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"  Like almost every other working mother I know, I exist in a state of chronic sleep deprivation. No wonder. We&amp;#039;ve got round-the-clock workdays \u2014 compliments of the personal computer, cellular phone and fax. We&amp;#039;ve got midnight chores, courtesy of grocery stores that never close and husbands who leave 78 percent of the housecleaning to us. We&amp;#039;ve got children who wake us in the wee hours. And we&amp;#039;ve got a society in which the ability to survive on minimal sleep is a badge of dynamism, while lying down brands us as lazy. So it&amp;#039;s no surprise that the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research reports we&amp;#039;re sleeping 20 percent less than our great-grandparents did. Although some (rare) lucky souls feel fully rested after five hours&amp;#039; sleep \u2014 and others may require 10 \u2014 the average adult is genetically programmed to need eight hours of sleep a night. But most people today get fewer than seven. &amp;quot;In terms of sleep loss, the typical person pulls the equivalent of one all-nighter every week,&amp;quot; says James Maas, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Cornell University, who leads a nationwide seminar called &amp;quot;Asleep in the Fast Lane.&amp;quot;  Squeezing in Shut-Eye  Although I&amp;#039;m tired of feeling tired, I refuse to follow that oft-heard advice, &amp;quot;Just go to bed earlier.&amp;quot; Sorry, I cannot sacrifice a minute of that precious stretch between 9 p.m. and midnight, when the kids are at long last asleep and I can get something done. That&amp;#039;s when I pay bills and mop floors, set up play dates and work on PTA projects. That&amp;#039;s when I catch up on my husband&amp;#039;s life and fill him in on mine. That&amp;#039;s when I play piano, polish nails, or sit down with an Anne Rice novel. That&amp;#039;s the time that keeps me human, and I refuse to snooze it away. Fortunately, say experts, there are ways to feel rested without kissing all your evenings good-bye. The Energizers  One way to make up for lost sleep is to pick one night a week to turn in early instead of shaving time off every night. &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;ll get an energy boost, yet still have most evenings available,&amp;quot; says Deborah E. Sewitch, Ph.D., director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Hampstead Hospital in New Hampshire. Why this works: &amp;quot;Although sleep deprivation is cumulative,&amp;quot; she explains, &amp;quot;you don&amp;#039;t compensate for it in real time but rather by getting more of essential deep, non-REM as well as REM sleep.&amp;quot; This means a full night of intense &amp;quot;recovery&amp;quot; sleep can help you knock off a good chunk of your sleep debt. Sleeping late is another time-honored way to catch up. Although some experts admonish that lounging in bed on the weekend leaves us too wired to sleep by Sunday night, most busy moms I know instantly collapse into oblivion at bedtime. So why should I worry if I zone out for an extra hour during the kids&amp;#039; cartoon blitz? Dr. Sewitch offers a compromise: &amp;quot;Go ahead and sleep in to catch up on rest, but limit it to one day per weekend, to prevent Sunday-night insomnia.&amp;quot; The same goes for the still-repeated warning against napping. An afternoon snooze, caution some experts, prevents us from sleeping well that night. For insomniacs, that rule makes sense. But for the rest of us, many researchers now argue, a siesta is natural. Laboratory subjects deprived of time cues often divide their daily sleep into one long and one short slumber. What&amp;#039;s more, &amp;quot;a nap lets us function a lot better on less sleep than we otherwise would,&amp;quot; says Dr. Maas. In fact, naps can significantly improve alertness, mood and job performance, shows a study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The best, most refreshing time to doze is midafternoon. That&amp;#039;s when our circadian rhythms \u2014 neural timekeepers in the brain \u2014 normally dip and leave us drowsy. And a short nap sometime between 1 and 4 p.m. is least likely to keep us from sleeping that night. &amp;quot;Fifteen to 20 minutes is enough,&amp;quot; says Dr. Maas. &amp;quot;We shouldn&amp;#039;t nap longer than 30 minutes, or we go into deep sleep and feel groggy upon rising.&amp;quot; Studies also show that we benefit from an afternoon nap when we&amp;#039;re going to be up very late that night; taking a short snooze six to eight hours before your normal bedtime can minimize sleepiness and impaired reflexes the next day. Evening naps pose the greatest risk to nighttime sleep, but some drooping mothers swear by them. Says my friend Sandy: &amp;quot;I often read my son a bedtime story, then doze in his bed while he settles down to sleep. It helps me stay conscious through an episode of ER or some midnight sex.