5-30-07 (updated 7-25-07 below)
I’m definitely off my rocker. I’ve started a new sleep schedule, commonly called on the internet the ‘uberman sleep schedule’, to see how well this will work for me. I’ve wanted to try it for a long time, and due to recent illness and lack of discipline, my sleep schedule of late has been about as messed up as it’s ever been. What better time to try something ‘weird’?

My new schedule is: 20 minutes, 6 times per 24 hour period. I sleep from 0300 to 0320, then from 0700 to 0720, then from 1100 to 1120, and repeat that schedule in the PM.

The second night was incredibly disorienting. I found myself at about midnight (when I usually start getting ready for bed) thinking, “I’ll do that in the morning after I get up.” Then I’d remember there IS no morning, crave sleep, and move on. I now understand why sleep deprivation can be such an effective interrogation tool. I seem to use the ‘morning reset’ button for a lot of mental things I hadn’t realized - the ‘I’ll think about it tomorrow’ syndrome, I guess. All in all, very weird experience.

Everything I’ve read about polyphasic sleeping says to have big, mindless projects ready to go when you start - something to keep you from giving up because you don’t see the point. That urge for sleep can get REALLY strong! So I lined up my projects, and some more routine things I can do at night with no interaction from other people, like violin practice, tai chi, etc.

I’m having fun with it so far, and learning a LOT about how I think that I’d taken for granted before. Very interesting side effects that I had’nt really counted on.

We’ll see where this leads - I don’t think I’m actually falling asleep during most naps yet, as my body hasn’t yet really retrained to fall asleep quickly. That’s one of the prime reasons for this project - sleep has long ruled me, instead of the other way around.

I want to train myself to sleep when and where is necessary, whether or not I stay with this particular schedule long-term. I also want the extra time, though in the early stages of the project I don’t really appreciate the extra time yet! Most people tell themselves they don’t have time for this or that - one goal is to notice how much of that I’ve been doing, and how much is accurate.

I’ve started taking a multivitamin, and I’m also focused on eating more healthily than I have been. Friends are watching out for me, so if I start hallucinating or something, they’ll let me know I’ve gone too far.

I’m not sure how much fun this will be, short or long term, but I’ve already learned a lot from it, and I’m sure I’ll learn much more as the days go by - one nap at a time.

The new schedule started at 11 pm, Sunday, 5-27-07. Right now it’s 0130, Wednesday, 5-30-07. I’ll post more as I know more.

Jeremy

7-25-07

Well, it’s been about two months since I changed over to polyphasic sleeping, and I do indeed know much more than when I started.

First of all, the Uberman sleep schedule does NOT work for me. I switched to a different schedule after one week. I found I needed a ‘reset’ sleep time, so I could have a morning and an evening. I -like- being able to think about it tomorrow!

So, the adjusted schedule has been as follows. 2 hours from 5-7 AM, then 40 minutes at 12 pm, then 40 minutes at 7 pm (this moves to 6 pm whenever schedule allows), and 40 minutes at 12 AM. 4 hours of sleep every 24-hr period.

This seems to work very well for me. It’s much more flexible than the 6×20min schedule, so if I have to miss a nap, it doesn’t create such big problems. I’m fine as long as I don’t miss 2 naps in a day, though I need some ‘catch up’ sleep if I miss 2. Roughly twice as much sleep is needed to ‘catch up’ if I miss. It also gives me that psychologically-important ‘reset period’ of 2 hours - a much bigger deal than I initially gave it credit for.

I’m getting more done now than I was as a monophasic sleeper, and I no longer have to be concerned about ‘what happens tommorrow morning’ - I always wake up at the same time anyway. 9 hours of sleep down to 4 hours of sleep gives -so- much extra time. Guilt-free sleeping!

I can find things to do relatively easily, though it’s also easy to get bored still. Planning my projects is definitely still a necessity, else there’s really no point in staying awake. I usually easily have enough to do to fill up 18-19 hours of the day (including personal time), so I’m kind of riding the edge of boredom if I don’t plan ahead. Depends on the day.

One thing I’ve been pleasantly surprised by is the fact that I don’t have to fall asleep during every nap to get the benefit - that hazy, restful state seems to do the trick just fine, and if I need sleep badly enough, then I’ll fall asleep next time.

A less pleasant surprise was how much I used to use bedtime for creative thinking - no longer possible, as there’s no time for it now. I have to consciously schedule for creativity, though creative times are much more productive now that I usually have something to write with! Sleeping times are all business, now.

