2 days left
Blake
So, as I discussed in my first entry, I need a game plan. If I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile with my newfound time, I'll be much more likely to make it through the first few difficult days.
There's a problem, though. A lot of my goals for my extra time are not conducive to staying awake. Things like reading, learning a new programming language, picking up Portuguese, while admirable, are not great things to do in a sleep-deprived state and will inevitably end in a puddle of nap drool and self loathing. Even my beloved movies will fail to engage me enough to keep me alert in the wee hours of the morning.
So for the first week, I'll forget all notions of time well spent and noble pursuits. The criteria for my schedule will be things that are highly engaging and enjoyable. Possibilities include:
1) Video games - A terrible use of time, but they keep me awake.
2) Things that require me to stand - Twister, walks, exercise, whatever.
3) Food - Have to be careful with this, but if I'm eating I'm not sleeping.
4) Public things - I've slept in public before, but having people around will be a preventative measure.
5) Chores - My wife is being really nice about me doing this. I might do laundry for her. =)
I might figure out more later. If you think of any, tell me. After this week is over, I'll start working towards doing something useful with myself. Until then, I just want to stay awake.
Caitlin
From what I've read, it seems that once (if) we get into habit of the sleep cycle, our wake periods will be productive. I'm excited about the 12:30-6 am wake period, because if I'm not sleepy, that can be a really productive time for me anyway.
But obviously, the first few weeks will not be productive at all. We're going to need something to help us stay awake. The plan is that Blake and his wife will be over at my place for about a week long sleepover.
We're on our own as far as our lunchtime nap (12pm) and our afterwork nap (6pm) goes, but after that, they'll come over and spend the night. Blake and I will be able to hang out, make sure each other doesn't fall asleep, and that we actually wake up when we are supposed to. I think we will really need to rely on each other to help us through the more difficult naps and wake periods.
So far we've got some stuff planned to keep us awake. We've got our current other side project, TippJar, that we can both work on. I imagine that it might turn into feeling like real work quickly, though. I don't think we'll try to actually try to be productive during this initial transition phase. Blake's bringing his PS3, so with that, a Wii, and a SNES, we'll have plenty of games to keep us entertained for at least a little bit.
When there's not gaming, there's Reddit. And some TV series to watch through. Also, there'll some just plain menial tasks that could get done. Laundry. Dishes. Grocery shopping. We've got some early morning CK trips planned. We're going to try our best not try drive a whole lot, though.
I'm not really that worried about finding stuff to occupy my time during the transition phase. And I'm really looking forward to the productivity that will come post-transition.
Take Care!
Play some awesome board/card games.
If you're gonna eat food, eat spicy food.
With your time you should:
• write an album.
• fly a kite.
• build a guitar and then smash it on an amp.
• make up a game.
• start playing zynga poker on facebook and try to get to 1M chips in a week.
Kevin: We can definitely have late night wii competitions. =)