Sleep Deprived? Not me.
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 6th, 2010
Remember when I spoke about sleeping the other day, and how I had to get back to my routine 6:00 am wake-up? Well I mentioned that I was going to start Tuesday morning, but guess what? I didn’t. The alarm went off at 6:30 – I just didn’t have the heart to set it any earlier. – I’m all into ‘easing’ myself back into my routine – you know what I mean? Anyway, no matter, I slammed it down and slept till 8…again. I had a glorious 10 hours of sleep.
Now, I don’t really think that I need 10 hours every day but it sure felt fab. 8 or 9 hours is usually good for me, but I guess I needed the extra. And if you’re thinking, “Michelle, you’ve got to be kidding – you sleep that much?”. Yep, and I’m grateful that I can. Turns out, according to the article below, I may be getting just what I need.
Women readers: You girls especially need to read.
Sleep Challenge 2010: Women, It’s Time to Sleep Our Way to the Top. Literally.
As women, we make a lot of New Year’s resolutions — “lose 10 pounds” and “finally write that novel” and “lose 10 pounds — seriously.” But this year, the two of us (that’s HuffPost‘s Arianna Huffington and Glamour‘s Cindi Leive) are suggesting you make a New Year’s resolution that could improve the status of all women in this country, starting with you. No, we’re not talkng about universal child care or even banning Tiger Woods from ever texting again. If you ask us, the next feminist issue is sleep. And in order for women to get ahead in this country, we’re all going to have to lie down and take a nap.
Stay with us here for a minute. Americans are increasingly sleep-deprived, and the sleepiest people are, you guessed it, women. Single working women and working moms with young kids are especially drowsy: They tend to clock in an hour and a half shy of the roughly 7.5-hour minimum the human body needs to function happily and healthfully. Cindi admits that between her work, her two young children and her wicked TV addiction, she averages only five and a bit; as for Arianna, she had a rude (and painful) awakening two years ago when she passed out from exhaustion, broke her cheekbone and got five stitches over her eye. Ever since then, she’s been working on bringing more balance, and more sleep, into her life with varying degrees of success.
“Women are significantly more sleep-deprived than men,” confirms Michael Breus, Ph.D., author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep. “They have so many commitments, and sleep starts to get low on the totem pole. They may know that sleep should be a priority, but then, you know, they’ve just got to get that last thing done. And that’s when it starts to get bad.”
Does it ever! You probably already know about the health consequences of sleep deprivation, how cheating your body out of the R&R it needs can make you more prone to illness, stress, traffic accidents and even weight gain. (Dr. Breus swears that sleeping will actually do more to take off weight than exercise! Love that.)
But there’s more to it than simple physical problems. Rob yourself of sleep, ladies, and you’ll find you never function at your personal best. Work decisions, relationship challenges, any life situation that requires you to know your own mind — they all require the judgment, problem-solving and creativity that only a rested brain is capable of and are all handled best when you bring to them the creativity and judgment that are enhanced by sleep. “Everything you do, you’ll do better with a good night’s sleep,” says Dr. Breus. Yet women who constantly push themselves to get by on less never know what that “peak performance” feels like.
A nation of sleepy women is even less capable of greatness. Consider the fact that sleep deprivation is a strategy many cults are fond of: They force prospective members to stay awake for extended periods, up for all hours because doing so physically alters their subjects’ decision-making ability and makes them more open to persuasion. Ladies, the choice is ours. Do we want to be empowered women taking charge of our lives — or do we want to be cult members, dragging ourselves around like zombies and going along with everyone else’s crummy ideas?
We’re saying no to the zombie side of things and, as of January 4, resolving to get a full night’s sleep every night for a month. Cindi’s going for seven and a half hours (that’s Dr. Breus’ recommended minimum, since it allows for a healthy round of five 90-minute sleep cycles); Arianna’s choosing eight (arrived through trial and error as the number of hours it takes for her to be at her most creative and effective and have the most fun while being creative and effective).
Getting a good night’s sleep, of course, is easier said than done. You have to tune out a host of temptations, from Letterman to the PTA to your e-mail inbox — and most of all, to ignore the workaholic wisdom that says you’re lazy for not living up to the example set by Madonna, Martha Stewart and other notorious self-professed never-sleepers. Of course, the truth is the opposite: You’ll be much more likely to be a professional powerhouse if you’re not asleep at the wheel. (Even Bill Clinton, who used to famously get only five hours of sleep, later admitted, “Every important mistake I’ve made in my life, I’ve made because I was too tired.” Huh! ) The problem is that women often feel that they still don’t “belong” in the boys-club atmosphere that still dominates many workplaces. So they often attempt to compensate by working harder and longer than the next guy. Hard work helps women fit in and gain a measure of security. And because it works, they begin to do more and more and more of it until they can’t stop. But it’s a Pyrrhic victory: The workaholism leads to lack of sleep, which in turn leads to never being able to do your best. In fact, many women do this on purpose, fueled by the mistaken idea that getting enough sleep means you must be lazy or less than passionate about your work and your life.
