Polyphasic Sleep: Day 12

Nothing much new, except my naps have much more vivid dreams.

My 2 p.m.ish nap had a very strange dream. When I woke, I felt refreshed but oddly disjointed. I somehow could not quite understand time for about 10 minutes after waking up. The date and time didn't mean anything to me.

If you intend on trying polyphasic sleep, learn a language at the same time. It doesn't matter if it's a programming language or a moist robot language. You will need a benchmark for your learning retention and cognitive skills. A new language fits the bill perfectly.

For one thing, it's obvious whether you are progressing. You either start picking up words and syntax, or you don't. New text is either gibberish, or makes sense. The success of your adaptation is directly proportional to the ease with which you improve your skills, and these skills are immediately evident. You'll know how much less you go into zombie mode by how much more you can understand.

For another, it provides a definite and visible reward to your new waking time. You are learning a new language while everyone else is hibernating. How cool is that?

Then, there is the fact that you will know exactly when you need a nap. It's naptime when the words become gibberish again.