Jika Anda memiliki rutinitas tidur pukul 21.00 dan kadang terbangun di dini hari (sekitar pukul 04.00) karena bermimpi buruk atau kebelet pipis, ada baiknya jika Anda tidak tidur lagi.

Pada saat itu, tubuh Anda sebenarnya sudah 90% recovery (metabolisme sudah
komplit). Ketika Anda memaksa tubuh tidur lagi, secara otomatis, seluruh tubuh
akan 'dipaksa' pula untuk kembali rileks dan tubuh mengulangi proses istirahat dari nol kembali.

Akibatnya tubuh Anda yang telah bugar 90% tadi (Anda telah mengalami tidur selama 6-7 jam. Normalnya manusia tidur selama 8 jam), menjadi kacau. Layaknya batere rechargeable yang telah nyaris full, kemudian dimatikan lalu dicharge ulang. Lama-lama akan rusak.

Begitu juga dengan tubuh. Tidak jarang anda akan bangun dengan tubuh sakit
(serasa remuk), dibarengi sakit kepala, tubuh lemas dan rasanya males banget.

Ada baiknya setelah Anda terbangun, jangan biarkan diri Anda terlelap lagi, walau Anda masih merasa ingin tidur.

Segeralah bangun, dan sibukkan otak Anda dengan kegiatan-kegiatan yang
positif. Paling efektif adalah membaca. Saat pagi, ketika otak Anda masih segar, membaca dapat membantu Anda melatih konsentrasi dan fokus. Membaca di pagi hari dapat menekan risiko pikun atau Alzheimer. Jika tidak ada bacaan, Anda bisa bermain teka-teki silang yang juga berfungsi sama. Kalaupun ingin bermain game komputer / PS, pilihlah game yang dapat menstimulasi otak seperti catur, sukeban, atau game lain yang membutuhkan pemikiran dan strategi (bukan game kayak Tekken atau Counter Strike lho...!!!).

Jangan sekali-kali menonton, karena hanya akan membuat otak Anda berada dalam kondisi 'idle' / stand by. Karena tidak distimulasi kegiatan yang 'menantang', lama-lama otak akan membiarkan dirinya relaks, dan pada akhirnya Anda pun tertidur.

Selain itu, Anda bisa melakukan kegiatan lain seperti melukis, menulis, atau hal lain yang bisa menstimulasi otak Anda.

Asal tahu saja: Beethoven, Mozart, Albert Einstein, J.K. Rowling, Thomas Alva Edison,
bahkan Robert T. Kiyosaki banyak mendapatkan ide-ide cemerlang di pagi hari setelah bangun tidur.

for your reading pleasure, very useful!

******

A chat with Dr.Devi Shetty , Narayana Hrudayalaya
( Heart Specialist) Bangalore was arranged by WIPRO for its employees .
The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.


Qn: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart ?
Ans:
1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil
2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week;

Dari milis sebelah.

Selamat membaca.

Semoga bermanfaat. =)

Begitulah, kata Gede Prama, perjalanan kita mencari kebahagiaan dan keindahan.
Sering kali kita mencarinya di luar dan tidak mendapat apa-apa.
Sedangkan daerah tergelap dalam mencari kebahagiaan dan keindahan, sebenarnya adalah daerah-daerah di dalam diri.
Justru letak 'sumur' kebahagiaan yang tak pernah kering, berada di dalam.

Tak perlu juga mencarinya jauh-jauh, karena 'sumur' itu berada di dalam semua orang.
Sayangnya karena faktor peradaban, keserakahan dan faktor lainnya, banyak orang mencari sumur itu di luar.

Ada orang yang mencari bentuk kebahagiaannya dalam kehalusan kulit, jabatan, baju mahal, mobil bagus atau rumah indah.
Tetapi kenyataannya, setiap pencarian di luar tersebut akan berujung pada bukan apa-apa.
Karena semua itu, tidak akan berlangsung lama.

Kulit, misalnya, akan keriput karena termakan usia
Mobil mewah akan berganti dengan model terbaru
Jabatan juga akan hilang karena pensiun.

