Courtesy of Richard Trierweiler
I have a love-hate relationship with sleep.
I love to sink into my bed, warm and soft. I pull the covers up to my chin, close my eyes and surrender.
But I feel guilty about sleeping, too. Like when I hit snooze, every nine minutes, for over an hour. ‘Just one more,’ I think with each lunge for the button I could find with my eyes closed, and often do.
Those snooze binges happen when I make a plan for my day, set the alarm with every intention of rising — rested or not — to an ambitious to-do list, and then decide in a stupor that nothing could be more important than maintaining my unconsciousness.
When I do get up, I put the guilt on with my clothes while I mentally postpone most of agenda.
Sleep feels great, but it can be such a waste of time. Just think what I could have done if I had rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stood tall against the temptation of my soft, warm bed. Laundry. Dishes. Exercise. Write. Read. The next house project. Spanish practice. Try that new recipe. Maybe even spend some time with my finace?
It’s a tough balance to find — and maintain — but all the literature I read tells me that I better even the weights on the scale, or else.
New research, published in Nature Genetics, found that the symptoms of diabetes developed after just three days of disrupted sleep.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy drivers account for more than 100,000 crashes each year, including more than 1,500 fatalities.
And your productivity goes down, which is pretty much my reason for staying up in the first place.
In conclusion, I need a nap.
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