WELL. Yesterday, I ran across an app called Sleep Cycle. I'd heard of it before, but never used it. Basically, you keep it on your bed and it tracks your sleep and can tell what stage of sleep you're in based on your movement. So cool. You set an alarm and it wakes you up within a 30 minute window at the time you're going to be in the lightest phase of sleep. I'm guessing over time it learns your pattern better and it gets more adept at this. Actually I know this because it told me it calibrated over the first two nights.
Anyway, last night I did this and I was a little nervous about it working so I also set regular alarms on my phone. I went to bed right after 1am and wanted to either sleep 2 or 3 cycles (roughly 3 or 4.5 hours); I set my app for a range of 4-4.30am and my regular alarms for 4am, 5.30am, and 6.30am. I don't usually set this many alarms...I'm just going a little crazy with the sleep cycles. (I tend to get really into things when I like them. It's both a blessing and a curse.)
I don't remember my app or my regular alarm going off at 4 at all, which is weird because this morning the graph told me that I was super awake right at 4am. I think I was just so exhausted from yesterday that maybe it didn't even register? I'm not sure.
...BUT when my alarm went off at 6.30 I was so awake. It's like I was already awake and my phone was just alerting me of this. So cool. According to the app I woke up at 6.15, so this makes sense.
Here is a screenshot of the statistics of my sleep last night. It's so neat to look at.
As I mentioned in my original sleep cycle post, the catch is that you have to split your sleep up into two different times. Apparently it would be really hard to sleep for 4.5 hours and then stay awake the other 19.5. I now know this to be true. Ideally I should take a nap from around 3-4.30...this is not exactly possible on many days because of my schedule, so just to keep it regular I plan on taking a nap from around 5.30-7ish each day. I might then move my later sleeping back to 2am. We'll see...
Well today, I didn't have time to take a nap at all because I saw a speech by Andy Carvin (!) and then we went out to dinner. By about 7.30 I was so tired that I just collapsed in my bed, but I set an alarm and made myself get up at 8...at which time I was still very tired and a little grumpy and whiny. But I pushed through it and have now made it to midnight...so I'm almost there.
I knew this would be hard the first few days so hopefully it will just improve from here, especially if I actually get to take my naps. They seem to be vital. If I'd had to go to a meeting tonight, I probably would have freaked out and snapped at someone, but luckily I didn't. Hopefully I will adapt to this quickly because I don't want to let it interfere with my schoolwork. If I feel like I am just too tired, then I'll go back to sleeping like a normal human being and maybe try this again over winter break.
On an unrelated note, I put a Dead Sea mud face mask on tonight and now my face is soooo soft. I also curled my hair today and that was pretty exciting.
Goodnight. (almost)
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