Getting the Most from Pzizz

Published on Wednesday 21st of June, 2006

While working on trying to hack and optimize my sleep, I came across Pzizz, a piece of software that has helped my wife and I become better nappers and get better sleep.

Get better sleep and become a better powernapper: Get the most from Pzizz

My wife and I have been using Pzizz for napping during the day and to help get to sleep at night (free trial here).

A tool to help

Pzizz: a tool to help you with your sleeping strategy

In my opinion, Pzizz isn't a miracle cure for sleeping issues but it can help you with your sleeping strategy.

It can assist in getting your brain in sync with the correct waves that correspond to sleep. I'm pretty sure that I can notice this now after using it for a month; there's a certain point during a nap where the music/sounds change and my head feels like it's drifting off into that drowsiness that is expected in stage one of sleep (more here about the stages of sleep). In addition, the voice and music help me to tune out any thoughts that may be harassing me.

The following are some tips that we've found after about a month of using pzizz to achieve this:

Determine the music and voice levels before napping

This applies to new users. Many people find that the voice, which pops in here and there with suggestions, can be distracting and it keeps them from sleeping or wakes them up.

The level of volume of the music and the voice can be adjusted separately, so be sure and take the time to sort this out before napping. Although you can adjust the settings while the nap is running, it sucks to have to open your eyes, get up, and adjust the settings on your computer.

For people using the trial, this is very important as you only get one hour worth of free trial time. So be sure to get this right by testing properly first via Naps > Configure Naps in the menu.

Nap where you won't be disturbed

If you feel that you may be disturbed during your nap period, you will find it difficult to relax; this compounds the issue if you aren't used to napping or feel guilty about napping. This uneasy feeling that you might be disturbed will only inhibit sleep.

Try and use pzizz from your computer

While I've found that exported naps (mp3's etc.) work fine, the sound directly from the actual pzizz software on your computer is superior. I use a bluetooth headset to listen to pzizz in the guest room from the computer in my office (a work-at-home benefit).

Export pzizz naps to your PDA or iPod

This allows you to be ready to use a nap wherever you may find yourself. Sometimes when you are tired and the opportunity arises, having a nap is irresistible.

Don't inhibit sleep with discomfort

Falling asleep for the night with Pzizz is quite good, but you have to deal with having headphones on as you are sleeping. Inevitably you take them off during the night; sometimes this is a hassle. These days if I'm really tired, I simply sleep without Pzizz; if my brain is racing, I use the pzizz.

Maximize the free trial

There's nothing to lose with trying the free trial, however you have to be careful to set yourself up properly as you only have one hour (per computer) of trial available.

This is super important; so find a quiet comfortable place where you won't be interrupted, put the headphones on and test out the volume levels in-situ: head on your pillow, exactly where you are going to nap. Can you hear the voice? The music? Is the whole thing too loud? Turn it down; can you still hear the voice over the music? Test, test, test.

For what it's worth, I have the music at 94% and the voice set to 38%.

That's it! Happy pzizzing!

So, if you are interested, go on and give it a try. If you are using pzizz or have any questions or your own tips, feel free to sound off below in the comments.

For the sake of transparency: the links to pzizz in this article are affiliate links.

Tags: life-hacks, making-time, napping, neuro-linguistic-programming, personal-development, productivity, pzizz, sleep

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