jtr7 on 18/1/2008 at 12:04
Haha! Well, yeah!
And reading books is a decent way to pass the time, unless you won't put it down 'cause it's too good.
Muzman on 18/1/2008 at 17:30
If I don't have a regular 9-5 job (or 6-4 job or something) I generally fall into a 25hr day, which can be awkward. Funnily enough, I explain it to people and they can't get their heads around it. Anyone seen sleeping during the day is automatcally assumed to be getting more sleep than 'they' are, and twigs a 'lazy bastard' moralising nerve in even the most laid back and supposedly open minded people. The reverse is usually true though. A person in such a pattern is often getting less than eight hours a 'night' thanks to over extending their period of being awake (which is already longer than most to begin with) to catch up on daylight activities. In more night oriented big cities its probably no big deal.
This sounds like just being on-watch automatically for the kid, so to speak, and it's good it's not all that intrusive. I guess it might go away with time.
David on 18/1/2008 at 17:49
I don't have an odd sleep pattern, but I am totally with Alc on the 'short naps make me feel like crap' page. God I hate doing that :erg:
LesserFollies on 18/1/2008 at 17:57
As long as you're getting some REM in there, you'll be ok. I've had some fairly epic battles with insomnia in my day and I've noticed that even a few minutes of unconsciousness can be refreshing, if I dream a bit.
Try some measured, repetitive, structured thought patterns while you lie there-- the multiplication table works for me, also poetry I've memorized (Poe's Raven works well!). Back when I was religious, praying the rosary helped. (You could also try the sheep, I guess; I could never get the little bastards to behave in an orderly fashion.) The multiplication table works the best for me.. something about those numbers makes me drowsy right away, to the point that I can't do math now without feeling sleepy. :D
And do something about that slug!
jtr7 on 18/1/2008 at 21:31
Okay, a little more explanation.
Power naps are not just sleeping for 15 minutes. It's getting deep sleep for most of 15 minutes. I hate taking naps, naps make me feel like crap, crappy naps are the kind I can expect to get 99% of the time.
But a power nap is miraculous-seeming.
scumble on 18/1/2008 at 21:32
Quote Posted by David
I don't have an odd sleep pattern, but I am totally with Alc on the 'short naps make me feel like crap' page. God I hate doing that :erg:
It's possible this is a case of not being able to get into REM sleep fast enough. I think people sometimes get into a state where they have dreams during a 20 minute nap that seem to last for hours. Some people do it naturally but it's possible to train yourself to do it.
Recently I read this guy Steve Pavlina's experience with a polyphasic sleep schedule, and although he eventually abandoned it he retained the ability to drop into REM in a very short time. There's a summary post on his blog (
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/03/polyphasic-sleep-one-year-later/) here
I think Richard Stallman did the "sleep when you're tired" approach when he put together the base of the GNU system together, coding then sleeping then coding then sleeping etc. However, he was living in Bell's computer lab at the time and could just fall onto a mattress next to the computer. Artists can also do it as they tend to have irregular work patterns and live alone in many cases, or with people who accept their strange habits.
The Alchemist on 18/1/2008 at 22:09
Please explain how you train your body to have REM sleep. Seems to be my body is in control once I close my eyes. More over it takes me an hour+ to fall asleep at night, I can only take naps when I' exhausted.
When I was a kid I used to sleep walk a lot. I was found in all sorts of strange places, and once my bike was found in a neighbors yard two houses away and I asleep on the floor in a bathroom of my house. So yeah, I've had a history of problems with sleep. I don't sleepwalk anymore but all throughout highschool I was an insomniac. Sleeping 4-5 hours usually without feeling tired. Then come college and work and I have struggled ever since to fall into a regular sleeping pattern, far too used to going to bed at 12 or 1, which means I'm not asleep until 2 or 3, and not having the energy to wake up at 7 anymore. I've tried going to bed sooner to no avail, and I exercise plenty so I'm exhausted often. But usually, if I'm exhausted, what happens is I fall asleep when I get home from work/class, wake up feeling shitty, then I fall asleep again later in exhaustion all over.
In retrospect, I've got a lot of sleeping problems and I should probably look into it more. =/
The only progress I've ever had was in highschool, where I'd fall asleep after school and be woken up later at irregular times by my girlfriend at the time. It seems if I nap and I'm woken up by someone else, before I naturally wake up, I often wake up feeling good.
MSX on 18/1/2008 at 22:47
My sleep problems were because of a 'sleep pattern'. I'm nocturnal. The diurnal cycle is just not for me. I have to sleep twice as long to feel the same.
jay pettitt on 19/1/2008 at 00:37
I take regular 8 hour power naps. If I want to be especially powerful, sometimes more.
Spaztick on 19/1/2008 at 01:39
"Power naps" are actually quite beneficial, and 20 minutes of sleep is better than a dose of caffeine. The term is bullshit but it's practice has merit.
