Another early morning update, and I have plenty to write about!
On the list of interesting things: I did wake up 1 minute before my alarms during my 2 pm nap. Was it neat? Absolutely. Can I do it again? Most likely not because I am hopelessly fixed to the alarm clock (it's a blessing and a curse, depending on your perspective). So, the only reason I can attribute this occurrence is to the fact I was napping in the car, napped lightly, and got lucky. If I can do this again, perhaps it might indicate I am starting to adjust more fully to the naps, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I've been waking to an alarm every single morning for the better part of a decade.
Secondly, the pounding headache and sensation of slept-dep occurred today ... BUT it happened about 6 hours later (1pm vs 7 pm). Perhaps I'm ever so slowly sleeping better? Perhaps my internal rhythm isn't fixed on a 24 hour schedule. I feel fine now, so I'm curious to see if I experience the same (unpleasant) sensation again today and at what time. Also, curiously enough, when I awoke from my 3-hr core nap, I felt like I had before going to bed (as in, tired and God awful) but after getting out of bed and moving around for a minute, the feeling vanished. Now, I still feel that subtle drag from being mildly-sleep deprived, but this wouldn't really hinder me unless I was doing something colossally boring or sitting still for a long period of time.
An unfortunate development I've noticed over the past three days is my poor short-term memory. Now, I haven't turned into the mindless zombie that so many people have recalled while adjusting to the Uberman routine, but I do find that in my conversations and readings, my recollection isn't as keen as normal. I'm going to attribute this to the sleep-dep because after all, when I haven't slept well in the past, I always had shoddy memory, too. To test this a bit, I'm going to start making lists of 10-20 GRE vocab words and study them each day. I'm curious to see how much I struggle with them while in the early phases of adaption, and if it improves over time (and I do hope it does!).
Also, since I've done a horrible job citing my comments in my blog, let me add this link to one of the most comprehensive accumulations of polyphasic sleep I've come across in my internet-wanderings. This will take you to a blog written by Pure Doxyk, the founder of "uberman" and probably one of the most interesting people I've ever read about. Her work, if everything is replicable, could be the foundation for an revolution in the way people sleep. Sleep, like all things, is an individual affair, so I'm just a bit nervous that my own physiological limits may inhibit me from really taking advantage of this adjustment. I guess we'll see!
Even though I'm still a bit scatter-brained, I am going to try finishing the book I'm working on: "The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture," by Brink Lindsey of the Cato Institute. The next book on the list is "Sleep Thieves" by Stanley Coren, and learn a few more details about sleep.
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