Getting Enough Sleep is NOT Easy
May 18, 2009 | (2)
Hey, how'd they get their cameras in my bedroom?
For the past week I’ve been trying to get an average of 7.5 hours of sleep a night, a number I arbitrarily arrived at by targeting the middle of the 7-8 hours-a-night rule I’ve read in about a bajillion places. I apologize if I’m getting too technical here.
Let me explain how it’s gone for me: you ever try to nail jello to a wall?
Some nights I stay up too late goofing off online doing research for this blog. Despite my best intentions, other nights I toss and turn for a while before drifting off. I averaged around 6.5-7 hours a night last week, but I’d wager my norm is closer to 5.5-6 hours a night.
Apparently, this is not good for me. The long term effects of sleep deprivation are linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and traffic accidents. Plus is makes you irritable, anxious, and not able to concentrate. Dang. Not getting enough sleep can make you a fat ball of nerves on the verge of a heart attack? I joke here, but it looks like this is a serious problem for affluent countries, and is a culprit of many of our most pressing health issues like diabetes and obesity.
So what can I do to improve this situation?
I have a few ideas that I’m going to try out this week. I will turn off the computer an hour before I need to be asleep in order to get 7.5 hours. I will read some fiction for the next half hour and then turn out the lights and settle in 30 minutes before I need to be asleep. This is not going to be easy for me, as I do love to goof off at night, but I’m curious to see if my concentration and overall health and well being improve noticeably.
If you have any tips on how to get enough sleep then do your thang in the comments. I’d love the advice!
Photo credit: riot jane
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