Do you remember any industrial disasters caused by sleep deprivation? I’m thinking of the Bhapol explosion in Dec. 2, 1984, where poison gas killed more than 6000. Or two years later on April 26 … the 
Without a good night’s sleep we act slower, get it wrong … when we get it at all, get sick more, and decrease growth hormones. Hey, maybe stunting the growth thing is a plus now that I think of it --
Dion Klein showed polls that indicate at least 51 per cent of the American workforce felt it should hit the sack when their schedules had them hitting work. According to the National Sleep Foundation sleep deprivation costs Americans more than $100 billion yearly in lost productivity, medical expenses, sick leave, and property and environmental damage.
E-medicine specialists share the science behind this madness but there are ways to meet demands without sinking ships or blowing up offices.
Why not make sleep work for you? The fact is, that three brain basics (or three cycles), of thirty minutes each matter more than to your mind at rest you may think.
Here's why... you’ll feel groggy if you interrupt sleep cycles, which complete in 90 minutes. Not that you need to complete every entire cycle, just set your alarm with your brain in mind. Keep in mind, that:
- In the first 30 minutes, you sleep rather light, so 20-minute naps work.
- In the second 30 minutes during REM (rapid eye movement), your brain restores levels of oxygen to the cornea, while you dream. Avoid waking REM
- In the third 30 minute phase your brain shifts back into lighter sleep and so you’ll likely awaken feeling frisky from this session.
The key is to plan your sleep in 90 minute chunks, to avoid that struck by a truck sensation.
Oh, and darken the room so your brain releases more melatonin for better sleep.
Share your thoughts about brain based benefits... any sleep secrets you use?
On a slightly different note, you’ll shorten the REM stages if you stuff yourself, drink just before bedtime, or taking some medications. Good news is, you can enhance your sleep by planning a wake up time in lighter cycles which precede or follow REM.
You’ve probably noticed that when you sleep for the same amount of time each night, that your brain no longer needs an alarm since the human brain has its own built into alarms once it learns your patterns.
Just today I was sent new sleep research that can help you stay awake at work and hunker down deeper at night... What do you think?
Ellen, thanks for this post. I think sleep is a more important subject than most people give it credit for - after all, don't we spend about a third of our lives asleep, most of us?
No wonder my short catnaps work so much better than the looong ones!
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | April 14, 2006 8:30 PM | Permalink to Comment