Making Friends With The Sandman

You’re sitting down on the couch, relaxing and reading the newspaper. Your eyelids start to drift shut and you snap them back open. Really, a nap? you think. Will a nap only make you more tired? Is it a healthy thing to do? You might be surprised at the answer.

A nap that’s less than 20 minutes really does perk you up. It will improve your alertness, your performance and your mood. If you take a power nap of 15 to 20 minutes, your brain will move into slow wave sleep, which is the deep phase of sleep. If you nap too long then you wake up feeling disorientated and groggy. If you nap too late in the day then that can lead to insomnia. So the best bet is a short nap between 1-4 pm of 20 minutes to feel refreshed.

Do I really need 8 hours of sleep? It’s true that some people can require less than 6 hours of sleep at night. If you wake up regularly without an alarm clock at the same time every day after 6 hours, then you’re one of the lucky ones. Most of us require 7-8 hours of sleep, some even require 12. If you don’t feel fully awake during the day, then you need more sleep.

What about catching up on sleep during the weekend? It will work but often weekends are filled with family obligations or going out with friends. You stay out late and then sleep in which throws off your sleep cycle. You sleep in on Sunday and then try to go to bed at your regular time Sunday night and can’t sleep. Don’t skip sleep during the week thinking that you’ll catch up on the weekend. It doesn’t always happen.

How about exercise before bed? Won’t that help you sleep? It actually depends on the person. If you exercise at night and find you can’t sleep, reschedule it for earlier in the day. Some exercises elevate the body temperature which interferes with falling asleep. However, for people with insomnia it may help them sleep. It depends on what works for you.

Is skipping a little sleep that bad for you? Surprisingly, it is. Just missing 90 minutes of sleep can impair your daytime alertness by 32%. It can affect your memory, your thinking, safety on the job and driving. Six hours past your bedtime on a single day gives you the same reactions as if you were legally drunk. When you’re sleep deprived, you don’t realize that you’re judgment is impaired. The National Sleep Foundation’s 2009 poll showed that as many 1.9 million drivers had a car crash or a near miss due to drowsiness in that year.

So if you make friends with the Sandman and get enough sleep not to be sleep deprived, you’ll feel better. You’ll also perform better and function at the top of your capabilities…isn’t that worth a few extra winks?

By Linda Lee Ruzicka

Linda Lee Ruzicka lives in the mountains of Western PA , happily married and with her 8 cats and three dogs. She has been published in Twilight Times, Dark Krypt, Fables, Writing Village, June Cotner anthology, The Grit, Reminisce , the book, Haunted Encounters: Friends and Family. She also does freelances work for Beyond and Healthcarejobsite. You can read more of her blogs on Healthcarejobsite blog.