Comments on: A good night’s sleep improves productivity

By: Open Loops 11/10/2009: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along | SimpleProductivityBlog.com

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:01:19 +0000

[...] points out to us that “A good night’s sleep improves productivity”. I’m apt to forget this basic building block of productivity; there is so much going on that [...]

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:39:06 +0000

What’s particularly tough, for me and probably for others, is the necessity of hewing to an artificial schedule. I am a natural night owl and have trouble getting to sleep before midnight. Add to that, I need 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep for top performance. This means that in order to get to work on time, I am perpetually getting less sleep than I need.

By: Surfin’ the Net: 10/10 | Organizing Your Way

Surfin’ the Net: 10/10 | Organizing Your Way — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:13:21 +0000

[...] A Good Night’s Sleep Improves Productivity, [...]

By: Anita

Anita — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:49:47 +0000

Can’t agree more with the importance of a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately we mostly only realise it when we are sleep deprived. Incidentally, apparently it can take two weeks for your body to get over sleep deprivation, once you start consistently sleeping enough, so sleeping in over the weekend is really not cutting it.

As to waking up, to each their own. I have trouble falling asleep, but once I do, it takes a lot to wake me, so my radio is turned up pretty loud, to an upbeat station; and sometimes I still sleep through it for 15-20 minutes. My boyfriend, however, wakes up to very light music and gets out of bed almost instantly, so I basically need to set a second alarm clock whenever I stay over.

By: Jessiejack

Jessiejack — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:39:03 +0000

May I second Dawn’s concern about cosleeping and infant safety. It is definitly a risk factor for SIDS. There are 2500 cases of SIDS in the US each year so I don’t think that is vanishingly rare especially if your child is one of the 2500. There is also the risk of suffication.It is more difficult to have kids learn to sleep alone if it is introduced when they are older. It’s better to start young.
Motrin should not be used under 6 months old and certainly not on a regular basis to promote longer sleeping.

By: Magchunk

Magchunk — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:09:11 +0000

We just moved to a new place that is actually convenient for using mass transit. So, we’re decluttering the block by getting rid of my car, etc. The trade-off is that the last train I can catch leaves at 6:50, and I have to take a bus (and a short hike) to get there. So I’m now getting up at 5:15, whereas when I was driving I was struggling to wake up on time at 6:45. I’ve been much groggier, but at least I’m not driving that way!

It helps me to lay out my clothes the night before, shower at night, and preset the coffee maker so I can be on autopilot for the first half-hour I’m awake. Then I can relax/snooze/waken gradually once I get on the train.

By: Felicia

Felicia — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:29:58 +0000

Several years ago my mom bought us an alarm clock that wakes us up to doves cooing. The doves start 10 minutes before the alarm is set. They start off soft and gradually get louder until they are screaming at you. It is wonderful to be gradually awakened. The only down side is that we live in the country and actually have doves in our trees. When they start to coo early in the morning, I wake up. It’s still much better than a blaring alarm in the mornings, especially since my husband and I have very different schedules.

By: Elaine Shannon

Elaine Shannon — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:52:34 +0000

Welcome to the world of Mommy brain. Catch some sleep when you can, nap if posible, never feel guilty for doing it…in about 20 some years you will catch up on it again…it is a small price to pay for the joy of children

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:07:56 +0000

To the families who are co-sleeping with their infants and toddlers in their beds: I beg you to reconsider or find safer alternatives to co-sleeping – I knew a family whose lives were destroyed when their infant child was suffocated during co-sleeping. I’m sure you think “oh, that’ll never happen to me – we’re very careful…” Well, guess what, it can happen to anyone.

Yes, sleep is important. Protecting your child should be more important.

By: Bruno

Bruno — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:47:24 +0000

Great article. I think you could improve it by telling your readers the National Sleep Foundation is funded primarily by sleeping-pill manufacturers, and exists to spread the notion that Americans are dangerously underslept. Better still, don’t even mention them.

