May 21, 2007
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?
We spend approximately one third of our lives asleep, but it is also known that poor sleep habits are among the most common problems in our society today. Since May is National Sleep Better Month, let’s take a look at the phrase “Sleep Debt” and the role it plays in our life.
Serious research done in the 1950’s started to uncover the problems of loss sleep. Accumulated loss sleep is now known as sleep debt, which unless repaid will cause steadily increasing level of anxiety and more serious problems.
Here are some interesting facts about the loss of sleep and its consequences:
- One night of lost sleep: You will generally be irritable and clumsy during the next day and will either become tired easily or speed up because of adrenalin
- Two nights of lost sleep: You will have problems concentrating and will begin to make mistakes on normal tasks
- Three missed nights: You will start to hallucinate and lose grasp of reality
Proper sleep habits include the following:
- Create a sleep conducive environment – associate your bed and bedroom with relaxation
- Avoid napping during the day
- Insure adequate time in bed, free from interruptions
- Avoid alcohol 4-6 hours before bedtime
- Avoid caffeine 8-12 hours before bedtime
- Avoid smoking before bedtime
- Avoid large meals, spicy meals and excessive fluid intake
- No vigorous exercise two hours before bedtime
For more detail on sleep debt, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback.
1) Did you find the posting informative?
2) How would you improve this posting?
3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen?”
