Thought of the Day - Wasted Time

I really don't use my time as efficiently as i could, this afternoon and evening for example i have done heehaw. I've just felt too tired to do anything worth doing, even writing this blog about it seems like too much effort. I know i shouldn't be tired, i had plenty sleep and felt rested when i woke up and yet around 2pm i just started to feel really tired.

I suppose it might have something to do with not eating between 7am and 5pm.

Thought of the Day - Energy Levels pt2

Yet again this morning woke up feeling crap, but i think i have worked out why.

In my previous post on Sleep Optimization I suggested that it took me 1 hour to get to sleep and while that may have been true in the past i have noticed it getting shorter and shorter the last couple of weeks to the extent that if it takes me more than 30 minutes i would be very surprised. The consequence of this is that instead of getting up between sleep cycles i am now probably getting up 30 minutes into my next sleep cycle and the interruption is what is making me tired.

So from tonight i think i will set my alarm for 6.5 hours in advance instead of 7 and see if there is any improvement.

Thought of the Day - Energy Levels

The last couple of days my energy levels have been really low, i'm not sure why. I'm eating the same things i have been for the last 6 months, i haven't been doing anything particularly different compared to the last 6 months so what has changed?

First possibility is that it has been dark when i have woken up due to the rain and the lack of sunlight is affecting me. Though it has been dark and rainy in the past without this effect.

Second possibility is just that i've been feeling a bit down recently. Though am i feeling down because i'm tired and have no energy, or am i tired and have no energy because i am down?

Who knows, hopefully i will feel a bit more energetic in the next couple of days or i will have to look into some further changes.

Thought of the Day - 05:00 pt2

Way back in the day when i first started this blog i posted about trying to get up at 5am, it was more of a question really and i think i might have answered it.

The question was, whether i could find a reason to get up at 5am during the week and the weekend. Alas i haven't found a single reason, but i have found another way. I have started recording reasons to get up early the night before in my to do lists. Sometimes the reason is really obvious (when i have to prepare something before work) sometimes it is a bit wooly (well i could get up and read before work) but just having at least a slightly specific item seems to help.

For two weeks i have managed to get up before 5am during the week which i think is a fair achievement. I know i managed more at the start of the year but then i had external motivation, now it is all internal. I am still also having issues at the weekend, i have a hard deadline of starting work during the week but weekends there is no time constraint.

Overall though i am fairly happy, it is a work in progress so hopefully it will get better.

Thought of the Day - Longest Day pt 2

Well the longest day has been and gone and i must say i have grown rather fond of light streaming in my windows at 5am. While it is a bit depressing knowing that the day length is only going to get shorter and shorter for the next 6 months a more immediate concern is how easy it will be to build the habit of getting up at 5am going forward.

At the moment it is relatively easy to get up early; it is bright, it is warm and sometimes even sunny outside. On the other hand it is infinitely harder to wake up early when it is dark, cold and raining. Given that i can't even manage to get up now i think it is time for a different technique.

I'm now getting to the stage that i am considering using Steve Pavlina's conditioned response method of getting up. I had shunned it in the past because it seemed too extreme, but as it turns out i have no willpower so i need to turn my alarm clock going off into an ingrained imperative that i must get out of bed.

Thought of the Day - Life As A Laboratory

Something a lot of people seem to find strange about me is that i experiment with things, not only that but i actually call them experiments. I don't just buy a new pair of shoes, i experiment with near-barefoot walking. I don't become a Vegan, i experiment with my diet. I don't wake up early, i experiment with my sleep.

To me life is a laboratory, all parts of my life can be optimised, improved and if necessary changed wholesale. On the other hand i think a lot of people get into a (un)happy rut and don't see the need to change, to try new things. While i am sure that i am guilty of that in some areas of my life it doesn't stop me looking to change in others. The great thing about experimenting is that if it doesn't work out you aren't committed to the path, you were just trying it out. It also doesn't preclude the possibility of future improvements or changes. For me one of the most reassuring things about science is that scientists can admit when they were not exactly right or even outright wrong. There are no absolutes, it only takes one exception to break the rules and set you looking for new rules.

