Fell asleep around 3:30 am, woke up around 8:00. I've been averaging about 4.5 hours core this week. I'll try to get it down to a consistent three hour core by next week. Homework and activities will start picking up then, so I'll want more free time.
I've discovered that I'm usually running <50% for the first hour or so after core sleep. I figure it's part of adaptation; that's when I'm in most danger of falling back asleep. I need to physically get out of bed when the alarm goes off (no checking my e-mail in bed like I did this summer!). Huzzah for willpower -- let's see how well it holds up in a week.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Everyman, Day 5
Went to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 am (was talking with a friend into the wee hours of the morning) and woke up shortly before ten. Meant to take nap around noon, but it turned into 1.5 hours of core. Everything else was quite normal. I'm not nearly as tired as I'd have expected to be at this point; I think I won't even hit the low point until sometime after this weekend.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Everyman, Day 4
I've learned my lesson: never take naps after my roommate goes to bed, which is about 11:00 pm. (The reason this roommate relationship works is the curtain dividing the room. More about that later.) There is an extremely high probability that the nap will turn into core sleep. I woke up at 9:00 this morning thinking "why the devil is there that much sunlight coming through the window?" I'd tried to take a nap around 3:00. Not good.
Instead, I will now do it like this: a nap in the afternoon (between classes), a nap in the evening (around dinnertime), and a nap right before my roommate goes to bed. I shall be needing my bike back for the first nap; I don't much feel like sleeping like a bum in the quad (though I've done it before). Campus is big.
About the bike: I'm currently being shuffled between a few levels of bureaucracy. No definitive answer yet. They seem to like calling me during my classes, from a private (hidden) number, and leaving supremely uninformative voicemails without a number I can call.
Instead, I will now do it like this: a nap in the afternoon (between classes), a nap in the evening (around dinnertime), and a nap right before my roommate goes to bed. I shall be needing my bike back for the first nap; I don't much feel like sleeping like a bum in the quad (though I've done it before). Campus is big.
About the bike: I'm currently being shuffled between a few levels of bureaucracy. No definitive answer yet. They seem to like calling me during my classes, from a private (hidden) number, and leaving supremely uninformative voicemails without a number I can call.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Everyman, Day 3
My core sleep accidentally ran to 4.5 hours this time. I'd meant to take a nap at 12:15 am, but ended up sleeping until 3:05 or so. Waking up, I thought, why don't I count this as core sleep to salvage the situation? I need ten more minutes. (Yes, I know it doesn't quite work like that.) So I went back to sleep, and woke up at 4:45. Hence 4.5 hours. At least it seems that I now naturally wake up after a REM cycle or two, +/- ten minutes (it usually doesn't happen until further along in the adaptation process, I think). It should be quite handy if it keeps up.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Everyman, Day 2
I slept for three hours last night (4:00-7:00 am). I decided to count the time I zonked out in my biology lecture as a nap (put together, it was probably a bit over twenty minutes of sleep); it was a really boring introduction to Mendelian genetics. I think they assume we come into the Biology Core knowing absolutely nothing about biology, because it took nearly a whole period to explain alleles and Punnett squares. It's supposed to get better (I hope!). That was between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm.
I had my second nap just now, waking up at about 8:00 pm. I'll probably take a third nap around midnight. Looking at the intervals, I should have slept before dinner, methinks. I'd wanted to, but I was having problems with the lock on my door, and all the RAs were at dinner, so I couldn't get let in, either. Ah, well.
So far, my function is still pretty good; I'd say I'm running 90% full. It would be better, were it not for the fact that I had no bike today. The storage people lost my bike! They're "working on it", whatever that means, but it doesn't look promising. I'll go bug them again tomorrow; I've been calling them every few hours to see if it's been located.
I had my second nap just now, waking up at about 8:00 pm. I'll probably take a third nap around midnight. Looking at the intervals, I should have slept before dinner, methinks. I'd wanted to, but I was having problems with the lock on my door, and all the RAs were at dinner, so I couldn't get let in, either. Ah, well.
So far, my function is still pretty good; I'd say I'm running 90% full. It would be better, were it not for the fact that I had no bike today. The storage people lost my bike! They're "working on it", whatever that means, but it doesn't look promising. I'll go bug them again tomorrow; I've been calling them every few hours to see if it's been located.
Polyphasic, Take 2: Day 1
The hiatus has ended! I am back on campus and readapting to Everyman. I'll record the experience here, since this is the first time I'll have gone straight to Everyman (last time, I switched to Everyman having already done Uberman).
