Why is everyone so energetic and cheery today? Ah, mystery solved.

Everywhere I go today, people seem to be unusually chipper.

My family all woke up in bouncy, energetic moods. When I dropped the Big Girl off at school, I noticed that many more parents than usual were already there when the door opened to let the children inside.

Why this sudden upswell in cheer and energy?

I figured it out. Daylight Savings Time.

We all had that delicious extra hour of "falling back" sleep before starting our week. And it shows. People feel better. And no wonder -- an estimated 63% of American adults fail to get eight hours of sleep a night.

I've certainly realized that for myself, getting enough sleep is a critical element of happiness.

At first, I thought sleep just mattered for my comfort: not having to drag myself out of bed, not losing steam in the middle of the afternoon.

But now I see that getting enough sleep, or not, has far greater consequences.

First, if I don't get enough sleep, I try to stay in bed a little longer in the morning. If I get up at 6:45 a.m., we all have a calm, relaxed morning; if I get up at 6:55 a.m., we all have a frantic, chaotic morning. And a bad morning sets a course for a bad day.

If I don't get enough sleep, I'm more likely to lose my temper, to be snappish. That's unpleasant for everyone. Plus, I feel guilty for behaving that way, which makes me all the more ill-tempered. So I behave even worse.

Another bad effect of being sleepy is that it makes me feel less like exercising. As studies have demonstrated over and over, getting some exercise is very important to happiness. So I don't want to do anything that keeps me from going to the gym.

And even though you'd think that sitting in front of a laptop, typing, isn't a very ennervating way to spend your day, it takes a surprising amount of energy. When I don't get enough sleep, I find myself putting my head down on my desk like a little kid in grade school.

The problem is that it takes a lot of discipline not to stay up too late. Those last hours of the day are precious to all of us. TV addicts use TiVO to squeeze in one more show. Workaholics want to finish just a few more emails. Parents relish the peace and quiet after the kids are asleep. Readers want to finish just one more chapter.

I've finally figured out some ways to get better sleep, and I try to practice as many of them as possible each night. But the most important tip is to TURN OFF THE LIGHT.

Sleep is important to general health, which is very important to happiness, and also, lack of sleep is a serious mood buster. In one study, a bad night's sleep was one of the two factors that most upset people's daily moods (along with tight work deadlines).

"Falling back" for Daylight Savings Time is a reminder of how good that extra sleep can feel. But we can do it ourselves! Just get in bed and turn out that light.

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For a glorious compendium of surprising information, check out Boing Boing. You probably already do, but then again, with the Internet, no one sees everything. Recently, I particuarly enjoyed the Lord of the Rings origami set.

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Comments

[L'el]

Whoa whoa whoa. You pair a great post on better sleep habits with a link to... Boingboing, one of the most addictive procrastinatory sites on the internet?!!? You may as well have linked to free coupons for RedBull, for all the message consistency of that!

;)

[Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk]

Thanks for posting this. It drives me up the wall when people say you can be more productive by cutting down on sleep. Yeah, sure. One of my posts was about a woman who ended up leaving her baby roasting in a closed car all day. She was just trying to live up to society's norms and doing it all.

[Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk]

Thanks for posting this. It drives me up the wall when people say you can be more productive by cutting down on sleep. Yeah, sure. One of my posts was about a woman who ended up leaving her baby roasting in a closed car all day. She was just trying to live up to society's norms and doing it all.

[stephanerd]

Thanks so much for linking to your earlier post on better sleep habits. It was written before I became a Happiness Project reader, and lack of sleep has been something I've been struggling with especially lately.

With a new and slightly psychotic work schedule, I've been finding it muy difficult to turn off my brain at night. So I end up reading or doing crossword puzzles till all hours, and feeling like a train wreck the next day.

Heck, my husband's been pleading with me to turn the light off for months. Perhaps I should take a hint.

[Paige]

I noticed this today, too, in my mood and others'. And it's no surprise. But until a couple of months ago, when an old (college!) friend (who, like me, has struggled with depression) shared that a doctor recently told her that depression can sometimes be a symptom of sleep deprivation--and (sometimes) be alleviated with more rest--I had, honestly, never associated my more-than-occasional grumpiness with being tired. Since learning this, I've made a bigger effort to get to sleep early (for me, before 11 pm) and to not beat myself up if I cannot wake up by 6. I can still make the morning work if I sleep til 6:45, and the extra time can mean the difference between yelling and no yelling on the way out the door--a difference my husband and kids really, really appreciate!

[Dark Sociologist]

Hi Gretchen,

Glen wrote a post a few days ago on LifeDev about how sleep deprivation affects your mood. When you are sleep deprived, you over-react to situations, so if something bothers you, then you really blow up at them.

It kind of reminds me of the comparison to driving sleepy and driving drunk. Researchers found that when you are sleepy, your judgment is off by about the same as if you drank too much alcohol.

Get some sleep, so you don't think drunk. ;)

[phquaryn]

While I can't argue that needing to read one more chapter or answer one more e-mail will keep one from sleep, "TV addicts use TiVO to squeeze in one more show." -- those people are using TiVO incorrectly! My DVR is perfect for those times when I *really* want to see the a show, but have to go to bed - just click "record" and come back later. Its perfect for people who want to go to bed when they are tired and not have their bedtime dictated by the time a particular show ends.

[Sonia]

I miss having a good night's sleep! I have a 15-month old son (currently teething) and a husband who travels a lot for work, so I'm usually in single-parent mode. The sad thing is, once you're used to operating on 5 hours of sleep instead of the 8 you need, you don't even realize when you're tired anymore. The other night I felt energetic but turned out the light at 10 pm to see what would happen, and I was sound asleep in minutes. I'm sure this is contributing to my constantly being sick, but it seems early parenthood is one of those life stages that you just have to muddle through somehow. I can't wait for the little man to consistently sleep through the night so I can get some rest too!

[sylrayj]

Another thing to consider is the quality of light when we do wake up. It's been getting darker and darker, and now that we 'sleep in' a bit later, we've got more light when we do get up. It's not so much clawing our way from our warm dark den struggling for wakefulness, when we have sunlight greeting our eyes and minds...

It's a significant issue for those of us who are sensitive to the dark.

[Andrew]

Definitely have to agree w/ you on this one....sleep helps promote happiness and wellbeing and gives you energy to exercise......which promotes happiness and wellbeing!