{"id":557,"date":"2012-03-23T16:23:29","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/six40winks.com\/?p=557"},"modified":"2012-03-23T16:23:29","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:23:29","slug":"day-16-rem-for-a-clear-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/six40winks.com\/?p=557","title":{"rendered":"Day 16 – REM for a clear mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today my 7:00 nap was intense, filled with dreams and helped me solve a riddle!\u00a0 How did it do that?\u00a0 … I’m not really sure, but I had an instant of clarity similar to mathematical insight.\u00a0 I haven’t had them since studying physics at university<\/a>.\u00a0 Back then I had to ponder tough math problems for 3 to 6 days in a row.\u00a0 And no matter what tools you used it seemed like something was missing.\u00a0 More data, more insight, new equations … it was patently impossible!\u00a0 And suddenly it would hit you … BAM!\u00a0 Sometimes in the shower, sometimes waking up, or waking distractedly.\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>So what was the riddle? Well … no wait!\u00a0 Before I answer do consider that for the last two weeks I’ve lost about 50h<\/strong> of sleep.\u00a0 In only 10 days I used to get\u00a0 70h – 80h<\/strong> of sleep.\u00a0 But now I only do around 46h<\/strong>, naps included.<\/p>\n

So my girlfriend has prepared a surprise for this weekend.\u00a0 An experience<\/em> birthday present (which I love, as I can’t take any more clutter, clothes, gadgets. Immaterial presents are the best!).\u00a0 Anyway so we’ve been playing this game where I get a single yes\/no<\/strong> question per day to try and guess what it is.\u00a0 Here is the data I had (with questions obviously biased towards things I like):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Camping? Survival Course?\u00a0 Nope<\/li>\n
  2. Traveling by car? Going to London? Nope<\/li>\n
  3. Related to Dance, Theater? Nope<\/li>\n
  4. Sleeping in a B&B? Hotel? Under a roof? Nein.<\/li>\n
  5. On the Island? Nope (we live on a small island right next to the coast)<\/li>\n
  6. Would other people be there? a course? Nope.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I also asked what the distance to the place was … but that’s not yes\/no<\/strong>, is it?\u00a0 In fact she told me casually that when she commented it with her colleagues they said “oh! if you tell him the distance, he’ll probably guess it”.\u00a0 How could I?\u00a0 Well, maybe with\u00a0 google maps I could find major towns\/attractions within a radius of “x”.\u00a0 And there was another hint:\u00a0 Where would I do my polyphasic sleeping?\u00a0 She wasn’t quite sure.\u00a0 Would there be a park? Dunno.\u00a0 Should I carry a sleeping mat? maybe.\u00a0 Sleeping bag? _ Perhaps. Can’t tell, won’t tell.<\/p>\n

    And that’s it.\u00a0 Well, I can sincerely say that yesterday night I had no intention of solving the riddle.\u00a0 I didn’t really think it was possible.\u00a0 So this morning, after 3h30<\/strong> of sleep I felt quite tired.\u00a0 But after 1h I was back to\u00a0 programing menus like a hog<\/a> (web-page menus, not recipes<\/a>).\u00a0 I did a little design tweaking for this blog, some logo design, some emails.\u00a0 And back to bed.<\/p>\n

    After 26mn<\/strong> of REM I woke up.\u00a0 Very re-energized.\u00a0 I took 10 steps out of bed and it struck me.\u00a0 Why was the distance so important?\u00a0 Train speeds vary, there are many places in a given radius.\u00a0 There were two options.\u00a0\u00a0 Either the distance was almost zero (uninteresting), or the distance was large enough to be striking.\u00a0 Aha!\u00a0 Scotland?\u00a0 Spain?\u00a0 … a flight?\u00a0 … I don’t think so.\u00a0 We are leaving a bit late on Friday.\u00a0 Not sleeping in a B&B … A BOAT!\u00a0 We’re going for a weekend to France on a ferry!\u00a0 (full disclosure:\u00a0 this is something we casually spoke about doing 8<\/strong> or 10<\/strong> months ago).<\/p>\n

    So as soon when she woke up 2h later I said:\u00a0 “I know it!\u00a0 Can I have my last question?”<\/p>\n

    _ are we going to take a boat?<\/p>\n

    _ Yes.<\/p>\n

    _ I knew it! I figured it out.<\/p>\n

    _ Well, … yes, I mean.\u00a0 We live on an island, we always have to take a boat to go to the mainland.<\/p>\n

    _ But are we taking another boat afterwards?\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    _ Sorry, only one question per day.\u00a0 You missed your chance.<\/p>\n

    Anyway.\u00a0 I was right.\u00a0 All this to say that I’m programming, solving riddles, reading, learning new skills and techniques, blogging, working.\u00a0 All with an estimated 50h<\/strong> of sleep deprivation since the beginning of the experiment.\u00a0 In other words, in just two weeks I’ve gained an extra 3 working days<\/strong> (50\/[24-8]) of time but my mind seems to be doing well.<\/p>\n

    The next steps are:<\/p>\n