Oops!

For the first time since I started biphasic sleeping, I overslept-on accident. Yes, I've overslept on purpose-decided I didn't really need to get up when the alarm went off, but last night, I didn't even hear the alarm. That is very unlike me. Ever since I had the babies, I've been a fairly light sleeper.
I have been setting my cell phone alarm rather than the bedroom alarm because it is a bit quieter, less intrusive to my sleep, and closer when it goes off. I've been doing this for over a week, without any problems. Last night, I was supposed to get up around 12:45am. Josh came in around 2, asking me what was going on. I said I was just waking up-I had heard the alarm about 2 minutes before he came in. He then told me the time-I had been hitting snooze that whole time! I guess the fact that I can't see the time as well on the cell phone made it easier for me to oversleep.
Luckily, it wasn't the alarm for the morning, though I doubt I'd oversleep that one. Of course, that is what I thought about the cell phone alarm...
I ended up just sleeping through the night. Well, that had been my plan until Keira woke up around 3:30. I guess the gods wanted me to sleep biphasically last night after all.

Interesting Facts

I found a list of 40 interesting facts about sleeping that I thought ya'll might want to read. It looks like it is from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2000, so it is probably outdated a little, but it is still fun to read!

2nd "Nap"

I took my 3 hour nap as usual and was very successful with getting up, exercising, and ironing my clothes. I wasn't very tired when I went to sleep, but I wanted to get in 3 hours rather than 1 1/2. For some reason, I thought that 3 hours would be better even though I wasn't that tired-even after only getting 4 1/2 hours of sleep the previous night.
Well, when my alarm went off after the 3 hours, I REALLY didn't want to get up, let alone exercise again. It felt like I had only exercised about 10 minutes before!
I intentionally did NOT exercise because I did NOT want to wake up. I was being a bit stubborn! Instead, I set my alarm on my cell phone to give me 20 minutes to get ready for work (lucky I ironed beforehand!) and took another nap on the couch.
I think I'm going to try the 1 1/2 hours for the second sleep since it worked so well. I convinced myself that it wasn't long enough, even though I had no evidence to support my theory.
Tonight's plan:
sleep 3 hours
exercise, iron, etc
sleep 1 1/2 hours
exercise, have time alone doing stuff, go to work

Two Times, Thank You Very Much

I not only followed my biphasic sleep schedule, but I did pilates after waking up-both times. It felt pretty good. I think I might be back into the swing of things again-finally!
The thing that threw me off last time was when my parents came to stay with us and I couldn't follow the schedule very well. Then I started feeling depressed and wanted to sleep all the time.
So, now that I'm back to normal...guess who is coming for Christmas?!! Actually, they are coming a few days after, but that isn't the point. The point is I think I'm going to tell them to sleep in the living room instead of the den because I can't do my pilates in the living room, and I don't want to get messed up again.
Josh said that he thinks my parents add to my depressive feelings too, so I'm going to have to be on my toes with that as well. I'll stick it out, though!

Success

I am still doing really well with getting up after my nap-3 hours seems to make me feel rested enough that I can get up easily. Okay. I DID hit snooze twice this morning, but it was never with the intention of just turning the fucking thing off, which is what I used to want to do...
I did pilates after my nap, and it was wonderful. It is so calming yet energizing. It is the perfect start to the "day." I just did the 20 minute workout, which isn't too long to take away my 'being awake' time.
As I was working out this morning, this WAS my goal: every time I wake up (which is twice a day, right?), I will do a 20 minute pilates workout. I have 2 different versions, so I shouldn't get too bored, and I have longer ones that I can do if I do get bored. It'll be perfect-like the way a shower wakes me up. I will be getting exercise and be feeling relaxed and rejuvenated at the same time. That would be 14 workouts in 1 week. Not bad at all-that should help get rid of this "baby" fat (you know-from the "baby" that is now 15 months old-she was 9 1/2 pounds, so you have to give me some slack here).
Anyway, wouldn't you know it, I DID hit my snooze this morning at 6am like I wanted to turn the fucking thing off. And I did, until 7:00, which gives me just enough time to right this post and this post, shower, and rush off to work.
7 workouts in a week are better than none, right? Maybe I was pushing myself too hard...

(I'd be a great marathon runner-one who DOESN'T push herself to train)

Mornings

I have been doing so well with my biphasic sleeping, as far as my nap goes. I usually go to bed around 9:30 and sleep for three hours. I then get up and spend time with Josh. Even though I would like to incorporate a little bit of productivity at this time (maybe ironing my clothes or putting away dishes), I have been enjoying this time with Josh.
Now, when it comes to waking up in the morning, it is a completely different story! I set my alarm for another 3 hours (sometimes even 4 1/2), with plans of doing pilates and a few odds and ends before getting ready for work. When the alarm goes off, I negotiate with myself, and I end up either hitting snooze a few times or resetting it all together. I can easily sleep until 7:00 and still be able to get ready for work, so that is usually what ends up happening. It throws off my sleep cycle and it ruins my plans for doing anything, but at least I get those few precious minutes of sleep...

