Polyphasic sleep cycle - Day 0

So my little(?) experiment begins here. I explained in my previous post my reasons and motivation for embarking upon this challenge, as well as what exactly I will be embarking upon. In this post, I'll outline my strategy on how I actually plan to go about doing it. The rationale for my experimental design is based on my research into past recorded attempts of the Uberman sleep cycle, much of which is summarised in my previous post.

Goal: to change from a monophasic 7 hour sleep cycle to a polyphasic sleep cycle sleeping for 30 minute sessions at regular four hour intervals, for a total of six times (i.e. three hours' sleep) per day.

Experimental timeframe: Ten days will be allowed for the sleep pattern transition period. After the initial ten day period, I will evaluate the viability of continuing the polyphasic sleep cycle based upon my state of mental and physical functionality in comparison to prior to starting the experiment.

Sleep schedule: I will be taking six lots of 30 minute naps* each 24 hour period, evenly spaced out every four hours. More specifically, I will be sleeping 25 minutes beginning at 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm every day. I will set a countdown timer before I go to bed, and I will get up after 25 minutes irrespective of my sleep (if at all) quality. I will strive to keep every bedtime within 10 minutes of the predetermined timings. My first sleep begins in 5 minutes.
During the initial transition period of ten days only, I have allowed the addition of an extra nap time between the 12am and 4am naps where necessary, inspired by Steva Pavlina's attempt of the Uberman sleep cycle. 

*The thirty minutes is calculated from the time I begin preparing to sleep, until after I come to my senses and climb out of bed. So the time spent with my head on the pillow is actually only 25 minutes, and my time spent asleep will be even less. This time designation was also inspired by Steve Pavlina's Uberman sleep cycle blog, after I suspected being asleep for a whole thirty minutes might actually be counterproductive.

Diet: From this point on until at least the termination of my polyphasic sleep cycle regime, I will be on an almost vegetarian diet, though I can't promise I won't eat meat altogether.

Predicted course of events: The first 24 hours, I will be slightly tired, but otherwise normal. The next 48-72 hours, I will be a walking zombie. The remaining time over the ten day experimental period, I will slowly transition from zombie-like status to regaining normal brain clarity.

Detailed breakdown of experimental design:
     The Uberman sleep cycle is a well established and widely accepted method amongst the polyphasic sleepers community. I have chosen to try out this pattern of sleep for two main reasons, firstly because it appears to come with a truckload of advantages and only slight disadvantages, and secondly because it happens to fit into my usual daily routine.

     If you want to read up on the advantages and disadvantages of the Uberman sleep cycle, just refer to my previous post or type the search term into Google, and you will get more than enough results so I won't bother adding to the vast amount of content already available. If I were to do a comparative analysis between the advantages and disadvantages of the more common various polyphasic sleep cycle variations, I would point out that the distinct lack of a core sleep block was the clincher for me. From a theoretical perspective, I agree with the thinking that retaining a core block of sleep in your regime encourages oversleeping in the long run. From a practical perspective, it frees up more time to be awake doing stuff!

     As for compatibility with my usual daily routine, I worked it out like this. Until winter holidays end (Jan 5th), I will have a 100% flexible schedule which allows me freedom to make the sleep cycle transition. After winter semester begins, from Monday to Friday, I can sneak in a nap before class begins at 8:30, then during my 11:40-12:40 lunch break I can sneak in another nap, and after classes finish at 3:50, it's the next scheduled nap time. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Aikido training from 5:30-7:30pm, Wednesday there is a prayer meeting at Tama church from 6:00-7:00, none of which interfere with my 8pm nap. On Saturday, I'm at Aikido training from 10:30-12:00, so my noon nap time might be slightly delayed, but only by a bit. The morning service at Tama church is from 10:15-11:50 ish, which is fine, but if I want to stay to have lunch, I may need to sneak off somewhere for a quick 30 minute shut eye between end of the service and lunch time. There is also an afternoon service for younger people from 5:30-7pm, which fits into the schedule just fine. I'll just need to watch out for the occasional social event or Christian event and such, which may overlap with my 8pm sleep time. Though if I let people know in advance, disappearing from the gathering for half an hour if needed shouldn't be too big of a deal.

     If I were to specify what would be the make or break of this experiment, it would be self-discipline. In my opinion, my background knowledge is satisfactory (considering the scarcity of material available on this subject), the experimental design is realistic yet well set out, my personal motivations for making the sleep cycle switch are clear and rational, and my current life circumstances are conducive to carrying out such an experiment. But whether my willpower to last till the end will rule over my mounting desire to sleep over the next few days, I don't know. I think I'll take the advice I read on Steve's blog regarding navy SEALs mentality - during the toughest period, just focus on progressing one leg at a time.