On the first morning of our new year, Scott and I slept in 'til about 9 am. We love to sleep...we love to sleep late. We're good at it. I'm not embarrassed to admit this, because while we both work hard, we also play hard. And sleep hard.
When asked to list my favorite activities, sleep is always included..."Reading, blogging, music, sleeping, pop culture..." Seriously. It is an activity, you know.
Last week my dear Kristen sent me an article from Wired magazine, entitled "3 Smart Things About Sleeping Late." The terms smart and sleeping late in the same sentence? Well, my interest was immediately piqued.
Some highlights from the article, written by Daniel Dumas:
"You may need more sleep than you think. Research by Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders Center found that people who slept eight hours and then claimed they were 'well rested' actually performed better and were more alert if they slept another two hours."
I'd kill for 10 hours of sleep each night. But then I'd have to go to bed at 9 pm, and let's face it...I'm still reading Perez Hilton at that hour. Just keeping it fully real here.
"Night owls are more creative. Artists, writers, and coders typically fire on all cylinders by crashing near dawn and awakening at the crack of noon."
I was smarter, prettier, much thinner, and generally more agreeable about life while in college. Going to bed at 2 am, waking at 9:00 for a 10 am class, then napping from 2-4...oh yes, it was the good life. Are you seeing the correlation here? While I don't want to return to my college days, my schedule from that time period is one I'd gladly relive.
"Rising early is stressful. The stress hormome cortisol peaks in your blood around 7 am. So if you get up then, you may experience tension."
Well, DUH! I wake at 7 am every morning...and this now explains so very much. Darn cortisol. I hate getting up at 7:00. I would much rather sleep until 10, but Libbey has school, Caroline has her daily activities, I have blogs to read, phone calls to make (8 am Colorado time: "Heather, I'm in the store buying stuff for your red beans & rice recipe--HELP!"), and you know...so on and so forth.
In my most-quoted movie, Steel Magnolias, Clairee tells Ouiser, "You would be a much more contented, pleasant person if you would find ways to occupy your time..." I think 10 hours of sleep is the perfect way to occupy my time. For a more contented and pleasant me. Someone please say "Amen!"
This little article has confirmed what I've suspected all along. From henceforth I will refuse to feel guilty for sleeping late whenever I have the chance. It's all for the good of my intellect. Brain power, y'all...we all need more of it.
42 comments:
AMEN, MY SISTER!
During Christmas vacation, I had the luxury of sleeping in until about 10 or 11am nearly every day. It helps when you have a nearly 11 year old kiddo who can get his own dadgum breakfast! MUAHAHAHA.
Peace.
I'm a night owl. Thought I was going to die when the alarm went off at 6 this morning. Ugh!
Amen.
And I took a two hour nap today.
There have been a lot of articles in our paper lately about how high schools should start later in the day. That teens especially don't function well in the morning.
I am a big fan of sleeping in, too. And this week of getting back on our schedule is grueling.
Amen, sister. Ugh the worst thing about the end of vacation is the darn alarm going off at 6 am. Why do they start things so early and then have the nerve to have so many distractions to keep me up late?
You know I love this article. It has totally become my weapon of choice when I sleep in. I've always been a night owl and find it easier to get work done when it is dark outside. I'm not sure why, it just is. All of my real writing gets done very late at night.
AND you totally just reminded me to go check Perez - because his site has been down all day every time I check it and I'm starting to twitch.
xoxo, Kristen
AMEN.
Yep, sleep is good. Lot's of sleep is better.
Guess what I did tonight while I ignored the Christmas decorations that are still up all around my house?
I went back to the very beginning of Lulaville and read all. Well all the way up to my first comment and then a little further just to be sure I had not missed one delicious morsel that had come from the fingers of you. Okay, slight exaggeration, because I did skim past the posts that had anything to do with your obsession with Lost.
I loved it all. Particularly Meerkat love........
ahhhhh.
Thank you for this. I love sleep. love it, love it, love it.
Except when I wake up randomly at 3am, can't get back to bed, must check blogs and have racing thoughts of brilliance I must write down.
Like tonight.
You crack me up, play hard, sleep hard. Are you sure you're not a Rock Star?
Oh Amen! I love to sleep too, yet I dont' sleep late much. If I get to stay in bed until 7:30 I feel priviledged. But I am up at 5:45am to get ready for work. Yuck!
Truly, I envy people who can nap.
My brain just won't shut off, no matter what. Unless I'm pregnant, then I can nap all the live-long day. But those days are long over.
I'll bet there will be lots of sleeping in next April...
Just sayin'.
Well, good for you! But I am up at 5:45am and go to bed at 9pm. So I guess I am a cortisol ho with not one creative bone in my body.
Amen, sistah!
I read somewhere that if you don't get enough sleep one ngith, you should try and catch up the next night...it's not necessarily the amount of sleep you get in a 24-hour period that is important (and iall the more reason for sleeping in on the weekends!)
BTW, just rented season 1 of Mad Men. I LOVE THAT SHOW. We don't get AMC so I am waiting for season two to come out--I'll always be behind...sigh.
I'm a late to bed/early to rise (cuz I have to) person. I just can't bring myself to get to be before 11 p.m.
Now, before we had Dish TV and internet, it wasn't a problem. I'd easily be in bed by 9 p.m.
Another influence on Babylon. Can you tell I'm fully immersed in my Daniel Bible Study? I DVR'd The Bachelor last night.....looking forward to naptime for the kids today so I can eat some black beans and rice and watch 25 dumb girls cat fight over a single dad. Good times....good times.
