Sleep solution

We get 24 hours in a day. Eight of those hours usually go toward a job, and most of us work hard at our jobs. Another eight hours (or less) go toward sleep, and another eight hours (or more) belong to everything and everyone else.

We work hard at our jobs and lives. Do we work hard at our sleep?

I had been averaging six hours of sleep a night for who knows how long. I am making an effort to hit the sack earlier.  On most nights, I average eight hours of sleep a night. Over the course of two weeks, that's a gain of 28 hours of rest - worth three and a half extra nights of sleep.

Consider the toddler who takes a 1.5-hour nap every day. That nap makes a difference, and I know what my toddler is like when he skips the nap. As the day shifts into the evening, he grows more irritable and more defiant. The changes are subtle, but that short nap recharges him enough to finish the day and wind down with the rest of us.

Over the past month, I have noticed subtle changes in my physical and mental health. I rise much easier in the morning, and those mid-afternoon drowsy spells are gone. My inner plumbing (ahem) seems more "efficient." I wonder if that is linked to being more in sync with the so-called circadian rhythm. As the sun rises, it stimulates a hormone inside our bodies that triggers the intestines into action. By going to bed earlier, and logging more sleep before sunrise, I am more in tune with this natural cycle.