Are you getting enough?

Sleep that is. Every time I look at a newspaper or magazine there seems to be an article on sleep. The quality of my sleep seems to go in cycles and it has little to do with how tired I am. Sometimes I go to sleep as soon as I go to bed, sleep deeply all night and wake up just before the alarm. Sometimes I can't get to sleep and have disturbing dreams when I do . Then there are the nights when sleep doesn't leave me feeling at all refreshed (often rather disturbed in fact!).

One thing the articles all go on about is that you need a routine (no long lie-ins at weekends) and you need to start winding down before you go to bed. This weekend I made an effort to get up at 8.30 a.m. on both days. OK so it's not 5.30 a.m. as it is during the week but it's not that much later. I certainly felt tired by about 8pm on each evening and going to bed around ten was not too much of a struggle. I read a few pages as I usually do but couldn't manage more than that because my eyes were closing. I woke up this morning before the alarm feeling refreshed and cheerful.

You need (so one article suggested) 1 hour of sleep for every 2 hours you are awake. I shall keep this little formula in my head over the next few weeks and see how well it applies over time. It worked out fine for this weekend. It's also a useful reminder that tiredness is often about dehydration, low blood sugar and boredom as much as a need for actual sleep.

If anyone does like the idea of getting up at the same time every day (which if you work full time is probably going to be very early) Steve Pavlina wrote this great piece on it. It's true that early rising does give you more time. I got lots done this weekend. I've got a few days off at the end of the week and I intend to get up early and make a good start on the day. Of course it's much easier to get up of bed when Dear Heart has already turned on lights and the radio and crashed his way around the bedroom before departing for work!