Going Poly
Polyphasic Sleep that is.
Due to circumstances, I find myself with a lot of free time, no fixed schedule, lots of project work to be done and a messed up sleep cycle. So I decided I may as well try out polyphasic sleep. I’ve wanted to do it since Steve first mentioned it back in 2k5, it sounded so fascinating. So now that I can, I’m attempting it, just to see what it’s like, and what will happen. Even if I fail, at least I learn something about sleep, my body and life in general, right?
I’m following the Dymaxion sleep schedule: 30 minutes every 6 hours, to see how I go. If after a week I fail, I’ll try the Uberman, as it seems more people have more success with that one. First day was today, after only a 30 minute nap at midnight last night and 6am this morning. I felt really groggy so I had another nap at 9am, but then at 1pm, my nap went for 3 hours. Blah. I slept right through the alarm. I will need to get one that’s louder and furthur away from my bed. Right now, I’m feeling kinda foggy, like I’m tired, but without the lethargy and lack of energy. It’s more like my brain is telling my body is sleepy but my body is all “Nups, I’m good to go.” It would be facinating if the only reason why we sleep for so long is so our minds can take time to memory dump at the end of each day, because then it would make sense that it would adjust to a nap schedule.
Anyways, at midnight again it’s time for a 30 minute nap. Lets see how it goes.
New Year
It’s been a hell of a couple of months, that’s for sure. Not many of my goals were worked on, but lots of insights discovered and lots of walls broken down. At the same time I’ve been inspired to play, and create the next year. So here is the list of goals I plan to work on for the next 365 days:
Health:
Weigh 90 kgs and Be fit and healthy
How?
Eat healthy food. No takeaway, sugar or “white food”.
Ride my ex bike for 30 minutes twice a day.
Do 3 sets of pushups, situps and squats in the morning and evening.
Why?
To be fit and healthy and feel good about myself. To be an inspiration to others. To have the energy and will to follow through on my life purpose, whatever that turns out to be. To live, to breathe and to experience. To thank my body for being here for me.
Career:
Find a better job that I enjoy, earning at least 40k a year.
How?
Finish my resume by the end of the weekend.
Send it out to at least 1 company per day, with cover sheet until I have the job.
Why?
To support my growth and bring new experiences into my life. To see where life will take me and to uncover the truth behind the world. To interact and live.
Following my dream:
Finish a computer game.
How?
Spend at least 20 hours a week on writing a computer game, starting with Randor, and working until finished.
4 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Why?
To express my inner ideas. To give to people the fun and joy that I’ve received from computer games. To help people reconnect with what they love to do, and bring home that life is fun and meant to be enjoyed. To reawaken the child within everyone.
And those are my plans. All I know now is that it’s going to be one awesome year.
More Ups and Downs
So yesterday, I got my exercise done, and I wrote 3000 words in my novel, but I didn’t look for a new job. Today I’ve done none of the above yet, but I’m going bowling later and writing more of the novel.
This experiment has been really strange. It’s almost like my brain can only focus on one or two major things at once. Any more than that and the others slip away, or become reasons to procrastinate. I’m looking at my list, and at one per month, I could complete the whole list in 3 years, which is a short time. On the flipside though, I want to complete them faster. It’s a conundrum. We overestimate our current capabilities, but underestimate our long term power.
I’m thinking about shifting back to two for now, but it’s so hard to choose. I need these three for now, but I’ll drop to two for December. I think it’s time to go to monthly 30 day trials. Even four at once is too challenging for me right now.
Oh well. Everything is a growth experience.
Ups and Downs
Life is full of them! I don’t know why I should have thought my new life would be any different. I might have changed, but the world still goes on.
I took on drawing and writing, learning french and playing piano. I crashed out quite bad. A few days on each, but nothing much on all of them. Now I’m experimenting with accountability. I’ve got a list of items I want to accomplish, and each day I do, I tick it off the list every day. It’s real proof about what I’m actually up to, rather than what I think I’m up to.
For now, I’m working on exercising for 30 mins daily, writing 3000 words of my novel for NaNoWriMo, and spend 60 minutes finding a better job. Just those three for this week, then a new one on Saturday. It’s not as easy as I thought, and I definately need to grow more in the realm of persistance.
I also want to blog every day, but that’s an experiment for another time.
Weekly Beginnins Redux
So I’ve been doing some thinking about how well my Weekly Beginnings have been going, and the first one was a complete success, but the ones after it haven’t been. I’ve been exercising daily, but I’ve forgotten about the push-ups. I’ve started writing a novel but I forget about finding a better job. I could say it’s my laziness, but I’m thinking it’s because the mind can focus 100% on one item, or only 50% between two items, or 25% each!
if that’s the case, starting multiple 4 week challenges at once is a bad idea, the more you add, the more you have to keep track of. One challenge at a time, until it’s firmly underway, then focusing on another in the next week seems to work well. You will have up to 4 going at a time, but only one in focus, the others should already be on semi-autopilot or at least easy to keep track of.
On top of that, having a big visual guide is a help. You can see where you are at and where you have progressed or lagged behind. A scoreboard could help as well. In order to do that, I’m going to go buy a whiteboard.
For now though, the raw diet, exercising daily, writing a novel and looking for a better job are my 4 challenges.
Lets see how I go.