Polyphasic Sleep, Day 3

It has now been almost 72 hours since I last had a night's sleep. At some level, it is hard to fathom that I am still functioning.

Today was...difficult. From about 10:30 AM (right after my mid-morning nap) to 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM to about 9:00 PM, I felt pretty good. I am chronically fatigued now, so I think I have started to get used to it, but I was able to attend my classes in fine form and accomplish some work during these hours. The rest of the day, however, was awful. Half-catatonic, I went to breakfast. For the last few hours, I've been staggering around my dorm like a zombie. There is a constant mental haze, a stark synapse between what I think in my head and what I perceive. It's bizarre and mentally and physically draining. It has become harder and harder to motivate myself to do work and to focus on any task more involved than watching TV. I have also developed a voracious appetite, wolfing down almost twice as much as I ate on the monophasic schedule.

I had my first oversleep today. During my mid-afternoon nap (1:40 PM), I somehow turned off my alarm accidentally, so it never went off. I was supposed to sleep until 2:00, but I didn't wake until about 3:20. Oops...but most people who have tried this sleep pattern oversleep by 6 or 7 hours. I do not think my 2 hour nap negated my progress, because it is possible that I didn't even get REM sleep out of it. I don't remember dreaming, and the time passed very quickly. This perhaps explains why I felt pretty decent during the early evening.

So, to predict, I expect to hit the low point of the adaptation process on Friday (today). Today will probably be the most difficult stretch I have faced thus far. I doubt I will be able to do much except eat and stare at the ceiling of my room. I do hope, however, that I will begin getting REM sleep during my naps on Saturday. Stay tuned...