Having out of town friends stay over, or staying with friends while traveling, completely destroys the schedule if I’m not careful. When that happens, I need more hours at a time. I’ve had this happen twice now, and while it wasn’t unpleasant, it was difficult to regain control quickly.

I recommend this experiment for anyone who: a) doesn’t have enough hours in the day, and b) has flexible working hours (or has at least an hour for lunch), and c) is single, and d) doesn’t mind being alone for long periods during the day, and e) can deal with sleep deprivation safely and healthily.

Anyone else should be very… cautious before starting something like this, as it’s a profound and far-reaching change.

All in all, I’m quite happy with the new schedule. I’m getting enough sleep, crashing occasionally on the weekend if not, enjoying myself, getting more done, able to talk to my friends in Japan and England without waking them up, etc.

Jeremy

This is actually something I ask my clients when the come in the first time, and they usually answer in the negative. Happily, they’re wrong! Hypnosis is learning, and learning is hypnosis. Hypnosis is not necessarily trance, and trance is not necessarily hypnosis.

Now, the reason I talk about learning instead of trance in my definitions of hypnosis is because there are so many misconceptions about hypnosis out there - even among hypnotists!

One common definition of hypnosis is as follows: “Hypnosis is the bypass of the critical factor and the establishment of selective thinking.” Dave Elman is widely credited with defining hypnosis this way. I like this definition, so we’ll go with it. It’s simple, easy, and uncomplicated.

See, many people get hung up on ‘conscious mind’ and ‘unconscious mind’, as if we actually know what those words really mean. Ask 100 hypnotists what hypnosis is, and you’ll get 100 different answers. (I’ve asked over 100 , and I always get a different answer.)

No confusion is necessary, though. ‘Establishment of selective thinking’ means focus. Simple enough. ‘Bypass of the critical factor’ means, according to me, learning. Most people equate the critical factor with the conscious mind. I don’t. I see the critical factor as a simple toggle switch in the brain - when it’s up, the brain rejects new information. When it’s down, the brain accepts new information. See? Learning. Easy.

If you accepted any of this information, then you have technically been hypnotized by this blog posting (or you’ve hypnotized yourself regarding this post, either way is fine by me.) That’s the ‘normal’ style of learning. Consciously thinking things through, and choosing whether or not to accept them. If I tell you something absurd, like “It’s easier to stand on your head all the time,” then you’ll simply reject that information. What’s more, you’ll do it without having to think about it - that’s an unconscious use of your critical factor. (Ever try to talk politics with someone who’s made their mind up?)

The reason it looks and feels different when a ‘hypnotist’ does hypnosis with someone is because hypnotists are trained to take the learning state and streeeeeeeeetttttttcccchhhhhh it out, instead of trying to slip in information in the times when things ‘click’. We simply take that ‘click’ and keep it active for a while.

I don’t teach that many things I want you to have to think about consciously, so explanations are present primarily to put the client at ease during our sessions together. Most of what I teach is feelings, habits, beliefs, values, and simple mental patterns. These things CANNOT be taught by sheer explanation (though I’ve occasionally tried and failed!)

So, that’s why I’m a ‘hypnotist’ instead of a ‘teacher’, ‘trainer’, or anything else.

Jeremy

My perfect customer expects me to…

…Get the big picture

…Care about them as a person

…Be Courteous

…Charge for my value, not my time

…Be honest with them

…Help them grow past old habits, beliefs and mistakes

…Be direct and push them to get the results they want

…Be professional

…Be patient

Jeremy

My perfect client…

…Is excited to find a solution to their problem

…Wants to build their successes for the long term, not just for today

…Lets me know when things are going well and not-so-well

…Doesn’t expect success to happen overnight

…Has decided to be finished with failure

…Values their time and would rather get things done properly the first time

…Is open minded and ready to play

…Understands they won’t always like everything I say

…Is happy to pay for value

…Knows they’ll have to go beyond their comfort zone

…Is tired of the same old advice, getting them the same old results

…Knows they have more to learn, or they would already have what they want

…Can learn to take the long view, even when bumps in the road come up

…Understands that just as I’ll be honest with them, they need to be upfront with me

Jeremy

The American fairy tale is an interesting animal. When you look at how different cultures tell stories, the American way stands out from the crowd - it’s really fascinating.

I grew up reading mythology, fairy tales, fantasy, all kinds of stories. Kind of handy, I guess, since much of what I do now is just that - telling stories that teach a lesson.

