A recent poll cited in Spirituality and Health magazine asked Americans to choose among the following activities if they had more time in a day: sleep, rest and relax, work, socialize or play. Now what activity would you choose?

If you responded like the majority of those asked, you'd head for bed. That's not surprising, given that over 60% of us are sleep deprived. Americans, overall, are sleeping one hour less per night than our parent's generation.

Many factors contribute to our inability to get enough zzz's—the availability of the internet has made work a 24/7 proposition and our attachment to the accumulation of "things" has kept most of us working to support our habit. Economist, Juliet Schor, writes about this increasing phenomenon in her book, Overspent American.

So, what is the impact of our lack of sleep? To quote Professor of Medicine, Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago, "Lack of sleep disrupts every physiologic function in the body". Lack of sleep has been linked at one extreme to driving accidents and fatalities to an inability to focus or develop clarity in solving any number of life's problems.

Everyone needs a certain number of hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. That number varies per individual, but the articles I've read indicate that the magic figure is between 7 and 9—or perhaps gauged by whatever time you would normally awake without an alarm clock. Erroneously, many Americans believe that if they can "make up" the lack of sleep in any given day or week, all will be fine.

But, that is not the case. Research shows that if you don't get the hours of sleep you need, you begin to create a "sleep debt". Lost sleep accumulates and you grow a larger sleep indebtedness that does not just go away with a good night's sleep. You can only reduce your sleep debt by sleeping over and above what you normally need.

Perhaps a way to sleep well at night is to slow down during the day, rather than expect your body to immediately doze off once you come to a screeching halt at bedtime. For more tips on increasing your sleep, read the article: The Top Ten Ways to Get a Good Night's Sleep.

Good Night :)

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I'll be speaking at the following upcoming events and invite you to attend:

"Defining Your Edge: Key Elements To Increase Your Value in the Marketplace", eWomenNetwork Luncheon, Wednesday, May 30, 11am, Portland Country Club, Falmouth, Maine.

This year's Women's Retreat in Provence is full! Email me if you'd like to be notified about the 2008 trip.