Setiap perjalanan mencari kebahagiaan dan keindahan di luar, akan selalu berujung pada bukan apa-apa, leads you nowhere.

Setiap kekecewaan hidup yang jauh dari keindahan dan kebahagiaan, berangkat dari mencarinya di luar

Untuk mencapai tingkatan kehidupan yang penuh keindahan dan kebahagiaan, seseorang harus melalui 5 ( lima ) buah 'pintu' yang menuju ke tempat tersebut.

Pintu pertama adalah stop comparing, start flowing.
Stop membandingkan dengan yang lain.

Seorang ayah atau ibu belajar untuk tidak membandingkan anak dengan yang lain.
Karena setiap pembandingan akan membuat anak-anak mencari kebahagiaan di luar

Setiap penderitaan hidup manusia, setiap bentuk ketidakindahan, dimulai dari membandingkan.

Gede Prama mencontohkan orang kaya berkulit hitam yang tidak dapat menerima kenyataan bahwa dia berkulit hitam.

Orang itu sering kali membandingkan dirinya dengan orang kulit putih.
Uangnya banyak, ia mampu mengongkosi hobinya untuk operasi plastik.
Sehingga orang yang hidup dari satu perbandingan ke perbandingan lain, maka hidupnya kurang lebih sama dengan seorang orang kaya itu.
Leads you nowhere

Karena itu, Gede Prama mengajak kita ke sebuah titik, mengalir (flowing) menuju ke kehidupan yang paling indah di dunia

Yaitu menjadi diri sendiri.

Apa yang disebut flowing ini sesungguhnya sederhana saja.
Kita akan menemukan yang terbaik dari diri kita, ketika kita mulai belajar menerimanya.

Sehingga kepercayaan diri juga dapat muncul.
Kepercayaan diri ini berkaitan dengan keyakinan-keyakinan yang kita bangun dari dalam.

Tidak ada kehidupan yang paling indah dengan menjadi diri sendiri.

Itulah keindahan yang sebenar-benarnya be your self !!

Pintu kedua menuju keindahan dan kebahagiaan adalah memberi.

Sebab utama kita berada di bumi ini, kata Gede Prama, adalah untuk memberi.
Kalau masih ragu dengan kegiatan memberi, artinya kita harus memberi lebih banyak
Saya melihat ada 3 tangga emas kehidupan: I intend good, I do good and I am good.

Saya berniat baik, saya melakukan hal yang baik, kemudian saya menjadi orang baik.

Yang baik-baik itu bisa kita lakukan, bila kita konsentrasi pada hal memberi
Memberi tidak harus selalu dalam bentuk materi.
Pemberian dapat berbentuk senyum, pelukan, perhatian.
Dan setiap manusia yang sudah rajin memberi, dia akan memasuki wilayah beauty and happiness.

"Saya sering bertemu dengan orang-orang kaya.
Ada yang suka memberi, ada yang pelit.
Saya melihat orang yang tidak suka memberi muka orang itu keringnya minta ampun.
Orang yang mukanya kering ini bertanya pada saya,apa rahasia kehidupan yang paling penting yang bisa saya bagi.
Saya bilang sleep well, eat well."

Artinya memang, untuk ongkos untuk menjadi bahagia tidak mahal.
Hanya saja orang sering kali memperumit hal yang sudah rumit.
Kalau kita sederhanakan, sleep well, eat well akan jadi mudah jika diikuti dengan kegiatan memberi.

Pintu ketiga untuk menuju keindahan dan kebahagiaan adalah berawal dari semakin gelap hidup Anda, semakin terang cahaya Anda di dalam.

Perhatikanlah bintang di malam hari tampak bercahaya, jika langitnya gelap.
Sedangkan, lilin di sebuah ruangan akan bercahaya bagus, jika ruangannya gelap.

Artinya, semakin Anda berhadapan dengan masalah dan cobaan dalam hidup, semakin bercahaya Anda dari dalam.

