I could take care of the baby while my girlfriend was sleeping at night and I could go out or work on my hobbies all night (with 27m naps) without any problem. It was like I was a liberating experience, I watched the whole of society shutdown at night, but I was awake every day all by myself, it was very odd. I also realized I didn't really need a house if I could sleep anywhere, except in winter - but I started thinking I could just sleep 30m here and there (in trains, at work, in the park on a bench) perhaps with electric blankets. A real nomad lifestyle. I also noticed that I had to force myself being productive at night as my executive function wasn't quite there - it was like my mind was used to doing nothing consciously at night, an unconscious part didn't really see a point in being awake and doing things at night - so I mostly just was sitting there, contemplating or meditating. When I made a todo list it was better.

As I also had to organize naps outside and at friends and family places it caused some tension and conflicts (I can tell some really wild stories) - and eventually, also because I didn't want to risk potential long term issues I went to 2 naps and eventually 1 nap each day.

Regarding 35 minutes, you risk entering deep sleep with 35m, at least I did when I went over 30m a nap. Or did you mean 25 minutes?

I once got woken up by a security guard in the casino as I was taking my 35 nap sitting up and I found when I just said the phrase "medical reasons" he backed off.

Have you considered getting tested for sleep apnea?

In addition, the therapy they recommended (bi-pap or something like that, basically a two-way assisted breathing machine) did absolutely nothing for me.

What finally helped was a min dose of an SSRI, which I started for totally unrelated reasons. Guess it was anxiety, never got any confirmation from any doctor that this is a known presentation of it, but swear to God literally two days on the stuff made me sleep easy with no breathing problems whatsoever. After six months I got off and once the withdrawal symptoms broke (real bad in my case, which is super weird for a min dose, but :shrug:) I've never had the problem again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis#Threat_hyper-v...

As one falls asleep one loses the ability to voluntary breath. This can cause sensations of suffocating and resulting in panic if experienced when still conscious.

Very interesting. I wonder if this helps to explain why I'm not all that productive when experiencing insomnia, even on the occasions when I say "okay well if I'm gonna be wide awake, I'm gonna get some work done on xyz"

I worked midnight-8am for 10 years right out of high school, and now, if I'm not asleep by midnight my body just 'revs up'.

I used to stay late and do school projects at night (mostly programming). I always felt my mind is so calm and with no outside distractions I was able to focus very well and be very productive (may not be objective truth at all though).

I would use full black out blankets, ear plugs and noise canceling headphones with video game music.

Pair programmer was wonderful for me, as it kept me on task and I didn’t give into distractions as easily.

Later diagnosed as ADHD. Medication made a massive quality of life. Up until my body decided that stimulants are invaders and my immune system went bonkers.

Have you found anything that gets close to it?? I have quite bad gerd and so taking any medication is a quick way to end up on the toilet but I would love to be able to focus!

Fruit and yogurt helps me a lot.

I think it's because fruit doesn't digest primarily in the stomach, so it moves the pills faster into my intestines.

Not a doctor.

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[0]: Studies linked here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/pros-and-cons-of-a-polyphasic...

Apparently insulin regulation plays a big part in sleep quality, hence the effect of sugar. Another nice side effect is I've lost about 7kg without counting any calories or making any real effort to.

Xmg of melatonin is hard to measure, because there's apparently not great accuracy in most OTC pills. And... it may take you days to confirm if a specific pill is 'working' well or not. If/when you find a combination, buy a bunch to have on hand.

I recently received the book "why we sleep" and it discussed melatonin's process. If "1 hour before bed" works for you, that's good, but it never did for me. ~3 hrs did. Or... at least 2-3 hours at this time of the year. My routine has been taking a melatonin between 6 and 7ish, and by 10 I'm typically quite 'ready' for sleep, and it's usually a fast process. It doesn't seem like it in the moment, but my wife has noticed I'm "out like a light" (which I think is more just in comparison to months ago).

I also have all phone alerts etc stop a 9pm.

The modern WFH culture has probably made it easier to do that than ever before (plus the lack of social schedules from the lockdown).

I did a modified Uberman sleep schedule while I was home taking care of my dad & working - the forced isolation, the fact that I would have to wake up every 3 hours to check on him & living in India, while working US hours anyway messing up my schedules of sleep supported the transition.

The process took almost two weeks to get into it, but lasted a whole two months & if I had to go back to it, all I would add to it is some exercise to sync up with the sun rising.

I think we as a species are naturally capable of doing short nap rests, at least for periods of several months, because that schedule of ~1 hour of rest for every 3 hours is literally what taking care of a newborn demands.

> so after 3 weeks I had to pack it in.

Since it was for such a short period of time it's possible you just had sleep deprivation, which can be used to treat depression and cause a big uplift in mood.

See also certain diets, not drinking alcohol, etc