Pzizz'ing on

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:24:29 +0000

I've been meaning to write something about my use of Pzizz over the last 3 months. Whilst I would hesitate to call Pzizz life-changing I definitely think it's been life enhancing for me and I have only positive things to say about the software itself and Edward's company.

My use of Pzizz breaks down into 3 main areas: napping, shields, and sleep.

I work from home which, in theory, makes napping easy and convenient. In practice I probably don't take advantage of the opportunities as much as I should. But when I do I find it beneficial. I use an energizer program of 25 minutes length with the voice track just loud enough to hear but quiet enough to ignore. I do find the naps very refreshing although, to my disappointment, I've never actually managed to fall asleep. There are moments though, drifting along in the rich soundscapes, that feel sublime. As an added comfort I bought myself a (relatively cheap) memory foam pillow from Homebase that does a good job of support my neck (I store a lot of tension in the neck and shoulders) and this has enhanced the experience considerably.

On the train in the morning I sometimes find myself tired and irritable and wanting to shout "Shields up Mr. Worf!" and see a shimmering perimeter appear between me and the other passengers. Until such time as personal shields become available, and if I am not in the mood for music, I am relying on a 40 minute long, no voice-track, energizer program. It helps me to put a little distance between me and the world around me, relax, and slide more gently into my day. More often than not I get off the train feeling somewhat better than I got onto it.

I routinely use Pzizz to get to sleep now. To the point where I really could do with the software helping me out more in terms of program & iPod management. I've never had serious, insomniac, problems getting to sleep but I often find my mind buzzing and it takes a long time for me to get past that and fall asleep. Pzizz helps here a lot, leading me gently away from thoughts of the day and into sleep. This is, I think, where I've had the most benefit from it.

I would definitely say my quality of life has been enhanced by using Pzizz. If I am tired in the afternoon a 25 minute nap definitely raises my energy levels and makes the remainder of the day more productive. Since I've been using Pzizz my ability to just go to sleep has been considerably enhanced. These are small things but they do make a difference and I am sure there are new tricks still to learn that will offer further benefits.

My biggest complaint right now is that managing keeping my iPod (and, hence, iTunes) full of fresh energizer & sleep tracks is a chore. I want to see the next version of Pzizz take control of this and automaticallly ensure that there are new tracks (according to my schedule) to sync over the old when I dock my iPod. At the moment I do this manually based upon a suggestion of Edwards (where's your blog Edward?):

For example I manage my sleep tracks this way. In iTunes I have 7 playlists named PZIZZ_MON through to PZIZZ_SUN. I generate 7 sleep tracks and import them into iTunes assigning one to each playlist to replace the previous track in that playlist. This means that, come evening, I just need to select that days playlist and click play. I don't need to do anything complex before going to sleep. The reason for using a playlist is to ensure that, when the track is finished and I have just dozed off, the iPod doesn't decide to play 'God Save the Queen' or 'The 1812 Overture' which might, perhaps, spoil the effect.

In the future, as well as better track management, I would also love to see a "Wake Up!" module (for which I would probably buy an iPod compatible clock-radio... maybe a tie-in opportunity there Edward?) and maybe an exercise module too... might be enough to get me back into the gym. Oh and, as a last point, I think the Pzizz website needs revising so that it really sells the benefits, not the software. I can imagine a lot of people visiting the current site aren't convinced of the benefits of the software to them. Perhaps I'm wrong but that's my feeling.

All in all I think Pzizz is easily worth the $30 asking price ($50 if you buy the sleep module at the same time) and possibly a lot more.

[Disclaimer: I, quite unexpectedly, received a free energizer license after a support email mix-up. However, after I trying the energizer module for a while, I sprang for the sleep module without hesitation.]

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Pzizz'ing on