30 Days

I had an idea today. Don't look so surprised; I have ideas every day, all the time. But lately, my ideas have actually been plausible and worth the extra time and effort.

Today I came up with the idea to do a "List of Things To Do Before I Die." There were a lot of things I wanted to do or try. Some of them were to try lifestyle changes to try. I wondered how I could do that. How in the world could I try a lifestyle change? One day surely wasn't enough to get a taste, and an entire year seemed like a waste of time for some changes. Its really hard to keep motivated for an entire year. Then it hit me while watching an informercial. Try it for 30 days free of charge. A 30-day trial. Perfect.

Only one problem. As soon as I decided on 30 days, I immediately thought of Morgan Spurlock's series, "30 Days." That genius stole my idea before I had even thought of it. But still, there were no harm in sharing the idea. I figured I wasn't going to make it a TV show, or even make profit from it (unless, of course, my blog makes money [which is on my list of things to do before I die]), so it wouldn't be a problem.

So far on my 30-day list are the following:

1. Go vegan.
I don't think this is will be a problem. Sure, I love eating meat, but its easy to cut meat out of a diet for 30 days. What'll be hard is cutting out dairy products. Milk. Cheese. Ice cream. All soy (or other) based products. For 30 days. Hmm.

2. Various jobs.
Think of it as 30-day internships.

3. Not use the Internet. At all.
This one will be hard. Its not that I'm an Internet-addict (I'm not), but rather I wanted to keep a running blog on my 30-days endeavors. If I do decide to the 30-day weening off the Internet, I'll probably keep a paper log or a Word Doc for 30 days until its over, and then post it (30 days later).

4. Polyphasic sleeping.
This one is interesting as hell. Polyphasic sleeping is a sleeping style that conditions the body to enter REM sleep quicker. The idea behind polyphasic sleeping is to take 30-minute naps every 4-6 hours. This results in 21-hour waking days, 3 hours of sleep. But the point to this is that its not the amount of sleep that matters, but rather the quality of sleep, and that the quality of sleep is based on REM sleep. I'm no expert on this matter (yet), but as far as my understanding goes,  the average person goes through about 4-6 REM cycles a night. The amount of time in REM is like, 30 minutes tops. But there's no biological law that says you have to get all your daily required REM sleep in one session (monophasic sleeping). Taking naps about 6 times a day lets you condition your body to go into REM sleep quicker, so that in a 30 minute nap, you're getting about 20-25 minutes of REM, which is the same as you'd be getting at night. This leads to a total sleeping period of about 3 hours in a 24-hour day, giving you 21 waking hours. Of course, since you're awake longer, you'll have to add in another meal or snacks. But hey! 21-hour days? Hell yeah.

5. Listen to a new band every day.
Self-explanatory.

6. Not eat fast food.
Self-explanatory.

7. Make a To-Do list every day.
I need a To-Do list. I don't know why I don't have one. I used to use a day planner, but then I'd forget to check it after I write in it. And I think a To-Do list would pretty much help me stop procrastinating. Like I'm doing now. Like how I should be studying for a math test right now.

8. Be truly homeless.
Live in a shelter, no real large possessions, eat in soup kitchens.

That's pretty much it for my 30 Days so far. I've got other 'lifestyle changes,' but those are the ones that conveniently fit in 30 days. Some are weekly things (not speak for a week), some are yearly things (exercise every day for a year, keep a video blog every day for a year a la Zefrank, take a photo of something unique every day for a year), some are one-time things (run a marathon, drive to every continental state, visit all 50 states, learn various skills).

The 'official' list isn't complete, but when it is, I'll probably post it. I want to get a good list up on my other blog before I leave for Thanksgiving. I'm open to suggestions.