Sol 6: Sol-iloquy

Sleep: 8pm Tuesday evening - 5am Wednesday morning
Awake: 5am Wednesday morning - 11:59am Wednesday night
Next: Just a normal night's sleep followed by a normal day.

When I woke up this morning, I had the age-old feeling of "ah drat so soon"? It was noteworthy because I had not felt that reluctance any of the other sols. In general, waking up has been fairly pleasant, like my waiting for the day is finally over. The same is true with going to bed; I have usually been waiting.

Systems Report

Totally unscathed.

	Sol 1 Thus 11:45pm (15 hours awake)	Sol 2 Sat 4:52am (16 hours awake)	Sol 3 Sunday 6:25 am (13.5 hours awake)	Sol 4 Monday 2pm (16 hours awake)	Sol 5 Tuesday 6pm (16 hours awake)	Sol 6 Wednesday 10:30pm (17 hours awake)
Reaction Time Avg (5 trials)	283	279	304	301	306	288
Reaction Time Best	250	266	290	270	288	277
Spacial Memory Score	27447	18601	26234	47098	73612	16703
Numerical Memory	10	11	12	7	5	9
Verbal	58	32	63	46	69	46

I think Reaction Time, Average is the only test I performed that should be considered descriptive. The scoring of the spacial memory is wildly variant compared to what I did, the numerical memory goes until you make a single error instead of repeatedly testing the user at his or her limit, and well maybe the verbal memory one is okay. I would also guess that the differences seen here are not statistically significant, but Jake, please feel free to comment. 

And here is a graph, in case you like them (but it's not particularly meaningful):

Thoughts

Success. I would call Dark Week a success. Not a great success and not a waste. 

I tried doing something significantly differently from the normal person, from everyone I know and everyone I have talked to. The natural circadian rhythm has been studied and the nearly 24 hour (about 30 minutes more) is built into human bodies.  So changing that pattern - that established rhythm - turned out, well... fine. Nothing major happened to my body nor brain. 

I feel like Dark Week was a walk through a forest where people warned me of bad spirits, quicksand, and little gnomes that nibble at your ankles. But when I made it through, it turned out to be just a slightly longer trail than the main road. I did not have any moments of brilliance or extra clarity. I got a little more tired than normal, but the week was mostly like most weeks. I still prefer the 24-hour cycle, so I will go back to being a normal(ish) Abe. Buuuuut now I have re-enforced confidence in my own energy, a familiarity with wee hours, and a keener lookout for other limitations that just appear to be solid. If nothing else, I hope I have been able to share that feeling with this blog: that the 24 hour day is a rule that can be easily bent. 

Checking Predictions

bloodshot eyes? Nope, clear as crystals. 

made at least 3 new things? Nope darn. Maybe two if you count a signature

a cold by sol 5? It was chillier than expected during the nights, no no, the other kind of cold. I may be a little more sneezy than normal. I'll give that one a "possibly" 

wished Cole Hardware was open 24/7 (aka 28/6)? Yup, wanted to see how many copies I could buy of Grant's new flexi-spatula . 

lots of fun? For sure. Theorizing beforehand, wandering around at 3am in the morn, the beach after dark, pretending with Grant to have gone bonkers,...

Suggestions for Next Time

• From Sol 2, go gentler at parties where you are not planning on sleeping directly after. 
• My parents suggested traveling 4 time-zones over each day for a whole week and linking it up that way. If you can, sure. 
• Cooking pre-work breakfasts with friends was probably the best part of Dark week.
• Trying it with another person would be a big commitment, but other blogs have suggested it. 
• A 26 hour day seems closer to ideal. 

Thanks

Hey look at you! You got all the way to the end of this blog! Thanks for reading! If you also are one of the people who had to work your schedule around my nonsense or had to restrain yourself to let me try something wild, then double thank you. 

Please tell me what limits you go and test out there! I hope you do not fear long periods of darkness. And to all, I wish you .... goodnight.