Good article, I forget which study estimated that about 75% of westerners (US and Canada) are walking around sleep deprived, I wonder how many accidents happen on the roads due to this and how much productivity is lost per day as a whole.

I find it most people find it hard to relax, even on weekends, just being still and not trying to cram as much into a Saturday as possible.

Take grw for example, a classic case of sleep deprivation, at least I hope so for his sake, imagine being so rude and intolerant of others success,

Having done shift work and emergency response stuff, I am glad that I have a regular schedule (well I did until my daughter came along and now we have her schedule!).

I was watching my cat have a snooze yesterday, and realized that compared to his wild cousins he can afford to shut down and have a real sleep, in the wild he would never be able and that factor is likely a reason why wild animals generally don’t live as long as domestic.

Once my wife finishes a major project or something that is big/stressful, she celebrates by having a “Victory Nap”

I bet anyone who's read my comments before is getting TIRED of me attributing everything to synchronicity--as if the universe is constantly trying to teach me things...

However...just this morning before I read this I was sitting, as always, having my coffee at the donut shop where I hang out and this guy comes in complaining to anyone who'll listen about how tired he is, and how he'd just like to skip work and bo back to bed.

I went into my routine about how important sleep is, and how he's ruining his health, and how scientists know that the amount and quality of sleep a person gets is actually the number one indicator of how long and healthy the rest of his life is going to be.

So yeah...Steve's column might seem whimsical at first glance, grw, but actually it's probably as important as anything else you're going to read about health this year.

The best way to stay healthy is not ever to do anything when you're tired--except go to sleep.

Of course you might have to change jobs and spouses--even kids and mortgages--and "buy down" to a house you can actually afford.

Fatigue is fatal--over a long period of time-- not to mention, causatively correlated with things like falling off ladders, driving into ditches, telephone poles and concrete pillars; and pissing off spouses who want to talk about feelings.

Believe it or not, nobody's figured out exactly why we need sleep or why we get tired.

One would suppose that it is has to do with the depletion of adenosine triphosphate, the body's source of energy for using chemical products, but who knows?

Wake up!

Sleep! Glorious sleep! I wish I could get some. Never been a "good sleeper" and now, suffering the effects of "mid-life changes", I am unable to sleep longer than 1 hour before waking up to have a sweat and roll over. I'm amazed I can still do my job every day on 3-4 hours of (interrupted) sleep a night. I envy you Steve Burgess.

Sweet dreams, Mr. Burgess.

Always enjoy the science you bring to issues, Truman...not my strong suit so it's always interesting to read what you have to say. Sleep is such a mystery, isn't it? How we surrender ourselves to it...give ourselves trustingly to it...can't live without it (at least not for long).

I have a theory about why we need sleep but I would never say it out loud...especially on The Tyee...it has to do with the concept of time and space, probably not great science but it has a certain appealing charm...my kind of physics. ;-)

Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. I think it's just human nature to get sick of something you see over and over again. I like Burgess, but after seeing him in the Westender every week, on the Tyee probably as frequently, and even in the Reader's Digest I was flipping through at the physio, and all with a forced kind of funny, it begins to all sound the same. Since he really only writes about himself and his experiences, it must be really difficult to come up with fresh angles.

Hey, I've always needed about 12 hours a sleep a night, not to mention a nap during the day! These days I get less, but still love my naps. However, the article is still nothing more than whimsical because he doesn't bring in anything but his own thoughts and experiences. Had he done some research and talked to some sleep researches or other medical professionals, it might have been as important. As it is, those who disagree with his thesis can just toss it off as the ramblings of one person who needs to write about something.

I think i exist on a 30 hour day...... 20 hours awake 10 sleeping.... causes problems sometimes... i also am most productive from 2- 5:30 am -consistently.

They just arrested 17 terrorists in our country and the tyee homepage has an article about this?

Tax Cutter99 ... I think the point of the Tyee is to expose stories that are not covered in the mainstream media or to cover different angles that have been glossed over.

Oh my! Thank you Tyee for NOT fear mongering about "terrorists"!!!

I often embarrass myself more when I have missed a few than when I have had a few too many!

Well-written and entertaining article, Mr Burgess, on functioning in our 'high-stress-is-best' society...it's a relief to hear there are others out there working 'till 3:30 am, sleeping 'till 11:30 am, and are still, somehow, contributing members of society!!

Growlhisss, I agree...the Tyee is the one place to come to escape the fear-mongering, but not to escape the truth of the issues...

I'd just like to say- NICE PIC!! How absolutely beautiful... Coming to think of it, I've never slept better than I have the last few years, with my dog snuggled and breathing beside me.
Lynn- what's your theory? Sounds interesting.

The only time I have ever walked into a hall wall, missing the bathroom door altogether, was when I was not intoxicated, but rather in a sleep deprived stupor!

Of course, everyone watching me at the time thought I must have been drunk, but alas, it was really only sleep deprivation - which illustrates the point perfectly, that it is indeed much more dangerous than one would imagine! Yes, sleep is so crucially important that it stuns me when I hear those wacko people braggin about how little sleep they can operate on...

Hi Fii...great to read you again. About that theory...for the sake of good science... I think it should forever remain a mystery. ;-)