Day 24: Wee Hours

I've skipped my 2 AM nap, since it's the one where I usually screw up. I am exceedingly tired right now, especially since I've had a headache all day. It's gone now, but it was tiring and kept me from sleeping during my 10 PM nap. I'm only awake right now due to coffee.

Mmmm. Coffee.

I felt a little of the effects of polyphasic sleep to the body today. I'm sure this won't surprise anyone, but when you are on the polyphasic sleep schedule, your body doesn't recover nearly as quickly as your mind does. Specific things that have happened include getting sick, although I can't really blame polyphasic sleep for the sickness, I do blame it for the slow recovery. I generally recover quite quickly. Also, I don't recover from weight lifting very quickly at all. On Thursday, I pushed myself far harder than I should have. I actually couldn't sit up or lift anything at all later in the day. Normally, I would be able to recover by Sunday, but I didn't. I went down, ran, did about 1/2 of my normal workout and I couldn't stop sweating or being dead tired. My mind clouded, and I quit because I know that trying to do these things when tired or lacking concentration causes injuries. This was quite strange, as my "normal" workout isn't all that terribly strenuous.

Mentally, I've been doing quite well, with a few exceptions. First, when I had that headache, I couldn't think for the life of me. I ended up making two mistakes multiplying polynomials. I caught them right away, but I never should have made them in the first place.

Second, I lack motivation on the low points. I still get quite tired when I'm not doing anything for an extended period, or when I would "normally" be sleeping. Sadly, the not doing anything includes sitting in class. Yeah, not good. Anywho, when I'm tired or have low energy, I don't really want to do anything at all. I mean, watching a movie seems like work. Yeah, that's also not good.

Third, other people. Honestly, I think I know what it must feel like socially to be homosexual. I've not told my parents about this (if any of you do, I'll kill you. I will also know who you are, I'm tracking this site :-) ), if I told them they would freak out. Whenever I tell someone, they assume I'm crazy or stupid. I never disagree on the crazy part, but people treat you differently. They can't understand why you would want to do something differently. Every friend I've told has thought I'm nuts for some amount of time, bar two. My RA thought it was cool, but would never do it himself (understandable), also a friend of mine named Richard (who I do math homework with). He just thought it was interesting. Nothing much scares math majors. We do problems that would make normal people cry.

Really, if you are going to try this, I advise you to think about your health, your habits, your willpower, your sanity, and your social concern. The only reason I can do this right now is that I don't really care what most people think about me. If other math majors or guys in my hall think I'm nuts and tell their friends about this crazy guy, I don't care. Also, I'm attempting to improve myself dramatically by the end of this semester, and this is the only way I can do everything I want to do.

Fourth, moments of depression and paranoia. I get a little depressed on my own, but with this schedule I've had a lot of time to think. Especially when I'm tired and not thinking clearly. I've posted some strange stuff on one of my other blogs (No, I'm not linking it. No, it's not in my profile. No, *gasp* it's not a Blogger blog). As long as you can keep your thoughts to yourself, and you don't normally go super-depressed (cut yourself, make bombs, etc), this part is livable.
If I add any more, it won't qualify as a few.

Really though, most of the time, my mental clarity is high, and my spirits are up. I actually usually feel better than I did when I was monophasic. There is one thing though: my roommate is really, REALLY getting tired of my naps. I don't know why, though. They're never very long, and I make a point of letting him watch TV and leave lights on. I try to be as accommodating as possible. Once did I flip out and unplug the TV (the plug is right next to my bed), but it was 2 AM, he had an 8 the next morning. I expected my "me" time. I've also been as silent as humanly possible while still awake when he sleeps. Oh well, if it really bothers him, I'm sure he'll say something. ;p

I need to make more coffee.

For fear of rambling, I'll stop my post here.