Jika Anda punya suami yang keras dan marah-marah, jangan lupa bersyukurlah.
Karena suami yang keras dan marah-marah, membuat sinar dari dalam diri Anda bercahaya.

Anda punya istri cerewetnya minta ampun, bersyukurlah
Karena orang cerewet adalah guru kehidupan terbaik.
Paling tidak dari orang cerewet kita belajar tentang kesabaran.

Jika Anda punya atasan diktatornya minta ampun, bersyukurlah.
Karena Anda dapat belajar tentang kebijaksanaan

Orang yang pada akhirnya menemukan keindahan dan kebahagiaan, menurut Gede Prama, biasanya telah lulus dari universitas kesulitan.
Semakin banyak kesulitan hidup yang kita hadapi, semakin diri kita bercahaya dari dalam.

Mengutip perkataan Jamaluddin Rumi, semuanya dikirim sebagai pembimbing kehidupan dari sebuah tempat yang tidak terbayangkan.
Tidak hanya orang cantik saja yang berguna, orang jelek juga berguna.
Gunanya adalah karena orang jelek, orang cantik terlihat jadi tambah cantik

Jadi semuanya ada gunanya, untuk menghidupkan cahaya-cahaya beauty and happiness

Pintu keempat adalah surga bukanlah sebuah tempat, melainkan adalah rangkaian sikap.

Bila Anda melihat hidup penuh dengan kesusahan dan godaan, maka neraka tidak ketemu setelah mati.
Neraka sudah ketemu sekarang
Sedangkan Anda akan bertemu surga, jika hasil dari rangkaian sikap Anda benar.

Sikap ini dimulai dari berhenti mengkhawatirkan segala sesuatunya, dan coba yakinkan diri bahwa everything will be allright.
Setiap kali kita melalukan ritual peribadatan, tetapi setiap kali pula kita merasa takut.

Padahal ketakutan adalah sebentuk ketidakyakinan terhadap kebenaran.
Kalau Anda melalukan ritual peribadatan tapi masih takut, mending jangan melalukan ritual peribadatan, karena toh Anda tidak yakin terhadap kebenaran.
Segala sesuatunya menjadi baik-baik saja jika Anda mencintai yang kecil

silakan dibaca, silakan dipraktekkan.

siapa tau berhasil buat yang susah bangun pagi, kaya arien! hehehe..

***

June 15th, 2007 by Dave Cheong

Sumber: http://www.davecheong.com/2007/06/15/waking-up-early-15-tips-that-work/

It has almost been one year since I posted about how to Wake up Early and Consistently. I thought now might be a good time to post a follow up, including what I have personally found to work.

Let me first start by saying that waking up early has made a huge difference in my life. I used to be the complete opposite - late sleeper and late riser. These days, I wake up at 5:30am everyday.

What I like most about being an early riser is getting that extra quiet time in the mornings to work at a few next actions even before the day officially begins. Lately though, I’ve opted to go to work earlier, so that I can clock in my 8 hours, leave at a reasonable time and still have a few precious moments with my baby daughter before she heads off to bed. Being able to maximise my free time doing things I rather be doing has made all the difference to my quality of life.

Here is a list of things that worked for me:

1. Have a good reason to get up.

I’ve found this to be the single most important element in being an early riser. Days in which I did not crystallise the reasons for getting up were more likely to result in sleep ins. Now, I make it clear the night before what it is I want to wake up early for. Initially, I found writing things down to be helpful, but this isn’t always necessary, as long as it is clear what the reasons are.

2. Be productive in the mornings.

It wasn’t enough to just be an early riser. If I had committed to waking up early for a reason, I’ve found it was crucial that I followed through. Not following through is like slow working poison. Over time, this has a cumulative effect and makes it harder and harder to rise early. This was a huge drain on motivation for me, especially when I was losing sleep and yet not getting the things I wanted to done. So stick to the plan and be productive.

