So everything is going pretty well so far. I woke up at 7 am this morning after my 4 - 7 core sleep. I was completely exhausted. I showered (though I definitely almost fell asleep in the shower) and then took a nap at 8 am. For the future, if I include the core sleep, I'm cutting out the 8 am nap. My mom and I went for a walk shortly after 9 am which increased my energy significantly.
I went to a movie today and put off my 4 pm nap for an hour. I was a little tired during the end of the film but nothing too noticeable. I got home, slept, and woke up feeling much better. For nearly all the naps I've taken, I am still tired immediately after waking up but within 5 minutes it feels like I've had a whole night of sleep. After I get farther along into the polyphasic sleep cycle, I want to try skipping a nap just to get an impression of what the crash feels like. I've also started sleeping in my bed rather than my couch, as well as setting only one alarm that sits across the room rather than next to my head.
My energy and alertness continue to go up, but they haven't surpassed the alertness I get from monophasic sleep. That being said, it is only Day 4, and I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel at the end of the assimilation process. Sometimes it feels like I'm doing something wrong because regardless of its difficulty, polyphasic sleep has been much more feasible than I would have imagined. I have also started taking Centrum vitamins once a day to strengthen my immune system in case my lack of sleep affects it. Obviously, I'll keep you updated, but so far I can say nothing but good things about this. Admittedly, I haven't tried to write any papers or read any dense writing, but I feel completely ready for when the time comes.