I don't yet know what my sleeping schedule will look like, because it depends on my class schedule, which I have not quite finalized. I plan on doing mostly 3+3 (3 hr core + 3 naps), and sticking to a more regular nap schedule this time. I was rather too careless about that last term.
Last night, I slept for 4.5 hours (I'm easing into it), naturally. I was really tired and passed out on top of the covers around 3:30 am, and then woke up naturally at about 8:00. I took a nap around 5:00 pm, and another around 1:30. The intervals are off, but I plan on doing 3+3 tomorrow, so they'll change anyways. So far, I'm not tired at all. Let's see how I feel in a few days...
I don't yet know what my sleeping schedule will look like, because it depends on my class schedule, which I have not quite finalized. I plan on doing mostly 3+3 (3 hr core + 3 naps), and sticking to a more regular nap schedule this time. I was rather too careless about that last term.
Last night, I slept for 4.5 hours (I'm easing into it), naturally. I was really tired and passed out on top of the covers around 3:30 am, and then woke up naturally at about 8:00. I took a nap around 5:00 pm, and another around 1:30. The intervals are off, but I plan on doing 3+3 tomorrow, so they'll change anyways. So far, I'm not tired at all. Let's see how I feel in a few days...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Whatever happened to QWERTY?
So, after three days in the office (summer internship), where we (naturally) use Windows and QWERTY, I decided to see how quickly I now type on a QWERTY keyboard. Using an office keyboard (a desktop keyboard, which is substantially better, methinks, than that of a laptop), I got 42 wpm, 2 mistakes. That's the same exact time as my most recent Dvorak trial, with fewer mistakes, even.
Incidentally, I find that the keyboard itself makes quite a difference. I should have realized this earlier, but then again, I have not used any keyboard save my own since the beginning of the Dvorak experiment, at least until now. The fact that my laptop keyboard has both layouts printed on its keys (the standard QWERTY with which it came and the Dvorak stickers I made, if you recall) has probably been slowing me down. It definitely doesn't help when I try to type QWERTY; I just took another typing test in QWERTY, on my computer, and got 15 wpm, 2 mistakes! I reckon, not only am I more used to looking at the Dvorak stickers (as opposed to the printed keys), but also, the physical printed letters on the office keyboard's keys and those of my computer are different. Here are some pictures to illustrate the point.
The keys of the Dell keyboard have their letters printed in the upper left corner (where I have the silver Sharpie on the Macbook), whereas those of the Macbook have their letters printed in the center of the key. When typing, the QWERTY layout of the Macbook is therefore completely obscured by the fingertip when a particular key is pressed, whereas the Dell's QWERTY and the Macbook's Dvorak are still visible. Not to mention that having the one in that particular location accustoms me to looking there.
Once my touchtyping in Dvorak improves, I intend to switch my office computer to Dvorak. I would do it now, seeing as I much prefer Dvorak, but I have no desire to pry apart the keyboard, or else make a set of stickers for it.
An aside, because it has become habitual: the first excerpt was taken from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde, who is really good. I thoroughly enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, and I intend to read this one too, at some point. Unfortunately, it will be later rather than sooner, as I have a very long list of books to read, and this one's closer to the bottom, I'm afraid.
The second passage was from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Ah, classic scifi. I have read this one more than once (which makes my 15 wpm all the more pathetic). Great book. It also occurs to me: what an unfortunate name! What parents would ever name their son Aldous, when there are better names to be had? It sounds more like an adjective than a name, and reads far too close to "odious" than is healthy in a name.
Incidentally, I find that the keyboard itself makes quite a difference. I should have realized this earlier, but then again, I have not used any keyboard save my own since the beginning of the Dvorak experiment, at least until now. The fact that my laptop keyboard has both layouts printed on its keys (the standard QWERTY with which it came and the Dvorak stickers I made, if you recall) has probably been slowing me down. It definitely doesn't help when I try to type QWERTY; I just took another typing test in QWERTY, on my computer, and got 15 wpm, 2 mistakes! I reckon, not only am I more used to looking at the Dvorak stickers (as opposed to the printed keys), but also, the physical printed letters on the office keyboard's keys and those of my computer are different. Here are some pictures to illustrate the point.
The keys of the Dell keyboard have their letters printed in the upper left corner (where I have the silver Sharpie on the Macbook), whereas those of the Macbook have their letters printed in the center of the key. When typing, the QWERTY layout of the Macbook is therefore completely obscured by the fingertip when a particular key is pressed, whereas the Dell's QWERTY and the Macbook's Dvorak are still visible. Not to mention that having the one in that particular location accustoms me to looking there.
Once my touchtyping in Dvorak improves, I intend to switch my office computer to Dvorak. I would do it now, seeing as I much prefer Dvorak, but I have no desire to pry apart the keyboard, or else make a set of stickers for it.
