Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Do you know how many hours of sleep is enough for your personal needs? The fact is that the need for sleep varies from individual to individual.

 

For instance Thomas Edison only slept three or four hours a week as he considered it to be a waste of time not to be conscious. President Clinton admitted to only getting five or six hours during his reign in the U.S. White House. Martha Stewart also only gets four or five hours. The same goes for Jay Leno.

 

Then there are those at the other end of the spectrum. The glamorous actress Marlin Monroe needed twelve hours a night. President Calvin Coolidge needed eleven hours. Some people just could not get enough sleep.

 

Some great figures in history made up for compromised sleep times by taking power naps whenever they could.

 

Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Winston Churchill often took cat naps during the day to make up for sleep debt that would occur at night
In general there are some widely held beliefs about sleep – among them are –?
• Older people need less sleep.
• Getting to bed before midnight is best.
• A heavy meal makes you sleepy.
• You need eight hours of sleep every single night to stay healthy.
• Snacks before bedtime give you nightmares.
• A glass of wine before bedtime helps you sleep better.
• Exercising before bed leaves you sleep deprived.
• Naps prevent you from sleeping at night.
And of course, how could we forget …'Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.'

 

Although most of this advice is good it's not totally on target. The fact is that there is no prescribed amount of sleep for everyone.

 

Can people function well on six or save hours of sleep? Or is it true that you need more than that to function well?

 

To evaluate this you need to ask yourself —
• How much sleep do I get each night during the week?
• Is it different on the weekends?
• Do I fall asleep the minute the head hits the pillow?
• Do I need an alarm clock to wake me up?
If you get less than eight hours each night or on weekends or if you fall asleep instantly or need an alarm clock consider yourself to be one of the millions of chronically sleep deprived people in this society! Time to get more or you could be slipping up as a Mom just because you will not be thinking that clearly.

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The Lost Art of Bargaining

One way to get more for your money in these hard times is to simply remember how to bargain for it.
In an uncertain economy, it pays to shop smart. In fact, hardest part of negotiating is simply getting past the idea of paying the full sticker price. Keep in mind that in these hard times, people are increasingly willing to strike up a deal.
Just ask the sales clerk – 'Can we get a better price? ' It is especially good to do this if you think that it is not just a sales clerk you are talking to and that it is the owner you are talking to…
It also helps simply to look around for a deal. Do your price checks. Stores are often eager to match or beat the prices of their competitors, so check flyers, newspaper ads, internet auction and shopping sites (including eBay, Amazon and Yahoo) and bargain websites for comparisons. Print or cut out the information and take it on your shopping trip; sometimes if you can show you got a lower deal on the internet you do not have to pay as much.
Negotiating the price of a house or car seems obvious, but you do the same tactics to try and get deals department stores, travel centers, home contractors and cell phone providers. Haggling can work almost anywhere.
Try bargaining in person rather than over the telephone. To give yourself a lot of time to strike a deal, shop when a store is less busy and make sure that you are friendly, patient and polite.
You can also look out for damage on items. If you find a flaw on an item that you can live with or fix – such as a missing button on a jacket or a scratch on a table – ask for a better price.
Offering to pay cash in return for a discount doesn't mean you're helping someone skirt taxation; there's no need to put down $20 for dishware and make a run for the nearest border. Many retailers prefer cash payments because they pay a fee for credit- or debit-card transactions.
It is also a good idea to simply keep an eye out for sales. Ask when an item will be marked down and when new models are coming. They might be prepared to wait a bit and then give you a deal. I got a really great baby carriage that way.

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