Are you just "paying" the minimums on your sleep debt each night?  Are you staying up late, then crashing into bed only to get up a few hours later for the day ahead?  If you are, then you're probably robbing yourself of the important benefits sleep has to offer. 

According to an article in Muscle Media magazine (December 2000) entitled The Golden Rules of Sleep,  "sleep initiates the manufacture and release of powerful, tissue-building substances."  There are no benefits to living with "sleep debt".  A sleep deprived individual can show symptoms of high blood pressure, failing immune system, higher levels of cortisol (a hormone associated with stress), raising heart rates, insulin resistance (a pre-diabetic condition affecting glucose tolerance and producing weight gain), increase in carbohydrate cravings, reduced levels of leptin (secreted by fat cells to inhibit appetite), slower reaction times and the list could go on.

I don't know about you, but that list hardly seems worth the few extra "waking hours".  Studies even show that those who aren't getting enough sleep are actually performing less and therefore nullifying the extra hours awake.  So, how do we fix this problem?  Most experts agree that 7-9 hours each night of uninterrupted sleep is what we should be striving for.  The article I mentioned talks about establishing a routine.  It suggests that you should be able to wake each morning at the same time without an alarm clock once your routine is established.  Wouldn't that be nice?  To wake up without that annoying buzzer scaring me half to death.  The point being that consistency is key and perhaps getting into the habit of doing something relaxing before bed would help as well.

As I've already mentioned, not getting enough sleep will cause you to have a "sleep deficit".  You will have to make up that sleep at some time.  It is possible to catch up on lost sleep but it is not ideal to A) create a deficit in the first place and B) use your weekends to log the hours you aren't getting during the week.  Other things that can help us get appropriate rest are strenuous exercise, healthy food and plenty of water.  I think most of us know what that entails so I'm not going to spell it out.  Bottom line, not eating enough or eating too much will disrupt your sleep.  Being inactive can make it more difficult to fall asleep (and stay asleep) at night.

Another suggestion from the article is to keep a sleep log.  Being the "tracking" minded person that I am, this is interesting to me.  They suggest logging your wake and sleep times, number of times you woke during the night, "exercise, bedtime meals, medications and pre-sleep activities".  By charting these things we can see what might be impeding our rest and what might be helping us achieve it.  They do recommend that we avoid stimulants and alcohol, and reduce stress.

So, do you still think it's a good idea to only pay the “minimum” toward our sleep each night?  I don't.