I'm sure other people experiment with things and maybe it is because my experiments tend to be a little more extreme, but most people i discuss my experiments see me as strange or at best eccentric. What convinces me that i am on the right path is a lot of the most interesting people that i've met and authors who's books i've read have had a similar attitude to experimentation.

Thought of the Day - Sleep Optimization Pt 2

Well day 4 of the Sleep Optimization is not quite going to plan. I got up but it was a real struggle, i almost talked myself into going back to sleep for 1.5 hours.

But on the plus side i think i know why i almost talked myself into going back to bed. If i don't have a really clear idea of what i'm going to do or why i'm going to get up it is very easy to postpone, it also doesn't help if what i am planning to do could be done at another time. Yesterday i knew i wanted to get up early to watch 30 Days s03e02 before work, sure enough i got up. This morning i didn't have as clear a reason and therefore it was easier for me to talk myself into going back to bed.

So as a further refinement, before i go to bed each night i need to write down what i plan to do first thing in the morning, preferably something that can be done at no other time.

Thought of the Day - Sleep Optimization

Well first time i've blogged on sleeping in a couple of months, but i'm trying another experiment so figured it would be worth doing.

Previously i've gone for the 'Steve Pavlina' method of sleep optimization; pick a time to wake up (normally 5am), get up then come rain or shine, go to sleep when you are tired. The problem is that i can't always get to sleep when i'm tired and then in the morning i don't feel rested enough to get up, its a motivation thing.

Now i'm trying the 'Tim Ferris' method of sleep optimization; work out how long it takes you to get to sleep (in my case 1 hour), add that to 6 hours (4 sleep cycles of 1.5 hours) and set your alarm. So far (3 days) it is working pretty well, i certainly feel less tired through the day than i did previously (normally with more sleep) and i have more time in the mornings. There are a couple of problems i foresee; what will the effect be if i have to get up before the whole 6 hours of sleep (if i go to bed late and have to get up for work)? and will the effect last because it still requires motivation to get up?

Well we shall see how it goes, if it works i'll be happy with reducing my time in bed to 7 hours a day, if not i think it will be worth investing time in a little psychological response conditioning ...

Thought of the Day - Energy Levels

Despite my current diet (mostly fruit and vegetables) and lack of a large heavy lunch (i snack on fruit throughout the day) i still experience that afternoon dip in energy. More than that i find that quite frequently on Friday afternoon and at weekends my energy levels dip to the extent that i take a nap.

I don't know whether it is boredom or physical but i really need to find some way to feel more energized, something that wakes me up and motivates me. Unfortunately i can't think of anything at the moment so will just have to be on the lookout for things in the future.

Thought of the Day - Sleeping

I previously wrote about wondering what the optimum amount of sleep is and preliminary results after 4 weeks of monitoring how rested i feel seems to suggest that:
If i get less than 10 hours then less is more and 6-7 hours seems optimum.
If i can get 10 hours that results in feeling the most rested.
That waking up earlier results in feeling more rested.
And finally staying up past midnight (regardless of when i get up) is the worst.

Of course my sample size is a bit low and once i get a proper sample size i will statistically analyse it, but so far the results seem quite interesting.

Thought of the Day - Stupid Daylight Savings

Damned daylight savings time means i have one less hour to work today, one less hour of daylight to wake me up tomorrow and one more hour of useless daylight at the end of the day.

Of course you won't hear me complaining in 6 months time when i get an extra hour in bed and an extra hour of daylight in the morning ;-)

Thought of the Day - Required Sleep

How much sleep is enough sleep and what determines how much you need? How do you optimise your sleep and more importantly (in a six-sigma-geeky kinda way) how do you measure how well rested you are?

On Monday got up at 5am after 4 hours sleep and felt fine all day till 10pm. Today got up at 7am after 8.5 hours sleep and been feeling a bit tired, not a lot but a bit. Twice as much sleep, two extra hours in bed in the morning but i don't feel much better.

Now i have improved my diet and i definitely need less sleep and feel less tired but is it optimised enough? I know i should exercise and a lot of people suggest that you will sleep better and feel more rested after that but then a lot of people also say that you need more sleep when you exercise to let your body recover. Again it is something i need to do in the long run (probably once the skin improves) but is it worth doing now to get more available time, energy and motivation for other things ...