3. Get enough sleep.

Your body is trying to tell you something if you constantly feel overly tired during the day. I’ve found it wasn’t really worthwhile trying to get up early if I didn’t get enough good sleep the night before. In the short term, I might get more discretionary time because I was sleeping less, which is good for coping with the spikes in workload. However, in the long term, things generally evened out - either because I was tired and couldn’t work as fast or I was sick as a result of a weakened immune system. My advice is to ensure you get enough sleep.

4. Go to bed earlier

One simple thing which helped me get enough sleep was to … well … go to bed earlier. Instead of constantly staying up past midnight and feeling tired the next morning, I now start preparing for bed around 11pm. I’ve found, around this time of night, I’m generally winding down anyway and not engaged in productive work. So shifting the hours around slightly has meant that overall my free time gets used more effectively - which is the primary reason for being an early riser! The amount of sleep needed is different from person to person and day to day. So, I listen to my body when it tells me that it is tired and it is time for bed.

5. Sleep more effectively.

The other thing I noticed about sleep is sleeping longer doesn’t necessarily translate to sleeping better. Somedays I can have 8 hours of sleep, yet feel like I haven’t slept at all. Other days I can be fully alert, productive and cheerful after only a few short hours.

If you find that you are still tired after a good stretch of 6-8 hours, chances are you’re not sleeping well. Most people just don’t need much more sleep than that. Sleeping well can be attained in various ways. I find having a good mattress and pillow with some quiet reading time before bed to be helpful.

6. No more another 10 mins.

I think everyone including me has two conflicting aspects to their personality. There’s the one which is good and generally seeks to self improve and be productive. Then there’s the other one - the little voice in the head urging us to sleep in for another 10 mins. I’ve learned the hard way that this little voice rarely has anything good to say. My advice is don’t ever have a discussion with him or indulge in anything he says! Sleeping in for another 10 mins is guaranteed to lead to another 10 mins and then another. The next time you hear that little voice, just say “No” out loud and …

7. Jump out of bed.

One trick I’ve found to be very effective in being an early riser and to stop myself from rationalising is to simply jump out of bed instantly. Once I am outside the comforts of the warm and cozy bed, I’m more likely to actually wake up and stay up. Someone once suggested to me by leaving the bedroom immediately, you also leave no doubt about your intentions to actually wake up and start doing things. Jumping out of bed and leaving the room actually works. They have prevented me from sleeping in on many a cold winter morning.

8. Use an alarm clock, just not the snooze.

Every day without fail, I wake up before the alarm goes off. I’m tempted to say setting it might not even be necessary! However, I take comfort in the knowledge that it’s there and waiting to go off, so I don’t have to worry about sleeping in. The trick with the alarm clock is to make it loud, annoying and not easily accessible. Try placing it away from arms reach, so that you can’t turn it off or get to the snooze button unless you get up out of bed. For me, this works wonders, because when it goes off, my wife and daughter are both still asleep and I instinctively try to get to it as quickly as possible.

9. Establish a stable routine.

What I recently learned from being a new dad is babies thrive on routine. My daughter now knows that bath time is followed by reading time and then bed time. Initially, she put up a fight resisting the bed. Now, she expects it!

In many ways, things are no different for us adults. I view the body as an instrument which can be trained. I’ve found establishing a consistent routine to be a key factor in becoming an early riser. This means waking up at same time everyday, not just the days I have to. This includes weekends, which typically aren’t as busy as the weekdays. Now, my body doesn’t even remember what it was like to sleep in and being a late riser.

10. Have something to look forward to.

Waking up early can be hard work, especially when you are used to sleeping in. Having a purpose is a good start, but this isn’t always enough. I mean, come one, are you really going to get up early to work on some TPS report for work? What I do in addition to having a purpose is to have a reward or other attractive incentive to get up for. It can be anything. I personally look forward to having time to check my emails in the morning, eat breakfast and drink a cup of tea.

