Sleep Snobbery

Growing up I knew something was different about me, something that would eventually make me a second class citizen looked down upon by normal society. It wasn’t that I was a woman (well, it was in a way but we’ll deal with that in a different blog entry.) It wasn’t because I was from a “broken home” (OK, fodder for another blog…) It was because I wasn’t a morning person.

Seriously, the discrimination came as early as grade school. I remember discussing our favorite TV shows with my first grade classmates around the lunch table. They were aghast when they learned I had never seen Land of the Lost, HR Puffinstuff or any show that aired before noon, in fact. Conversely, they didn’t appreciate my devotion to Johnny Carson.

But childhood derision was nothing compared to the onslaught of prejudice I would face as an adult. Those haughty looks from “larks” who rose at 6 am to run in the park, then read the paper, and do their shopping all “before you even got up – hee hee.” Then came the chiding from bosses when I tried to request that our monthly all-staff meetings move from 8 am to 3 pm.

I come from a family of Night Owls. None of us would ever wake up at 8 am on a weekend unless we had to catch a flight or go to a funeral. Does that us bad people?

No, in fact there are millions just like us hiding under blankets of shame. Each and every one of us has an internal clock or “chronotype,” which makes us either early-to-bed-early-to-rise larks or nightlife-loving owls. Research shows that our chronotype seems to be largely inherited just like eye color or blood type. But the difference is that people don’t think you’re lazy just because you have hazel eyes, and they don’t exclude you from early brunch plans when your O negative.

But, sadly the world is geared toward the larks. The American work day starts at 9 am or earlier, a time when most of us owls would rather be easing out of a good dream and readjusting our pillows. And it’s getting worse. Nowadays, corporate types schedule breakfast meetings at 7 am so as not to waste a precious minute of real work time. Uggh.

The truth of the matter is that I – and most other owls – work as hard as those annoying larks. I just do my work at a different time of day. I exercise in the afternoon or evening and sweat as much – or more -- as they do at 6 am. I read in bed before going to sleep and am somehow able to absorb the same information as they do at the breakfast table at 7 am. But yet the derision continues.

Unfortunately, it’s not just the judgment that hurts. Having to live in a lark-oriented world deprives most owls of a full night of sleep. And that has devastating long-term consequences on our health, our mood and even our weight!

I am currently enrolled in a course just about sleep at NYU led by Nancy Rothstein -- a women referred to as "The Sleep Ambassador."  I’ve been fascinated by what I’m learning. Just a night or two of under 7 hours of sleep can affect the areas of the brain that control impulses, imagination and our abilities to incorporate new information. This puts us in a serious disadvantage at work – or really any important life situation. It makes us crabby spouses, impatient parents and in some cases can lead to very dangerous sleep disorders. Sleep also helps balance gherlin and leptin, two hormones that regulate hunger and appetite satiety. Meaning that lack of sleep can lead to serious carb cravings the next day. And, over time ,can cause major weight gain and diabetes.

Sleepy driving is perhaps more prevalent that drunk driving has also been cited as the cause of hundreds of fatal car accidents. And, in some bizarre cases, sleep deprivation has led to a form of sleep walking in which violent acts were perpetrated by “innocent” people while fully asleep. Disturbing and sad, really.

Thankfully, parts of corporate America are waking up (pun intended) to the importance of sleep and how it relates to productivity. Many companies are hiring sleep experts -- like the Sleep Ambassador to coach their staff in proper “sleep hygiene.” This includes helping to balance your circadian rhythms by getting adequate exposure to light during the day and shutting down electronic light during the late evening – something that I have been trying with limited success. They also advise maintaining a calm, clean, cool and comfortable sleep environment free of any electronic devices. While I’ve never had a TV in our bedroom, I do have pretty serious clutter and dog hair tumbleweed issues that I blame on the other two beloved residents of my home!

About a dozen or so major companies are also enacting a fantasy of mine which they've named “Results Only Work Environments (ROWE)” In a ROWE employees don’t have set schedules. How, when and where they get their work done is totally up to them – as long as they get it done. Across the board worker productivity, engagement and satisfaction rise in these idyllic offices.

And perhaps you’ve heard of the sleep pods and napping rooms at Google and other 21^st Century workplaces. Sleep is finally coming out of the closet at work – that is as long as it helps the bottom line.

Sleep is a complicated issue taking into effect our genes, our environment and a host of common physical disorders such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and insomnia.  It is often not a matter of choice and is certainly not a measure of laziness and anti-social behavior.

So I call upon you owls out there to rise up with me and demand the respect we deserve. Plan those 2pm brunches, schedule a meeting at 6pm, call your buddy at during Jon Stewart – its all our birthright.

I have a dream that we will all live in a land of harmony and understand between larks and owls. I have a dream where we can have a dream at 10 am and brag about it.

 

For those of you who'd like to read more about this topic I highly recommend this book. It's fascinating while being a fun summer read: http://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-Adventures-Strange-Science-Sleep/dp/039308020X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371833057&sr=8-1&keywords=dreamland#_ or contact Nancy Rothstein at nancy@thesleepambassador.com