway. I know method 1 works. But I want to try method 2. I want to see if I can do this completely naturally with no artificial aids at all. So tonight, after my 1am nap, and all other naps from now on, the minimum I will do is stay outside until the second wind arrives. I’ll walk, maybe jog or run, I’ll go to Asda and peruse the store… whatever. I’m not stepping back inside my house until the second wind comes. Let’s see how this pans out. If I find I can’t do this, I’ll simply resort to method 1.

13:00 Nap – I took this nap at 13:15 as I got home late. I woke up, grabbed my bag and left the premises to go back to work. This was no trouble at all.

19:00 Nap – I didn’t really fall asleep and I wasn’t really that tired when I woke up. However, I got up, left the premises, went for a walk around the grass patch until I felt I was fresh enough to go back inside without falling asleep. But again, there was no severe tiredness, so it was easy to do this. I’m feeling rather normal right now. The big test lies in my next nap.

01:00 Nap – Oversleep!

06:30 - Looks like another failure. I got out the house. I walked around the block, and went back when I felt I was awake enough to do so. But when I got home, I just lay down on the bed… and again, woke up 3 hours later. The question is, did the second wind really arrive – I thought at the time I was pretty much awake, so my mind said, "There's no need to walk so far! Just turn back and go home". 

Thoughts:

This never happened to me on my previous attempt, which happened quite recently. In some ways, I don’t think the previous attempt has really ended – which explains why the 1am nap has been quite difficult to get through, even on my first day. If I was truly on Day 1 or Day 2, from a fresh start, I wouldn’t have found it so difficult to get through them…

 Perhaps I need a week of full rest before I attempt this schedule again?

However, for now, I’m going to go back to what I know works.

Yes. Method 1.

And I will supplement this with cold water douses as a necessary activity immediately following my return to the premises, on all but the 1pm nap (because I have to quickly get back to work).  

As always, the test of the robustness of this method, will be proved in the aftermath of the 1am nap.