As I write it is nearly 3:00 am and I’ve already ruined the morning. Yesterday was hectic at work and involved a crushing deadline, a visit from regulatory surveyors, a giant Frappuccino, and a late-night chicken wing indiscretion while standing in front of the stove. By the time I went to bed I had to flush the day from my mind, so I wound up watching several episodes of Mad Men on the tiny screen of my phone, as not to wake the grizzly bear or our cub.

I dread 6:30, a blink away, when I have to get up, wearing the affect of the undead, to wake my kids and usher them toward the front door to go to school. I’m gonna look like crap and feel even worse. Unfortunately, this is a pattern for me: be tired, make bad choices, push limits, crash and burn, repeat.

I wish I didn’t feel the urge to nap as often. Or wake up so many mornings unrested. And of course this happens because I am chronically sleep deprived.

Here’s why:

1.  I have an erratic work and sleep schedule with varying bedtimes and wake times
2. My family almost always awakens me before I am ready to rise on my days off. On work days I have to use an alarm.
3. I bedshare with a baby, and a dude that wears a cpap (and who snores loudly when he doesn’t)
4. My best thinking hours, and the only quiet time I get, come after 10pm
5. I am a ponderer, a writer, a binge-watcher and reader, and I have an aversion to strict routines. I hold sleep an arm’s length away, as something yucky that eats up my time for other things.
6. Oh, how I love staying up late and hate getting up early. My go-to rhythm is to stay up until 2 am and sleep til 9 or so, if nothing constrains my time. Current life does not accommodate this, and I’m not sure it’s entirely natural or healthy anyway.
7. I have never made sleep a priority. It falls somewhere on the rankings near cutting my toenails, or cleaning the grease trap under the barbecue.

Why should I give sleep the time of day?

I don’t particularly like sleeping. I wish I could be Edward from Twilight so I never have to sleep and could spy on people instead or play broody piano in the dark. The only reason I give in to snoozing is because my body and brain must shut down; I’m like the robot girl from Small Wonder who eventually and reluctantly must recharge in her cabinet.

Connection between sleep and health

Sleep may seem like a waste of time, but it is valuable for the obvious reasons, and also in ways popular science doesn’t yet have a firm grasp on. Many metabolic, immunologic, and neurologic functions become disturbed when healthy sleep patterns cannot take place. We see this contribute to common health problems in lots of ways.

Metabolism

Sleep is “rest and digest” time, and our gut works the night shift with its bacterial contractors. Without adequate sleep we may see:

• Fat deposits in the liver and other places—these increase when energy storage is on the fritz
• Insulin resistance, which causes elevated blood sugar
• Incomplete or slowed processing of food in the gut, leading to constipation, gas, and bloating
• Increased symptoms from digestion problems and disorders, including reflux, irritable bowel disease, and inflammatory gut conditions
• Disturbance of the sensors in the gut that modulate hunger and energy expenditure based on a daily clock (aka hunger signals do not fire appropriately at the right time)

Immunological

• Inappropriate inflammation and possible autoimmune disease
• Reduction in the ability to ward off infections.  You may get sick more often and get sicker when you do.

Neurological

• Interrupted or missing sleep cycles delay or omit brain maintenance (your brain should be de-fragging nightly)
• Mental fog, mood disorders, and memory impairment result from not enough brain downtime. Alzheimer’s risk increases as sleep length decreases.
• Gut-brain connections go haywire when neurotransmitter production and regulation isn’t done while asleep.  Neurotransmitters that your brain depends on are made in your intestines.

Slowed tissue generation and repair

• Inhibition of exercise and delay in injury healing
• Full recovery after particularly stressful times takes longer
• Organs malfunction and cells die faster
• Pain and discomfort might increase

Imagine a battery with a current of energy running from it. One possible path of energy goes toward waking functions, like walking, mental alertness, and eating. A second path goes toward all the maintenance that must go on, like digestion, repairs, and the other things listed above. That current can’t go down both paths at the same time. A switch must be flipped to take us from action to maintenance, and then back again. I need to take back control of my switch. Or, more accurately, I need to surrender control back to the rhythms of nature, rather than my forced schedule.

The more I list the more I see how much sleep could be the key to increased health, and how much I’ve neglected by simply not making it a priority.

How can I get better rest?

Everyone has different reasons for not getting enough sleep, and each individual should be tailoring their sleep interventions to match their life and situation.  I can think of a bunch of different things I’m not doing consistently that might help me get better sleep.

1. Wind down time. Leaving enough time before my sleep deadline to mentally decompress. Consider a new “ready for bed” time as a buffer. I think I need 30-60 minutes beforehand to transition.
2. Darkness and coolness. Get rid of all artificial light a little before bedtime and keep the window cracked when weather allows, for breezes and fresh air.
3. Exercise. Working out hard makes me sleep hard. As long as it’s not too hard, because this makes me want to nap hard at inappropriate times.
4. Daytime light. At least 10 minutes of outdoor time in daylight whether I’m at work or home. (Preferably an hour or more in morning light, which is easier on my days off.) I need to take my breaks outdoors, or at least under the skylight or large window, when working inside all day.
5. Reduce stress and stop bringing baggage to bed with me. Process stress before my sleep deadline. I can talk with my family or friends, journal, do yoga, or listen to guided meditation.
6. Caffeine elimination. I don’t drink caffeine regularly, and it can affect my sleep. I should reserve it for my days off. Compounds in chocolate can have the same effect, so I need to rethink my choice of treats.
7. Regular bedtime. Get more of a routine going. My bedtime can vary up to 4 hours. I think going to bed between 10 and 11 pm sounds reasonable.
8. Fall in love with sleep again. (As if I ever did!) Or at least learn to live peacefully in an arranged marriage with sleep. I want us to tolerate each other with warm companionship and embrace complacent efficiency. This I have yet to really think about, but it probably has something to do with finding secondary wins in going to bed.
9. Control what I eat and drink before bed. Salty or sugary things make me piss. If I’ve eaten poorly all day and stayed dehydrated, I get thirsty at the end of the day to catch up. This is no bueno. More than crying babies or snoring spouses, having to pee in the middle of sleep is the number one thing that makes me wake up before I’m ready.

This sleep struggle has been an ongoing thing and will not change overnight (pun intended). It involves modification of behaviors and a change in deep-seated beliefs. I act as though sleep is a slippery fish, so hard to catch because of it’s nature. But really, I’m the one repelling sleep, fighting it away and defying a natural function my body needs. Sleep should not be held at arm’s length, because even in arranged marriages there are duties to perform, if you catch my drift. 😉

For further reading (of long, nerdy science-y articles):

Sleep and autoimmune disease

Body clocks

Light and metabolism