I recently became intrigued by this fairy tale phenomenon. Here’s what I found when I began to compare cultural differences.

Russian fairy tales and folk stories have a strong undercurrent of fatalism - “What will be, will be.” They aren’t hopeless by any means, but they’re not as much ‘fun’ as many other cultures.

Arabian stories focus on deception and cunning. Outsmarting the opponent is the underlying thread in these stories, and these stories are frequently bloodthirsty. Aladdin, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves,etc. are not similar to the ‘disneyfied’ American versions of these stories.

German folk tales (Brothers Grimm, for instance) are the inspiration for many of the American stories, but they’re almost unrecognizable by the time American children hear them. The German versions are often dark, gory, and they often have -horrible- endings.

Greek mythology focused on the capricious nature of the gods, and they minimize the accomplishments of ‘normal’ people, instead focusing on those who are lucky enough to be god-born.

That’s a decent sampling - on to the point.

American folk tales and ‘absorbed’ fairy tales follow an unusual path among these disempowering missives from other cultures. Here’s the formula I’m recognizing - Disney’s ‘Cinderella’ will suffice for my example.

1. Hardship/Hard work (Years of servitude under wicked stepmother)

2. Crisis (Things become unbearable after being forbidden to attend the ball)

3. Opportunity (Fairy godmother, of course!)

4. Willingness to stop analyzing and take action. (Does a fairy godmother make sense? Not much!)

5. Change of circumstances/Climax (Even though things are changing, events don’t turn out as expected. Leaves ball, loses slipper. Cinderella gets locked in the tower so she can’t try on the slipper when the prince comes.)

6. Resolution through ingenuity, playing to strengths (Cinderalla’s friendliness to the mice means they help her from the tower just in time.)

We’ve all heard people talk about a ‘fairy-tale life’, and often with resentful tones. Consider it may be more true than you realized! Most successful businesspeople have been flat broke more than once, and they kept working, did things and made decisions no one around them believed would work. They jumped at opportunities, and most stayed ‘unrealistically optimistic’, always focusing on the future.

Fairy tale lives can be had, and they often are. Just keep in mind the mental skills required to live them!

Jeremy

All my life, I was afraid of being a ‘lazy’ person. I was never very interested in ‘normal’ things, and I did many different things for a living. Up until last year, I was fighting myself, trying to find some information that would offer hope. I wouldn’t even take clients for ’self-motivation’ because I couldn’t get results in that area for myself.

I don’t believe in lazy. Last year, a friend of mine came up with a process that finally ‘worked’ for me, after the failure of so many other methods. I’ve now used this process to change many things about myself.

After I learned the process, and truly understood its power, it STILL took me over a week to DO the process. I sat down one night, went through all the preparation, and was all set to end my reluctance to get up in the morning.

I couldn’t do it.

All I had to do to finish the process was squeeze my hand, and I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.

It was at that precise point that I had a revelation. I knew it couldn’t be laziness, because it was only going to take 4 more seconds to finish the process. NO ONE is THAT lazy, I realized.

I was afraid. That’s what everything boiled down to. I couldn’t squeeze because I was afraid of the responsibility I would have, if this worked. I’d have no excuse to remain the way I was. This would change everything.

I reveled in the new knowledge, because I finally realized I had never been lazy - just afraid. I enjoyed the knowledge for a few moments, laughed at myself, and squeezed.

Nothing has been the same since.

Here are the three things that may be masquerading as laziness in your life.

1. Procrastination. This is what I was dealing with. Procrastination is putting off something you intend to do. It’s an active thing - you are pushing the task away from you, because of pain. Procrastination lives exclusively in the domain of pain and fear.

2. Lack of motivation. This is simply when your values do not match your goals. Values are the things that are important to you - what you spend your time, money, effort, and thoughts on. Goals are the things you want to accomplish. When a goal isn’t important to you, why would it EVER be accomplished? Duh.

3. Not knowing what you want. If you don’t know what it is that you want, how will you ever achieve it? Most people fail to be specific in their goals - instead they leave their future in ‘dreamland’, where it’s always far away.

Now, this isn’t an either/or situation. Many times all three issues are present, and they must all be dealt with. Procrastination is dealt with by moving to a positive motivation instead of a negative one. Lack of motivation is dealt with by simply deciding what you want both to be, then making it so. Not knowing what you want is dealt with by sitting down and actually thinking clearly about it - with pen and paper.
Dealing with these three issues will revolutionize your life in such dramatic ways, you’ll be left breathless.

Jeremy