… Oops.

For some inexplicable reason, I couldn’t sleep at all during my 2:30am nap, nor did I get much rest during the subsequently added 3:30 nap. Being that I was now on Day 6 of polynapping, and fairly well-adjusted, I thought, “Hey, why not just sleep in my own bed at 4:30? I should be able to wake up just fine, and I’m likely to sleep better, too.” (I’ve been sleeping on either the couch or a makeshift bed on the floor, so that I don’t sleep too deeply.) I was only half right - unfortunately, the latter half was the correct one. I woke up shortly before 1:00, having slept over 8 hours, with no recollection whatsoever of any alarms going off. (I didn’t get to use the water, or that may have been different.)

At first, you may be inclined to think that I’ve completely screwed up the experiment, that I’ll have to start all over again from Day 0. You may be correct, but I’m actually holding out hope that this 8-hour “nap” has simply boosted my recovery period. I just took the Brain Power Test again, less than 30 minutes after waking up…

Performance: 141.54
Reaction Time: 527
Accuracy: 100
Concentration Level: 82

This is my highest score yet, with 100% accuracy to boot. While I was monophasic, 30 minutes after waking up would be about when I started to open my eyes. ;) A study done by Claudio Stampi (I think it’s in his book Why We Nap) showed that polyphasic sleepers, after experiencing one night of monophasic sleep, perform better on mental tests - and keep performing better, even after returning to polynapping. Bloggers have reported similar findings. From Steve Pavlina, Days 12-18: “At 10:30pm that day, I was getting up from a regular nap … Instead of getting up immediately, I remained on the couch for a bit and unintentially[sic] drifted back to sleep (without having set an alarm). I didn’t wake up until 4am the next day, and it felt like I was in a deep, dreamless sleep … I woke up feeling normal, no better or worse than at any other time, and I was able to return to the polyphasic pattern after going back to a more proper nap schedule.”

In short, this oversleeping incident could go either way. I’m going to continue my regular nap schedule starting at 2:30, as if nothing happened, and will continue taking the Brain Power test every four hours thereafter. If my performance remains in the upper 130’s-140’s range (and I don’t oversleep again), then I’ll be ready to declare victory. :)

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Filed under : Polyphasic Sleep
By Scott
On January 15, 2007
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