ZZZZZZ

How much sleep did you get last night? Not enough, I bet. The National Sleep Foundation just issued its annual poll-report. Americans sleep less than 7 hours a night on average, and a full third sleep less than six and a half hours. Most of them say they’d happily do without sleep to work more or get ahead. Over half say that they’ve had an insomnia problem in the last year. I know it sounds trivial, but I think this is a really huge issue. My own rough calculation is that health is 1/3 food, 1/3 exercise and 1/3 sleep. Most people think the last one is trivial. I try and sleep 9 hours a night, which may sound like a waste of time. In fact, if I sleep much less than that, I get far less done. Others may be able to do more with less, but most people are so sleep-deprived they have no idea what it feels like to be healthy. Of course, some have always understood this. There’s a wonderful anecdote in a new book on Ronald Reagan’s management techniques, by James Strock. It’s a Mike Deaver story about the morning of Reagan’s first inaugural, from Deaver’s book, “Behind The Scenes.” At nine o’clock that morning, Deaver came to find Reagan: “I opened the door to the bedroom. It was pitch-dark, the curtains still drawn, and I could barely make out a heap of blankets in the middle of the bed. I said, “Governor?” “Yeah?” “It’s nine o’clock.” “Yeah?” “Well, you’re going to be inaugurated in two hours.” “Does that mean I have to get up?”” Priceless.