Steve Jobs, You're Gonna Kill Me.

Our old friend, Wikipedia, has defined sleep very simply. Sleep is a naturally recurring altered state of consciousness with relatively suspended sensory and motor activity, characterized by the inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles.  For me, sleep is just practically impossible these days. I am still plagued by my summer nightowl habits, and I can't seem to wind down. Then it's 7 AM and I realize that I haven't slept enough hours and it's - to say the least - a "rude awakening."

I never used to value the wonderful ability I had to just doze off at a reasonable hour. Maybe it's just a thing that I am discovering recently, but I don't seem to need as much sleep as I used to. I can keep going on just about 5 hours of sleep without any problem. Why do we need less sleep as we get older? According to Live Science, "Healthy aging appears to be associated with reductions in sleep duration and depth required to maintain daytime alertness." According to this study, as long as one remains alert and happy during the day, there is a wide fluctuation in what is a normal amount of sleep. When I was a teenager and a young woman, I remember how much I loved a long stretch of sleep. It was not that unusual for me to sleep for 10-12 hours straight on a weekend! That is unheard of now.

So how does a person learn to sleep better? I recently read about some tips to help. A good night's sleep is within the reach of most of us if we follow common-sense guidelines:

• Go to bed at the same time nightly.  
• Set aside enough time to hit that golden 7 hours of sleep.
• Refrain from caffeine, heavy or spicy foods, and alcohol and other optional medications that might keep you awake, four to six hours before bed-time.
• Have a pre-sleep routine so you wind down before you hop in.
• Block out distracting lights and noises.
• No TV-watching, reading or eating in bed.
• Exercise regularly but not right before bed.
• Multiple, shorter sleep sessions nightly are an option if you can't manage only one long session.
• Eight hours of sleep per night is plenty to keep a person healthy. If you are getting 7-8 hours, you should be fine!

Here's my problem... Steve Jobs. He has invented the iPhone, iPod and the iPad, and those are the primary reasons I can't sleep. Those are some cool little items, and the iPad apps are keeping me highly intrigued at about 9:00 each night. Before I know it, I have been kept awake by those things until well after midnight. Embarrassingly, much later than that some nights. Thanks, Steve.

No really, thanks.