Sleep Late Saturday

Yay, I finally got to catch up on some of the sleep I lost this week! That is why Saturday is one of my favorites — it’s the only day I can sleep late on a regular basis. It’s amazing how good you feel when you get a decent night of sleep. I really should try it more often.

Sometimes people make fun of me for sleeping until noon on Saturday, but according to Wired magazine, sleeping late is smart. Here are three reasons why:

1. You may need more sleep than you think.
   Research by Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders Center found that people who slept eight hours and then claimed they were “well rested” actually performed better and were more alert if they slept another two hours. That figures. Until the invention of the lightbulb (curse you, Edison!), the average person slumbered 10 hours a night.
2. Night owls are more creative.
   Artists, writers, and coders typically fire on all cylinders by crashing near dawn and awakening at the crack of noon. In one study, “evening people” almost universally slam-dunked a standardized creativity test. Their early-bird brethren struggled for passing scores.
3. Rising early is stressful.
   The stress hormone cortisol peaks in your blood around 7 am. So if you get up then, you may experience tension. Grab some extra Zs! You’ll wake up feeling less like Bert, more like Ernie.