Girl, I'm right with ya on the sleeping late. I about died Monday morning when I had to get up at normal time to get the girls to school. We've been going to bed at 2:00 and sleeping until 10:00 during the holidays...and we were a much happier family!
Amen, and amen. I think 10 hours is the perfect amount of sleep. Did the study talk about the importance of napping, by any chance? :)
It's true. Sleep is an activity and it's one of my favs too! Great article. I'm gonna have to check it out!
Your comment on SITS this morning caught my eye. How? I'm not sure as I was scrolling quite quickly. THEN I read your about me. The fact that two of MY favorite movies are in your top 3 are a good sign.
I must whole-heartedly agree with your post today. I too was MUCH thinner, prettier and smarter when I was staying up till 2am and sleeping in and taking naps. Coincidence? I think not. Anyshway, nice to meet you (via bloggy).
I love sleep. LOVE it. Left to my own devices, I will sleep 10-12 hours a day. I actually took two naps yesterday. I bartended for years, living the night owl life, and it was perfect for me. It kills me that my daughter is such a morning person, although she's starting to sleep a little later. My husband is always giving me a hard time about all my sleeping. I'm going to have to send him this article. Amen!
I completely agree. Sleep is underrated! At least according to Oprah and Dr. Oz (whom annoys me to no, end but has some good health tips)!
Over break I "trained" my darlings to sleep in until 8:30 every day! A delight indeed! But, now that school's started again - I, like you - am up at 7 am! It stinks! I think they should just start school later in the day. Then we'd all be well rested & happy!
Btw, you certainly do have "big town appeal". Someday you and I should go shopping for those Manolos together!
I love sleep....I wish my girls did! I can't wait till Adyson is old enough to get up and get her own breakfast!
I wonder if I still would be able to sleep in late. Its been years since I was able. I don't know if I remember how.
I have a 14 month old...what's sleeping late? I've forgotten apparently.
Thank you for this. While the kids were out for winter break I slept in every day.
Yesterday was crazy, up at 6:40 and then I had a meeting for church at 8:30. I couldn't even go back to sleep.
Well I did today I just woke up 10 min ago (10:30) to the phone ringing. Guess I better get my day going.
Bill needs to read that article. He is the king of early risers. He thinks anything past 7:00 is sleeping too late. He needs to get a clue and maybe this article will help!
Nancy Night Owl, reporting for duty! So THAT's why I'm so creative, huh?
It bugs my husband to no end that I insist on 8-9 hours- and not until 2 am sometimes.
Amen to all of that...
Unfortunately, menopause appears to have robbed me of my ability to sleep more than 5 hours at a time...GRRRRRRRRR
Preach on sista! I have always been a night owl...and sleeping late is such a great thing. I didn't get up until 11 on Sunday...the last day before returning the real world where I get up and go to work.
It was good while it lasted.
I am with you!! I love to sleep. sometimes I wish I were still in Kindergarten so I could take a nap every afternoon!
(trying to post this again...) I am so printing this out and handing it over to my early rising husband on saturday morning with both kids and then returning to my bed!
I am a world class sleeper. I loved college because we had these blackout window shades on our windows and you could get the room pitch black at 2pm. Ahh, the life.
OH, I am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU!! I just don't think days should begin until 10 am. I loathe morning. My first child is just like me, she stayed up late, slept in and was an angel baby. Then I got my world rocked by my #2 who rises with the sun. Ughhhh.... Bring on the cortisol, cause I never get the sleep I need/want.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
I cannot wait until my girls are old enough that I can start readjusting our schedule to my natural hours.
Hi...
I love sleep....
I'm right there with you. Love, love, love to sleep late, probably because it doesn't happen very often.
Who's Perez Hilton? I must be out of the loop. Is she some sort of "Twilight" person?
Love that you quoted one of my favorite movies. One of my favorite parts is when Ouiser is grocery shopping with Clairee and she says ... "I'm pleasant! Hell, I saw (whatever his name was) last week at the Piggly Wiggly and I smiled at the son-of-a-bi@#$." Something like that. I have so many favorite parts in that movie.
And, yes ... sleep definitely qualifies.
You hit the nail on the head ... It is so nice to have affirmation like that. Thank you. Now someone tell my 3 year old that Mommy would be much better at life if she could sleep in a bit longer.
Hey, I just watched Steel Magnolias AGAIN a couple of days ago. Hubby marveled at how I could cry AGAIN at this movie. It's just one of those things.
And ... AMEN!
I do hate waking to an alarm clock. I am a much nicer person when I wake when I am ready. I get up at 5:30am every week day. That freakin sucks.
Except in the summer months. Then I sleep 'til I wake. My kids are teens and sleep until 11. Life is good in the summer time.
Steel Magnolias is one of my favorite movies to take from quotes from...classic movie! Yes it is!
aaaah. Sleep.
If only I could reverse the habit created by at least two decades of late nights.
I'm mentally french kissing you for quoting THE movie.
A-to-the-men!
The Youngest's dentist gave me a 5minute lecture a couple of weeks ago about getting rid of his pacifier (he's 2 1/2). If I could have told her to jump in a lake, I would have, but I'm too much of a sissy.
This child finally started sleeping through the entire night at 2 years of age. That's almost 800 nights in a row of snatching sleep when I could get it.
Hell No the pacifier doesn't go!
I'll sell a kidney for braces later, but give me six continuous hours now. Please.
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