Paying Off Your Sleep Debt

If you’re not getting enough sleep, you aren’t alone.

According to a report in the July issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch, the majority of women aren’t getting the healthy amount of seven to nine hours of sleep per night.

60% of women are in serious sleep debt, putting them at risk for increased health consequences including reduced coordination and cognitive ability in the short term. The good news is that you can repay even a significant sleep debt, reports the magazine.

The magazine says that if you have under-slept by 10 hours in a week, you can make up for it over the weekend and the week after.

If, like most parents, you’ve missed years of sleep, the magazine says it could take a few weeks of going to bed early and sleeping late to repay your sleep debt to your body. The magazine recommends that you plan a vacation with few scheduled events so that you can go to sleep as soon as you feel tired and stay in bed until you wake up naturally.

I, for one, am hoping to repay my sleep debt during the first month of my retirement. Only 32 years to go!