By: savvy

savvy — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:32:20 +0000

co-sleeping is a must with infants and teething toddlers. We co-sleep with my son (he’s 2 now), and I found it made night feedings, illnesses, and sleep regression cycles very tolerable. He was a 2-3x night nurser until about 15 months (much more frequently before then), but I was still able to function during the day because I didn’t have to wake up to feed him.

I’m 8 months pregnant now, so our queen bed is crowded, but I still sleep better when he’s with us than when he’s not.

By: Jeri Dansky

Jeri Dansky — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:56:30 +0000

Another Deb and anyone else looking for alarm clocks that provide a gentler wake-up: I have a blog post (http://tinyurl.com/gentle-alarm) with some clocks that might work for you.

By: cdelphine

cdelphine — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:53:39 +0000

I’ve always struggled with my sleep schedule and waking up. I’m a night owl so waking up anytime before 9am is so painful. If I don’t set an alarm I sleep until 1pm. And I’m a really heavy sleeper so the only way I’ve found to wake myself up is an alarm clock on the other side of the room….even that doesn’t always work. I yearn to slowly wake up in the morning, well rested, able to snuggle in my bed for a bit and then get up and begin my day. *sigh* not happening.

By: Patty

Patty — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:42:37 +0000

May I add to all this great advice, I suffer from tinnitus, so falling asleep and staying asleep has been a real challenge for the past 11 years. I have found (right up the Uncluttered alley) having a serene room, no clutter, peaceful, helps sleeping in a big way. I rarely need an alarm clock, have two just in case, mostly for the winter months( its dark). I wake to the sun rising and find it peaceful to get going than getting jarred out of bed with an alarm.

to all the mom’s, sleep is on it’s way….

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:06:05 +0000

@Courtney — Even in my sleep deprived state, I can state with 100 percent certainty that I do not need an Itzbeen My son’s hunger and pain doesn’t care if I recorded it or not — ha!

By: Beverly D

Beverly D — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:53:52 +0000

I finally started paying attention to the sleep literature that said go to bed at the same time every night, no stimulation for an hour prior to bedtime, get up same time every day, etc. And it worked! I have wakened before the alarm for a couple of years now, and most days I don’t set it. The only time I do set it is if for some odd reason I have to get up earlier than usual. It would have been impossible when I had small children though, there is no way you can fully predict the needs of a changing variable. Just keep trying and know that it doesn’t last forever, which is somewhat bittersweet.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:04:29 +0000

*snort* Hence the Itzbeen, previously of unitasker Wednesday.

FWIW, I’m all about the co-sleeping. I don’t even have to wake up to feed her, since I’m breastfeeding. And, snuggling is the numero uno imperative of all infants everywhere. When they say to never leave your infant alone, and then tell you to leave them alone to sleep, it’s kind of paradoxical, no? Especially because infants have difficulty regulating their autonomic systems and take their cues from their mothers. SIDS is vanishingly rare, and most deaths are actually infanticide or previously undiagnosed congenital defects.

Anyway, I find that Infant Motrin + carbs before bed + cosleeping = a longer sleep.

Good luck!!

By: Dawn F.

Dawn F. — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:31:24 +0000

Missing a good night of sleep can totally ruin my day.

A great night of sleep for me usually involves drifting off to sleep listening to a soft piano music CD with the ceiling fan spinning and zero clutter in the bedroom.

By: Tod

Tod — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:41:58 +0000

chacha1, I sympathize with your plight. I used to think I was an incurable night owl, but I decided to change it. The motivator was getting up at 5 am to be at adult hockey practice at 6. The key is that I wake up at the same time every single day, and give myself plenty of time to wind down at night.

By: Nanita

Nanita — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:57:16 +0000

I’ve just started using a GoLite, which uses blue light wave LEDs. It’s supposed to help adjust circadian rhythms in addition to counteractng seasonal depression during the low-light time of year in northern latitudes. (This is definitely an issue in Seattle!)

After just a few mornings of using the light for 15 minutes, I notice that I am more tired at night and that I have been waking up before the alarm in the morning–unheard of for me! How cool is that?

As another night owl, now the trick is to actually Go To Bed when I’m tired, rather than falling asleep on the sofa!