Polyphasic sleep cycle - Day 2

Progress at-a-glance

End of day 2*

• Mental alertness: 8
• Physical energy level: 8
• Quality of sleep: 5

*On this scale, 10 represents my original state prior to beginning this experiment.

Detailed comments

Though it's only the second day of the experiment, I overslept. I don't think the cause was because I was physically incapable of getting up though - a skill of mine that has been brought to my conscious awareness during this experiment worked against me this time.

The first nap went all according to plan, getting up around 12:30am. But I got really hungry, so I ate five inari sushis, and some cut raw vegetables. After that, I took a nap at 2am. It was only halfway between my first and second planned naps, but as I mentioned in my experimental design, I allowed for extra naps during the transition period. So I went to bed at 2am and set my countdown timer for 25 minutes later. But when I turned the alarm off after 25 minutes, I didn't get up straight away - a big mistake. From how it felt like to me, not even half a minute after turning the alarm off, I must have fallen asleep again. I woke up of my own accord at 7:14, turning a half hour nap into a five our sleep. At 2 in the morning today I got really sleepy, but in my opinion, much more so than I should have been at this stage of my transition period. I think the not insignificant amount of food I ate an hour prior to going to bed contributed at least in part. I will plan the quantity and variety of food I eat in the time period I'm usually asleep, namely between my 12am nap and my 8am nap, so that I don't make myself sleepier than I will already naturally become.

Because of that, I skipped my 8am scheduled nap and waited until my 12pm nap. Today, my 12pm, 4pm and 8pm naps were taken in the car, because we went on a road trip to German Village in Chiba Prefecture to see the illuminations. According to the official Japanese page, this is in the top 3 illuminations in the Kanto region.

I used an inflatable pillow (a thoughtful farewell present from Australia) and an eye mask while sleeping, but it was definitely not as nice an experience as a proper bed. I may have not even properly fallen asleep even once, though mentally I was still able to function the whole day. Right now, I feel quite ok, and I've been able to converse quite normally with my parents, and even felt capable of driving (though dad drove the whole time so I didn't need to). My appetite has been good, and I really really want to eat a lot of meat, but knowing that it will lead to increased sleep requirement, I refrained.

Only being the second day, I was a bit disappointed I wasn't able to stick to the routine. But the experimental timeframe I set for myself was 10 days, so I'm going to stick it out till that period is over. Assuming I don't oversleep a nap again tomorrow, I expect to feel pretty dead at least mentally tomorrow. From here on, I need to watch what I eat during the night time period much more closely so I don't induce feelings of sleepiness through giving my body extra load in digestion.