Staying In Bed

Lately, I have found myself lingering in bed in the morning. I’m not a morning person. Don’t make an 8:30 appointment for me. When we have one of those early morning flights and I have to get up at 4 am to get to the airport by 5:30 and wait a few hours for a flight, it is brutal. Ruins the entire day for me.

I track my sleep with my Fitbit and even if I am in bed for 8 hours I would be lucky to get 6 hours of actual sleep. Sleep apnea is part of that but I have never been a good sleeper. I used to have a real insomnia issue. That’s been better the past few years but I probably give sleeping too much thought.

One post on the Fitbit blog described what they call the Sleep Profile animals. They say that your Fitbit Sleep Profile will tell you which animal represents your most recent sleep habits. I feel like I am all of them except for the bear and parrot.

Which animal are you?

Bear: You tend to have a consistent sleep schedule, regularly falling asleep around the same time. You go to bed earlier than most, and you tend to reach a sound sleep quickly. Your sleep tends to be long and restful, with a relatively high proportion of deep and REM sleep.

Dolphin: You tend to fall asleep later than most and sleep for less time overall — maybe due to an inconsistent sleep schedule, or more disrupted sleep at night. Compared to others, you tend to be a lighter sleeper and might take naps to catch up. Interestingly enough, dolphins are the least common sleep animals.

Giraffe: Your sleep tends to be shorter, and you are more likely to sleep later and wake up earlier. You have a relatively good proportion of deep and REM sleep despite a shorter overall duration. — this is the most common sleep animal among users.

Hedgehog: You usually fall asleep later and wake up earlier. You are a lighter sleeper — typically taking longer to reach sound sleep and may get less deep and REM.

Parrot: You tend to keep a consistent bedtime and don’t sleep too early or late. You typically reach sound sleep quickly and usually get a good amount of sleep each night. You likely sleep deeply once you drift off but can be light on REM due to waking up briefly throughout the night.

Tortoise: You tend to fall asleep at different times each night, but often earlier than most. Paired with slightly later average wake times, you tend to spend more time in bed overall but find it takes longer to reach a sound sleep, impacting. That will impact your lower-than-average deep and REM sleep.

I wish I could be consistent in getting to bed. Earlier is better for my “sleep profile” but if I go to bed at 10 pm or 1 am, it doesn’t seem to impact my desire – or lack of desire – to get out of bed. When I say “in bed” I don’t necessarily mean sleeping. I could be reading, surfing the Net, checking email, or writing.

When I went through a serious depression a few decades ago, I learned the term”dysania.” It means extreme difficulty rising from bed or an inability to leave the bed. Another term is “clinomania” which is a strong desire for staying in bed. These are not widely accepted medical terms.

Although a person with clinophilia spends more time lying in bed, the amount of time they spend sleeping does not necessarily increase. I identified with that.

I read about and wrote about Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame who went through a period of spending “too much time” in bed. But what is “too much time”?

Well, time to stop typing in bed and get moving on this brand-new week.