An aside, because it has become habitual: the first excerpt was taken from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde, who is really good. I thoroughly enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, and I intend to read this one too, at some point. Unfortunately, it will be later rather than sooner, as I have a very long list of books to read, and this one's closer to the bottom, I'm afraid.
The second passage was from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Ah, classic scifi. I have read this one more than once (which makes my 15 wpm all the more pathetic). Great book. It also occurs to me: what an unfortunate name! What parents would ever name their son Aldous, when there are better names to be had? It sounds more like an adjective than a name, and reads far too close to "odious" than is healthy in a name.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Cleanup Post/Dvorak, Day Whatever (I really can't be bothered to count.)
You may have noticed a whole slew of older posts cropping up. It's just a bit of cleaning up that's long overdue; I had a bunch of half-finished posts languishing on the blog dashboard.
In Dvorak news: 42 wpm, 3 mistakes. This may not be an accurate measurement of my current typing speed, as the text was particularly difficult. It was taken from Bram Stoker's Dracula, which opens with Jonathan Harker's journal, kept in shorthand and therefore naturally staccato and full of numbers (dates and times), locations, and punctuation.
On the other hand, good choice! (Fie on you, Stephanie Meyer!)
Oh, and I can't believe no one got the reference in the title of my most recent post. The Great Hiatus refers to the three-year interval between Sherlock Holmes's "death" in "The Adventure of the Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of the Empty House".
In Dvorak news: 42 wpm, 3 mistakes. This may not be an accurate measurement of my current typing speed, as the text was particularly difficult. It was taken from Bram Stoker's Dracula, which opens with Jonathan Harker's journal, kept in shorthand and therefore naturally staccato and full of numbers (dates and times), locations, and punctuation.
On the other hand, good choice! (Fie on you, Stephanie Meyer!)
Oh, and I can't believe no one got the reference in the title of my most recent post. The Great Hiatus refers to the three-year interval between Sherlock Holmes's "death" in "The Adventure of the Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of the Empty House".
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep: The Great Hiatus
Summer break began yesterday. I will be home most of the summer -- that, and travelling with the family (currently in Los Angeles). Ergo, I am readapting to the monophasic life. I've had some experience doing so, certainly, over spring break, but not for any significant duration. This should be quite an adjustment.
Of course, not enough time has elapsed, so I don't know exactly how it will go. Thus far, I seem to retain my ability to fall asleep very quickly in pretty much any situation. I find myself getting mildly sleepy in the afternoon, but that goes away. I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping through the night; I wake up at odd hours (at multiples of 90 minutes, no surprise there), but I can go back to sleep. It's still a bit surreal, though, to get out of bed and find that it's light out.
P.S. Five nerd points if you get the title reference.
Of course, not enough time has elapsed, so I don't know exactly how it will go. Thus far, I seem to retain my ability to fall asleep very quickly in pretty much any situation. I find myself getting mildly sleepy in the afternoon, but that goes away. I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping through the night; I wake up at odd hours (at multiples of 90 minutes, no surprise there), but I can go back to sleep. It's still a bit surreal, though, to get out of bed and find that it's light out.
P.S. Five nerd points if you get the title reference.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep: The Finals Crunch
It's that time of year again: finals to take, projects to finish, half a room to pack. I am less than halfway through finals week; one down, two to go. With two such finals weeks under my belt, I have a fair idea of what to expect this time around. I will sleep no more than twenty minutes at a stretch the day before each final, studying (cramming, really) through the night and/or day until literally ten minutes before the exam begins, skipping whatever meal falls closest before the test, prevailing upon my roommate to bring me back a banana or the equivalent. I have terrible study habits, I know.
And then, after my last final on Wednesday, I will have to throw myself into packing; I leave on Friday. The storage service people come to take my stuff away (everything I'm not schlepping to my aunt's garage or flying home) Thursday afternoon. Hence, I will be packing through the night. I've accumulated more stuff than I had expected to, I'll reckon.
What does this mean for my sleep schedule? I'll be skipping a lot of core sleep, and will probably crash afterwards. By crash, I mean something like six hours, or seven and a half, or so.
And then, after my last final on Wednesday, I will have to throw myself into packing; I leave on Friday. The storage service people come to take my stuff away (everything I'm not schlepping to my aunt's garage or flying home) Thursday afternoon. Hence, I will be packing through the night. I've accumulated more stuff than I had expected to, I'll reckon.
What does this mean for my sleep schedule? I'll be skipping a lot of core sleep, and will probably crash afterwards. By crash, I mean something like six hours, or seven and a half, or so.
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