"The amount of sleep required by the average person is about five minutes more."

That's one of my favorite quotes from American raconteur Wilson Mizner (1876 - 1933). Even in his day, people weren't getting enough sleep. Along with the national debt, our society's sleep debt has grown dramatically over the past century. Our ancestors 100 years ago averaged well over an hour more sleep per night. We suffer many consequences from not getting enough sleep.

Each autumn we have the chance to enjoy an extra hour of sleep as we turn the clocks back from daylight savings to standard time. (Although this year is the first time the switch is occurring so late.)

Unfortunately, many people give time for sleeping a very low priority, and as a culture, we tend not to value sleep. In the evenings, we seem to keep busy with work projects or leisure activities well past the time when our brains would have allowed us to fall asleep. Work schedules definitely are part of the problem, but lifestyle choices are equally to blame.

Patients sometimes come to our Sleep Disorders Center thinking that some disease must be causing them to be sleepy all day. They worry about their drowsy driving or their nodding off during meetings or lectures. In many cases, a quick review of their schedule reveals the answer - insufficient sleep. They get to bed too late and get up too early.

Often, when I convince these patients to add just 30 to 60 minutes to their nightly sleep time for just 2 weeks, they are pleasantly surprised at the results. When they realize the cause of their problem, and experience the benefits of a little extra shut-eye, they usually make the right choice in giving sleep a higher priority.

I hope you took advantage of that free hour Saturday night and Sunday morning, and enjoyed being a little more alert the next day. Adjust your schedule so you can get some more sleep every night. Your brain will appreciate it.