11. Be aware of the consequences.

As I’ve written about previously, when faced with doing something we don’t want to do, we’re generally motivated not just by Pleasure, but also Pain. I’ve found that it was very effective to be aware of the consequences of sleeping in. For me, losing that extra 2 hours in the morning can have a significant flow on effect to my day and the rest of the week. Everytime I sleep in, I have to stay at work later and sacrifice quality time with my daughter in the evenings. This is something I clearly want to avoid, so being aware of this has been really effective in keeping me motivated when the alarm goes off.

12. Remove the option completely.

One trick I’ve found to work well also is removing the option of sleeping in completely. If we don’t have the option to sleep in, we won’t. The best way of doing this is schedule meetings and deadlines early in the mornings. This leaves one with no option at all but to get up because by the time the morning comes round, it is too late to cancel or reschedule a commitment. I’ve found this to be very effective because my actions now impact not just me but others as well.

13. Have a similarly motivated buddy.

Over the year, I have mentioned to various friends my desire to be a consistent early riser. Being encouraged by my example and results, they too have adopted the drive to be early risers. Not only is it gratifying to be helping others improve their productivity and quality of life, but having friends similarly committed helps keep me motivated and on track. Whenever we meet up, we always ask each other how we are doing with respect to being early risers. If anyone has fallen off the wagon, as a group we try to get them motivated again. Your spouse may be a good buddy even if only to kick you out of bed.

14. Keep track of your times.

Have you ever told yourself that you can sleep in just this once because you’ve already been good the whole week? I have. Unfortunately, my perception on how good I’ve been is subjective and often inaccurate. Sometimes I consider sleeping in because I feel that I’ve been good when in fact I’ve already slept in twice this week or six times this month. I’ve found keeping track of the days I have been good and not good to be immensely useful. I review this list periodically and whenever I find I’m falling behind, I use this list to renew my motivation and commitment.

15. Review all the things you got done.

I’ve written about the 10 R’s to success before. If you haven’t read that post, take a moment to do so. One of the more important R’s is Review which describes the importance of looking back on how successful you have been with your goals and what you’ve managed to accomplish. If things aren’t working out or the results weren’t as expected, then adjust your approach. Looking back at all the things you’ve managed to get done in the early mornings is a great motivator to keep you going.

Conclusions

Being an early riser is tough work, but I’ve managed to do it consistently. To be honest, I didn’t realise how hard it would be when I first started. I might not even have tried if I knew better in the beginning. However, I’m glad I did because the rewards are amazing. I get much more done now and my quality of life has improved.

If you want to be early risers yourselves, try out the tips I’ve highlighted. Some of them may not work for you, but I can bet that if you applied at least a few of these, you will see immediate results. Feel free to experiment and refine the process until you find a healthy balance you can sustain.

Good luck! Let me know how you go.

One more instance of how different individuals think and learn differently.

 
A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him, 'If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?

 
'Within a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, 'Four!'

 
The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three).
She was disappointed. 'Maybe the child did not listen properly,' she thought. She repeated, 'Arnav, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?'

 
Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, 'Four...'

 
The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, 'If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?'

 
Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed.  

 
With a hesitating smile, young Arnav enquired, 'Three?'

 
The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, 'Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?'

 
Promptly, Arnav answered, 'Four!'

 
The teacher was aghast. 'How Arnav, how?' she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

 
In a voice that was low and hesitating, young Arnav replied, 'Because I already have one apple in my bag.'

 
'When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There may be an angle that you have not thought of at all. You will have to listen and understand, and not listen with a predetermined notion.'

Great story!

Semoga bisa menginspirasi kita untuk jadi lebih baik setiap hari dengan mengasah apa yang kita miliki.

***

KISAH SI PENEBANG POHON

“Kan

Alkisah, seorang pedagang kayu menerima lamaran seorang pekerja untuk menebang pohon di hutannya. Karena gaji yang dijanjikan dan kondisi kerja yang bakal diterima sangat baik, sehingga si calon penebang pohon itu pun bertekad untuk bekerja sebaik mungkin.

Saat mulai bekerja, si majikan memberikan sebuah kapak dan menunjukkan area kerja yang harus diselesaikan dengan target waktu yang telah ditentukan kepada si penebang pohon.