&amp;quot;  At work, up your productivity with a power nap: &amp;quot;Substitute a sleep break for a coffee break,&amp;quot; Dr. Maas suggests. &amp;quot;Use the sofa in the staff lounge or close your door and lay your head on the desk.&amp;quot; Bus and train commuters can make a pillow of a pocketbook and lean against the window (advice best followed if you have a travel companion who can wake you at your stop). &amp;quot;At home, nap when the children nap. Or put on their favorite video and sack out on the sofa next to them,&amp;quot; suggests Dr. Maas. My strategy: Take the kids for a drive until the motion lulls them to sleep, then park the car and crank back the seat for a snooze. And let your husband drive to family outings so you can pay off your sleep debt in the passenger seat. Sleep Deprived (or Just Stressed Out?)  If making up for sleep deficits here and there isn&amp;#039;t enough to refuel you, try these pick-me-ups.  Caffeine The hands-down favorite reviver of time-pressured moms in my playgroup, according to my informal poll. Six ounces of coffee, 8 ounces of tea or 20 ounces of cola deliver an equivalent jolt to the central nervous system, heightening alertness for up to six hours. Insomniacs are cautioned to eschew java after 2 p.m., but when we need to stay up, an evening shot of caffeine does the trick. Just don&amp;#039;t make it a daily habit, because you&amp;#039;ll soon need ever larger servings to get the same buzz. &amp;quot;Caffeine also interferes with REM sleep,&amp;quot; warns Dr. Maas, &amp;quot;so we pay for it with increased drowsiness the next day.&amp;quot; The beverage to avoid: alcohol, which saps energy in two ways. Because it&amp;#039;s a sedative, it makes us feel sleepier sooner. And it interferes with sound sleep because when its effects wear off we wake up with an aching head, dry mouth and bursting bladder. Exercise You can also shake yourself awake with a workout. Although it seems logical that physical activity would deplete energy reserves, the opposite is true, says Dr. Maas. Exercise revs circulation, raises blood sugar levels, speeds up metabolism and triggers the release of adrenaline, providing us with an energy boost that lasts for several hours. Working out also sparks our production of endorphins, mood-elevating brain chemicals that make us feel less droopy. No time for a trip to the gym? No matter. A few quick dashes up and down the stairs creates an instant energy surge.  Protein Eating high-protein foods raises the level of tyrosine, an amino acid in the brain used to make chemical messengers that promote quick thinking and fast reactions, explains biochemist Judith Wurtman, Ph.D., author of Managing Your Mind and Mood Through Food. But stick to lean sources, such as skinless chicken, fish and nonfat yogurt. The reason: Fat&amp;#039;s slow rate of digestion diverts blood from the brain, making us feel sluggish. And, say some experts, steer clear of milk, turkey and beans \u2014 all contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which the brain converts to serotonin, a chemical that can make us drowsy. Similarly, go easy on carbohydrates; sugars and starches also increase levels of this calming brain chemical. How to Tell if You&amp;#039;re Stressed  Your muscles are tense; you suffer from headaches, stomachaches, anxiety or depression. These ailments often accompany stress-related tiredness. You have difficulty falling asleep. When fatigue is due to stress, it can take 15 minutes or more to drop off. When sleep deprived, we pass out as our head hits the pillow. There are new stresses in your life. Even minor disruptions (a child&amp;#039;s ear infection, for instance) have an impact. Your schedule is overcrammed. &amp;quot;A routine that allows no time for leisure, socializing or solitude leads to stress,&amp;quot; says William Coe, Ph.D., professor of psychology at California State University at Fresno.  4 Ways to Mellow Out  Figure out what relaxes you \u2014  browsing in a bookstore, watching old movies, maybe walking in the park. &amp;quot;If you usually indulge twice a month, fit it in weekly,&amp;quot; suggests Dr. Coe, &amp;quot;then try for two or three times a week.&amp;quot; Exercise to trigger mood-boosting endorphins, says sleep expert James Maas. But, cautions Paul J. Rosch, M.D., president of the American Institute of Stress in Yonkers, New York, &amp;quot;avoid activities in which you work on your serve or worry about your score.&amp;quot; Talk to family members about subjects other than softball schedules and car tune-ups. Set up standing dates with friends. Squelch that constant sense of urgency by challenging do-or-die pressures, advises Dr. Coe. Will the dinner party really be ruined without homemade tiramisu? Do you truly need to complete the PTA report this week? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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