Along with my protein and fibre, I’ve been trying to hit some sleep goals since I started strength training. I’m not the complete idiot I used to be about going to bed.
Felafel, for instance, was written between 11pm and 5am. Someone over at the Boob said it was the ‘most ADHD’ book they’d ever read. I get that, but I don’t think I have ADHD. I just don’t tick enough boxes, and I have a whole degree in psychological box-ticking.
Nope, I think Felafel gives that impression because I wrote it in the dead hours of night like a fucking idiot, full bore, pedal to the metal, head full of hot chips, red wine and amphetamines.
That would give anyone the ‘impression’ of ADHD.
Would it have been a better book if I’d written it like a grown-up? Like I write books now, or at least try to?
Magic 8 Ball says…
I suspect the wild energy of that book comes partly from the wild energy that went into its creation. We’ll see soon enough because I’m getting it ready to re-release, but I’m not gonna be reclaiming my glorious youthful ways when doing so. It’ll get slotted into the usual 9-5 workflow.
Naps are part of that workflow. Sometimes bad naps, when I’m procrastinating. Sometimes good ones when I’m legit short on sleep for the very best of reasons. Yesterday, for instance, I was a little short of my zzz’s, and I was worn out by lunchtime after helping a friend prepare for his 4th Dan black belt grading in the morning.
I knew I’d have a crap time at the desk if I tried to muscle through, so I didn’t. I got home from the grading prep—a pretty gnarly two hours of close quarter fighting practice—had me some chicken and salad, and then had me a nice big nap. At least 90 mins worth.
Woke up ready to write some words, and for a wonder, some words got writ’.
A good night’s sleep includes all the phases, according to the Times’ preferred snooze boffins. And…
Even though a few hours of sleep at night and a nap during the day might add up to six or more hours total, she said, the health benefits don’t add up in the same way. Short naps of less than 90 minutes typically only include the lighter phases of sleep, Dr. Spencer said, not the deep, restorative sleep that you usually get throughout the night.
And while naps of more than 90 minutes may include some beneficial deep sleep, they will be more likely than shorter naps to leave you feeling groggy and potentially less sharp.
I call that bull talk. Based on my anecdata sample size of one, an afternoon nap of 90+ minutes is the perfect amount of nap time to recharge.
On the other hand, I know I can’t afford to do that every day.
REM cycles are about 90 minutes, so that's the perfect nap time. If you go over or under, you may wake up in the middle of a cycle, where "Your brain waves at this stage, called delta waves, are at their slowest of the night. Waking you is difficult, and those who are roused from this stage experience sleep inertia, a short period of fogginess and impaired cognitive performance."
I like to go to bed and wake/set an alarm so I get a nice round number of 90 minute cycles. Sometimes I wake up early, but usually about 1 cycle short.
I had to start work at 6:30am on Tuesday because my organisation is based in the eastern states and I have to occasionally work on AEDT. But because I'm an idiot I went to bed after 11pm the night before, after coming off a post midnight effort on Sunday night. Because I started at the crack of why am I awake I was able to finish work by 2:30 and by 3pm I was back in bed embarking on a 3 hour nap which was GLORIOUS and left me feeling fully functional for the first time in 2 days.
I submit this to double the anecdotal samples in your selection.
ha. The re-release comes just in time for kid#1 to be moving out of home and facing living with a bunch of strangers/friends (i will have to state the caveat that it is not a manual but a guide lol)
I'm a big fan of the 20min sections of naps. They help when i get up early for sunrise photos or a bushwalk or a day of hard chores. Never had a problem going to sleep and suspect i'd be the guy in a drop ship tumbling through another worlds turbulent atmosphere having a sleep before engagement with acid boiling blood aliens.
I'm a big fan of both Falafel and naps, so this is me clapping along enthusiastically to this post.
After repeating the pattern enough times to recognise bits of it afterwards, at Uni, I formuated the rule that if I'm awake at 4AM, the next day is going to be a disaster. I had a lecture note once, from the day after an all-night proect, that documets falling asleep with pen-scratch random-walking down the page. I call it the four-o-clock rule. Be sound asleep by four and things will work themselves out. Fail that and badness. IMO. YMMV.
I loved (still do) Felafel and to me it was written the way it was supposed to me. I read it not long after release when I was doin what it was about...specifically share housing... and specifically livin for the hours between 11pm and 5am...those were the best times to be around in the share house scene.
gotta say I'm looking forward to the re-release, will enjoy re-livin those days, and enjoy that I am well past em! will give it to my kids and tell em what they have to look forward to
REM cycles are about 90 minutes, so that's the perfect nap time. If you go over or under, you may wake up in the middle of a cycle, where "Your brain waves at this stage, called delta waves, are at their slowest of the night. Waking you is difficult, and those who are roused from this stage experience sleep inertia, a short period of fogginess and impaired cognitive performance."
I like to go to bed and wake/set an alarm so I get a nice round number of 90 minute cycles. Sometimes I wake up early, but usually about 1 cycle short.
Do I think about this too much? Probs.
I had to start work at 6:30am on Tuesday because my organisation is based in the eastern states and I have to occasionally work on AEDT. But because I'm an idiot I went to bed after 11pm the night before, after coming off a post midnight effort on Sunday night. Because I started at the crack of why am I awake I was able to finish work by 2:30 and by 3pm I was back in bed embarking on a 3 hour nap which was GLORIOUS and left me feeling fully functional for the first time in 2 days.
I submit this to double the anecdotal samples in your selection.
My scientific consensus is growing at 100% per comment!
Big believer in short naps. The NYT doesn't know everything.
That's not what they told me when I subscribed.
ha. The re-release comes just in time for kid#1 to be moving out of home and facing living with a bunch of strangers/friends (i will have to state the caveat that it is not a manual but a guide lol)
I'm a big fan of the 20min sections of naps. They help when i get up early for sunrise photos or a bushwalk or a day of hard chores. Never had a problem going to sleep and suspect i'd be the guy in a drop ship tumbling through another worlds turbulent atmosphere having a sleep before engagement with acid boiling blood aliens.
I'm a big fan of both Falafel and naps, so this is me clapping along enthusiastically to this post.
After repeating the pattern enough times to recognise bits of it afterwards, at Uni, I formuated the rule that if I'm awake at 4AM, the next day is going to be a disaster. I had a lecture note once, from the day after an all-night proect, that documets falling asleep with pen-scratch random-walking down the page. I call it the four-o-clock rule. Be sound asleep by four and things will work themselves out. Fail that and badness. IMO. YMMV.
I loved (still do) Felafel and to me it was written the way it was supposed to me. I read it not long after release when I was doin what it was about...specifically share housing... and specifically livin for the hours between 11pm and 5am...those were the best times to be around in the share house scene.
gotta say I'm looking forward to the re-release, will enjoy re-livin those days, and enjoy that I am well past em! will give it to my kids and tell em what they have to look forward to