Hari pertama bekerja, dia berhasil merobohkan 8 batang pohon. Sore hari, mendengar hasil kerja si penebang, sang majikan terkesan dan memberikan pujian dengan tulus, “Hasil kerjamu sungguh luar biasa! Saya sangat kagum dengan kemampuanmu menebang pohon-pohon itu. Belum pernah ada yang sepertimu sebelum ini. Teruskan bekerja seperti itu.”

Sangat termotivasi oleh pujian majikannya, keesokan hari si penebang bekerja lebih keras lagi, tetapi dia hanya berhasil merobohkan 7 batang pohon. Hari ketiga, dia bekerja lebih keras lagi, tetapi hasilnya tetap tidak memuaskan bahkan mengecewakan. Semakin bertambahnya hari, semakin sedikit pohon yang berhasil dirobohkan. “Sepertinya aku telah kehilangan kemampuan dan kekuatanku. Bagaimana aku dapat mempertanggungjawabkan hasil kerjaku kepada majikan?” pikir penebang pohon merasa malu dan putus asa. Dengan kepala tertunduk dia menghadap ke sang majikan, meminta maaf atas hasil kerja yang kurang memadai dan mengeluh tidak mengerti apa yang telah terjadi.

Sang majikan menyimak dan bertanya kepadanya, “Kapan terakhir kamu mengasah kapak?”

“Mengasah kapak? Saya tidak punya waktu untuk itu. Saya sangat sibuk setiap hari menebang pohon dari pagi hingga sore dengan sekuat tenaga,” kata si penebang.

“Nah, di sinilah masalahnya. Ingat, hari pertama kamu kerja? Dengan kapak baru dan terasah, maka kamu bisa menebang pohon dengan hasil luar biasa. Hari-hari berikutnya, dengan tenaga yang sama, menggunakan kapak yang sama tetapi tidak diasah, kamu tahu sendiri, hasilnya semakin menurun. Maka, sesibuk apa pun, kamu harus meluangkan waktu untuk mengasah kapakmu, agar setiap hari bekerja dengan tenaga yang sama dan hasil yang maksimal. Sekarang mulailah mengasah kapakmu dan segera kembali bekerja!” perintah sang majikan.

Sambil mengangguk-anggukan kepala dan mengucap terimakasih, si penebang berlalu dari hadapan majikannya untuk mulai mengasah kapak.

“Xiu Xi Bu Shi Zou Deng Yu Chang De Lu”

Istirahat bukan berarti berhenti.

”Er Shi Yao Zou Geng Chang De Lu”

Tetapi untuk menempuh perjalanan yang lebih jauh lagi.

Sama seperti si penebang pohon, kita pun setiap hari, dari pagi hingga malam hari, seolah terjebak dalam rutinitas terpola. Sibuk, sibuk dan sibuk, sehingga seringkali melupakan sisi lain yang sama pentingnya, yaitu istirahat sejenak mengasah dan mengisi hal-hal baru untuk menambah pengetahuan, wawasan dan spiritual.

Jika kita mampu mengatur ritme kegiatan seperti ini, pasti kehidupan kita akan menjadi dinamis, berwawasan dan selalu baru!

- SUNDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day.

As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.

"For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier," said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane. "But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk," Belenky added. That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.

Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

"The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller," said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit.

"When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic." While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary. But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.

"The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road."

The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.

"Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized," said Drake, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There's a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin -- a hormone that stimulates appetite -- increases with a lack of sleep.

Too little sleep also interferes with the body's ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. "There's a stress response to being in a sleep loss," Belenky said.

The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep.

"It's sort of part of the culture," Belenky said. "People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You'll hear people bragging, 'I only need six hours a night.' So there's a macho element here."

On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include:

• Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.
• Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.
• Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep.

Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said.

Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. "You're waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can't sleep and breathe at the same time," Drake said. "It's a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects."

Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep.

Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly.

"Sleeping pills are a temporary solution," Belenky said. "If you're upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you're trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you've traveled across time zones, they are eff