Comments on: Definitely NOT going to work! (Surprising Reasons)

By: Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:03:30 +0000

@Jeremy: Super happy to see it is working for some people. Again, I really thought it would work for me, but I don’t think I have the will power to stop working, by default I don’t leave things in ‘pending’ status often.

@Aaron: I agree completely, I think someone that maybe has a few responsibilities that are repetitive or common it will work well on, but when you have projects for a variety of clients, it is not a good thing to stop in the middle and say ‘hey going to take a nap’.

@Joan: Well, you were right – you know me better than I know myself. Of course as my assistant, that is your job .

@Kim: Actually, depending on when I wake up morning is most productive for me as well, if I can get up before 5am (ideal time is 4am) then my productivity level is at an all time high until around 11am. By 11am I am getting grouchy and need food/sleep or both, but when you think about it if I woke up at 4am, 11 am is 7 hours later – so a full day of work and that is explanatory. I too am hypoglycemic, so we share that.

By: Kim Parsell

Kim Parsell — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:16:25 +0000

I was wondering how that type of sleep schedule was going to work with your normal daily workload. I was also concerned about the impact that the lack of sleep would have on your health – last thing you need is to get your immune levels down during cold/flu season. Your health is the most important thing – everything else comes after that!

My schedule is a bit more flexible, so I tend to sleep for 6 hours/night with the occasional nap if I’ve had a hectic day. My most productive time of day is early morning, right after waking, until about 2pm, so I try to schedule most of my work-related tasks during that timeframe, and save the non-intensive tasks for late afternoon.

I’m also hypoglycemic, so I have to snack on good food with carbs all day long to keep my sugar level on an even keel. Low blood sugar = low/no productivity for me, regardless of how much sleep I’ve had.

I’m sure that you’ll find a sleep cycle that works best for you and that will allow you to manage your work and family commitments.
Kim Parsell´s last blog ..WordPress, WordCamp Columbus and Friends

By: Joan Raskiewicz

Joan Raskiewicz — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:48:52 +0000

That was one of my initial concerns, that it would be hard for you to stop what you’re doing and go sleep. Especially in the middle of day. It’s hard enough to get things done with interruptions, i.e. phone calls, family distractions, mini crisis – add on top of that, “Oh, It’s 12;15, time to got sleep.” and you’ve just complicated everything more.

By: Aaron Hoos

Aaron Hoos — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:59:54 +0000

Kudos for trying, Heather. Your reason for giving it a try (from your previous blog) was good… I think it could work for people whose days are a little more regimented than yours. But you run several busy businesses and that makes it hard to stick to a schedule. Customer service = flexibility!
Aaron Hoos´s last blog ..Nandos offers great food and innovative business model

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:51:40 +0000

Heather, I’ve had great success with polyphasic sleep – after trying Uberman for, oh, about 2 days, I switched to a 4-times daily that works very very well for me depending on location and vacation status

2 hours 5-7 am, then 40 minutes at noon, 6, and midnight. Honestly, the hardest part fo me once past the sleep deprivation was how ‘businesslike’ sleep becomes. I had to schedule in a little extra ‘relax time’ for creative ideas – about 20 minutes a day. But yeah, if it’s going to work for you, you HAVE to stick with it no matter what.

Glad to see more people experimenting with this, whatever your outcome is!