One of my favorite times of day is when I ‘get’ to go to bed.

One of the ways I keep sane is sleeping an average of eight hours each night. I love bedtime and the ability to crawl into a warm bed in a cold room. I love the way the blankets embrace me with the knowledge we will be together for a good 8 hours. I look forward to that downtime and I feel good in the morning after a night of slumber.

However, on those days when I don’t get a solid 8 hours due to travel, illness, worry, late night partying (who knew I was such a party animal?) or other events it takes its toll on me. My energy is low, my mood is sour and I forget things.

If that happens for more than one night, I get headaches and my body feels droopy and I feel sad. And I have a “woe is me” sort of attitude about everything.  Feeling like that and having to go to work was always a nightmare. I had to pretend I was sane, remember my assignments and function normally. Good luck with that.

Getting back on track might take a few nights but once there – in the cold, dark room, in a warm bed, I do what it takes to get back to those precious eight hours of sleep.

Related articles

• 8 Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep (inc.com)
• 10 Tips to help you get to sleep (huffingtonpost.com)
• Sleep Deprivation Military Studies (sleep-aid-tips.com)
• Arianna Huffington picks 16 articles on the power of sleep (ideas.ted.com)
• Conquer Stress and Master Sleep for a Richer Life (nbcnews.com)
• 15 Hair-Raising Consequences of Sleep Deprivation (lifehack.org)
• Dump Your Troubles  (margekatherine.com)
• Claim Your Space  (margekatherine.com)