Update

Okay. I suck at making lists and sticking to them!

Here is what got done last night when I woke up from my nap:
NOTHING.

Keira was awake (she didn't take a nap yesterday, so she went to bed early), so that was good-I spent some time with her. Then I laid on the couch until I went back to bed. I DID sleep according to the 90 cycle, though: 3 hour nap, 4 1/2 hour sleep. I just didn't accomplish anything, and I'm pretty sure that the only thing that will get done on that list this morning is ironing my scrubs, unless I can figure out how to get out of that...
Maybe I should make my list shorter-like one or two things. The fact that I blogged it just made me feel guilty! Here is a conversation from my head last night:

why am I awake? I don't need to do anything.
oh-there is a list.
I don't want to do anything from the list, though.
I have to pee. I don't even want to pee. I just want to go back to bed.
Maybe if I pee, I'll have the energy to do something else from the list.
...
nope. I'm going back to bed!


I did have good/weird dreams, though. I don't know all the details, but Josh and I were chasing after someone who stole a model train or something (anyone see CSI last night??). We were being very covert, but then my parents and grandparents showed up to "help"-as if that would be good for anyone. Other details that stick out-I dyed our white dog (or maybe it was a cat) pink because I thought it would be cool. It was, until we petted it-then the white from underneath stuck out. Apparently, I didn't do a very good dye job. Maybe it was because I was so tired...

My Goals for Tonight

(maybe this will help motivate me)
1. iron my scrubs
2. do pilates
3. check if the 1st episode of Heroes is on demand and then watch it
4. finish loading the dishwasher


stay tuned for an update!

Why is it...?

I KNOW that biphasic sleeping is better for me-I get more done and I feel more rested. I just can't drag my fat ass out of bed, and when I do, I don't usually do anything productive! To me, productive is a relative term. At 2:00 in the morning, I find watching a tv show or movie that I've been wanting to see productive since I don't have time to myself to watch anything. I've been getting up after my 3 hour nap, watching a little bit of tv, talking to Josh, and going to bed. I guess that IS productive, isn't it??
Last night, I went to bed thinking I wouldn't get up in 3 hours-it was the night before my only day off. A girl deserves some rest, right?? (Yes, I know that makes no sense since I feel more rested when I DO get up...) However, I automatically woke up 3 hours after going to sleep. Pretty cool.
I got up and watched some tv. I was planning on watching the end of CSI that I had started (on demand-cable is so wonderful), but it wasn't working properly (did I just say that cable is wonderful? how much am I paying for this shit?), so I watched a documentary on TLC. I love documentaries. It was about babies that weren't meant to survive, but they did. It was very good.
I then went to bed and woke up 6 hours later, not long before Night came in and told me that it was time to wake up and play his video game with him. It is amazing how I easily fit in NINE hours of sleep, still getting up at 8:30 in the morning! How did I ever say that there weren't enough hours in the day to sleep? That makes no sense.
Anyway, I know that biphasic sleeping is much better for me than monophasic sleep, and I don't know why I can't make myself do it all the time!! I know that I keep saying this, but...tonight I am starting all over-getting back on track. I guess last night could be the start since that was successful. The point is, I WILL SLEEP BIPHASICALLY!

Dreams

I've been pretty bad at sleeping bi-phasically of late, I'm finding it really hard to discipline myelf. I have been pretty good at sleeping on the 6 or 7.5 blocks though, I really notice the difference to my morning moods.

I did have a weird dream last night, I only remember sketchy details of it though. I dreamt of the wedding, and I was walking down the aisle, but the aisle was coil shaped, and I was walking around and around my guests. And it wasn't dad giving me away, it was Ellen I think, or mum, I don't know. Then I said that I'd had enough and was going to have a whole different wedding. It was weird.

I have difficulty remembering my dreams, they are often really sketching.

I'm napping tonight, I'll see if it makes a difference to my dreams. Interesting.

Del, I can add you as a contibutor to this blog if you want, just let me know.

I Forgot My Dreams!

I had some fantastic dreams last night, and I thought about them this morning so I could blog about them. Now I've lost them. So sad! I should write them down right away!
I went to bed around 9:45 last night and woke up (with the alarm-not on my own: lets not get crazy) 3 hours later. I could've easily stayed up and accomplished a lot of stuff, but Josh was going to bed, so I needed to cuddle with him! I did some laundry first, though, so that is a plus. I decided to sleep another 4 1/2 hours, which worked out well. I want to get back to the 6 hours rather than 7 1/2, but it is so cozy and warm in the bed... I have been sticking to the phases, though, so I think that works pretty well.
The goal is to feel more energetic when I am awake, so I have met that goal with biphasic sleeping. Now I just need to discipline myself to actually do all of the things on my "to do" list when I am awake! Tonight I'm striving for 6 hours total. I enjoy the 3/3 schedule rather than the 1.5/4/5. I feel more rested when I get up from the first sleep.