In fact, we may be surprised to find out that if we sleep more, we become more powerful. After all, we’ve already broken glass ceilings in Congress, space travel, sports, business and the media — just imagine what we can do when we’re fully awake.
Inspired? Then join our one-month sleep challenge. We’ll be blogging on glamour.com and theHuffington Post every Monday and Thursday about how our quest for more sleep is going. You’ll get tips from health experts like Dr. Michael Breus and answers to some of your own personal questions about how to work more sleep into your life. But most of all, you’ll have a New Year’s resolution that’s fun and fulfilling to stick to — and a built-in answer to anyone who says, “You’re going to sleep now?” Sure you are – Glamour and the Huffington Post told you to! G’night, ladies. Sweet dreams.
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If that write doesn’t inspire you to sleep a little bit more, I don’t know what will. I have always been a good sleeper and I’m actually quite proud of the fact that I allow myself my 8-10 hours, considering that I am a pretty active person with a lot on my plate, as we all have. But when it comes to my sleep, it is the one thing that I honor for my body. I am well aware that I just don’t function well when I am tired, not to mention it makes me a bit cranky. Lots of Sleep time: It is the one luxury that I love…and of course good sheets and a fluffy duvet help too.
Hey Zen Lill: Ugh…bowling at Columbine – that is so not a good visual. Too bad. Hey maybe you can get Lilly’s school onto the program, and then you can get your 15 minutes. I see you as that pinned up teacher who lets it all loose and goes wild – oh yeah. But I like your idea better…hmm…yes…Let me know when you get that motivational podcast going, and when you do will you give me a cameo part? – I am pretty famous ya know. :)
Hi Al: Let’s plan for the new year to be grand for all of us – ok?
In regards to controlling the flow…Believe me, I know exactly who’s controlling the flow – It’s who’s got their finger on it, that I’m not sure about. Probably the same person sitting in a 4×4 cubicle who clicked on my ads over and over again and got me banned from Google. My new phrase: ‘Deal with it.’ A friendly alien once said that to me. He didn’t didn’t have any idea why he said it, but it stuck. Now every time I get a little pissy over something, I tell myself to deal with it. :)
Oh…Dear Readers…a newbie to the blog made a comment on my Fave Links page. If you’re just itching to get in and say something, you might want to try and post a comment there. Let’s have some fun – go for it and see if your post gets in. To go to Michelle’s Fave Links page click above this post or click here. Good luck!
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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January 6th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Hi Mischa, mood-wise it was a somber high school, what can I tell you? I had great friends and lacked for nothing in terms of a social life and academic substance…
Yes, that hair up and glasses on with a let it all hang out works for me! I can do that ; ) and that would be a fun project for Lily’s school, re: motivational speaking: you should hear me talking to the yoga group (of 8-12 year olds) while they’re deep breathing in syvasynna (sp?) – it’s hilarious, they’re always sneeking a peek at me out of one eye while I wander the room spouting all kinds of positive motivational words : ) It must be good, some moms have joined the group this week bc their kids couldn’t wait to return to school so they could exercise with me : ) that made my day to hear that! So cute…now if they’d let me teach them about raging hormones and dating and relationships/sex and what to expect/how to handle it, etc…wow!! I know I could save some girls from dumbing down and/or spare them from making dumb mistakes at their own expense…ah well…guess I’ll just save my own kid.
I often visualize you, me and maybe some guests stars in a off mainstream and on an offbeat set – version of ‘The View’ : ) one can dream, yes?
Deal with it – yes…that’s pretty much the mantra over here as well, if you don’t deal something else just might will be dealt for you that you’ll not like even more – I say, bring it on and if it’s bad, I’ll go down swinging!
Luv, Zen Lill
January 6th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Oh and by the way, I envy anyone who can sleep more than 5 hours at a time, I am sleep depped most of the time, but when I get 8 oh man, step aside…! So, I wish I could get that more often, working on getting the right blend of herbs/get to bed earlier/less stress (key operative word here, you’d think all that gym time would make me tired but no…!) sitch handled in 20-10! – ZL
January 6th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Hi Michelle. You have the right to conduct a forum for people of all beliefs to speak their minds and comment on your blog. Your problem with blog-blocking will end very soon. All who wish to participate will be able to — no matter what THEY come up with to try to block you.
There are many Nations that want to keep things as they are. You want to make changes for the better of everyone — especially allowing Women to be equal, as they always should have been. They see your blog as a threat and are doing what they can to keep people from seeing the light.
I might not agree with all that you post, but all in all you mean well and I have been assured that this blocking nonsense will end very soon.
HOWIE
January 6th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
OK,You got a deal.
Al