Did you remember to grab your morning cup of coffee this morning at the local shop? Have to get up and moving!

Does the sound of a Red Bull can being snapped open spark your senses and dilate your pupils? This is all I need to get through the rest of the afternoon!

Noticed it was approaching 1 a.m. and wanted to just read that last RSS feed? This won’t take long, besides it’s [insert popular blog here]!

Do these instances sound familiar? Was the Sandman composing a lullaby for you when these thoughts began to hit? Well don’t worry, you’re in good company. In a recent article on CNN.com, a survey from the National Sleep Foundation was taken that pointed out one-third of workers catch shut-eye on the job. Wow. First of all, I can only remember one time in my professional career where I was so tired that I actually contemplated falling asleep at my desk. Secondly, that has to be detrimental to your job security!

Not Enough Hours in the Day?

Let’s be honest, when was the last time you felt as though you had enough time to do the things you wanted to do in one day? It seems that from the moment the alarm jarrs us back to reality and we realize another day has begun, we grumble that the morning came too quickly. Whether you have a 9 to 5 (or more commonly an 8 to 6), living the life of a freelancer or toiling as an entrepreneur, work takes up a huge part of our day. The survey points out the fact that work days have gotten longer which means less “you time”.

Also, we are in a time now where work is all over the place. Even if we have a day job, alot of people are doing the slash career thing - working on projects after (or sometimes before) the regular job. Of course you’re sleepy but you have that side consulting gig that you are passionate about and need to come through on so that you can develop your credibility! If only you had one or two more hours, you could get it all done and get some rest…right?

Information Overload

The Information Era. The Digital Age. The Wired Generation. Yep, that’s what we’re living in and who we are and we love it don’t we? Answers to questions a mouse click away, family members around the world can meet up in cyberspace, blogs to read, comments to write - it almost seems like too much! But we tell ourselves we can handle it. As a matter of fact, I really think that in some cases, we feel like it’s a badge of honor that we stayed up the night before til 2 a.m. cranking out a blog post or clearing our feed reader. When was the last time someone told you something to that effect and you furrowed your brow and scolded them for not getting enough sleep? I rest my case.

We have so many electronic devices at our finger tips designed for “increased productivity” e.g. Blackberries, PDA/Smartphones, and laptops that are ultra-portable (yes, even in the bedroom - *tear*). But what about increased sleep production? Ever been startled from sleep by your Blackberry alerting you that someone sent an email at 2:45 a.m.? The fact of that matter is that it’s amazingly easy to get caught up in surfing the web, checking our electronic devices and even watching DVR’d television.

What’s the Problem?

From a recent USA Today article:

For years, sleep researchers have been preaching the dangers of lost sleep: People who are fatigued can’t pay attention to routine tasks, have trouble learning and are prone to a laundry list of health problems, from depression to high blood pressure.

New research suggests an added risk to losing sleep day after day: Humans and animals that have chronic sleep deprivation might reach a point at which the very ability to catch up on lost sleep is damaged, says Fred Turek, a sleep researcher at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Basically, if you continue to get little amounts of sleep each night (sleep debt), your ability to make up that lost sleep is hampered.

By the end of two weeks, the people who had lost sleep at night said they no longer felt tired during the day. But test scores revealed a different story, according to the 2003 study published in the journal Sleep. The sleep-deprived group had trouble paying attention, had slower reaction times and developed impairments in memory, Dinges says.

The article also shows a few tips on how to NOT lose your precious sleep:

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the National Sleep Foundation and other sleep experts offer these tips on getting a good night’s sleep:

1. Do not stay up late to talk on the phone or surf the Internet.
2. Keep computers and TVs out of the bedroom.
3. Stick with a regular bedtime.
4. Avoid food or drinks with caffeine, especially at night. Such stimulants can keep you awake.
5. Don’t stay up all night to cram for a big work project or to finish homework if you’re in school.
6. Avoid vigorous exercise within a few hours of bedtime.

The Ultimate Increased Productivity

This is a problem folks. I was talking to a friend today about how I’ve been keeping an eye on her because of her ultra busy schedule and lack of adequate rest. I especially think that those of us who might be so overbooked with school, work, side work and trying to maintain a social life, will think that “after this is done, then I can sleep”, are just fooling ourselves. One thing I’ve realized is that life never gets less complicated as you grow older. It just doesn’t. YOU have to make the time for yourself to recharge and refresh. The technology doesn’t have to sleep, but you do. That’s my take on “increased productivity”.

Continuing on my interests in online communities, my friend Leslie gave me a heads up on a new destination. KnowMeNow seems to resemble a cross between MySpace, Facebook and a good ole neighborhood barbecue.

Looking around the site and figuring out each facet, really got me thinking about what we identify ourselves with in society. When was the last time you asked one of your friends what their favorite food or movie was? Or even what they would consider to be their biggest accomplishment? KnowMeNow seems to provide the opportunity not only to just connect with people but to really get a glimpse as to who they are. I even took the opportunity to include one of my favorite posts onto my journal page on the website.

And what would a good community be like without a good discussion? Over here there is a conversation started about what new media means to you. I think it’s pretty obvious where I stand on that one. We can have all the geeky tools and new innovations on the Web that we want, but more and more people are realizing that it’s near pointless if it doesn’t have a purpose of getting “real life” things done or making our lives more fulfilled. The social web is now a place for ideas to get put out there and collaboration to take place. The technology doesn’t do it for us, which is why people interaction is the thing I enjoy focusing on.

Now that I’m a part of the Web, there is no looking back!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP7jJuh5fUE]

Ever feel like this guy when trying to inform a friend or loved one about some pertinent information to better their lives?

Technology has definitely opened doors to new ways of spreading worthwhile information. I actually email my friends all the time about new innovations in health or ways to live a more robust life. But with all the information that flashes before your eyes in the way of blogs, emails, RSS feeds and websites…don’t forget that good information also comes from those who are right next to you!

And now back to creating a PowerPoint presentation for my family on making new year resolutions for better health last beyond Valentine’s Day…

Photo by Eski on Flickr

What I mean by that is, has the topic of health and making improvements in health, lost the race in getting our attention?

As I was sitting on the Metro, escaping the frostiness of the evening, I whipped out the latest Time magazine issue that caught my attention. This was mainly due to the fact that it had a giant iPhone on the cover with pretty colors! So the flagship portion of the issue highlighted the best inventions of 2007, with the iPhone being the touted as the Invention of the Year. Now of course the sight of gadgets and electronics puts me in a mood akin to that of a child at Toys ‘R Us, but then I took a deeper look at the article, after flipping through all the eye candy of inventions.

On the right side of the pages that contained this article, there was a list of categories in which inventions were highlighted. What I noticed was that the category of “health” was third, sixth, last…that’s right last. Now maybe I’m reading too much into the situation but you have to wonder how the categories were ordered. How does “architecture” come before health….architecture?

If we actually take a step back and look at all the cool toys and gadgets that come out, all the computer related bling, the big screen TVs and the Mars Rover - how well does health rank in our list of importance? One of the most interesting inventions in the category is a highlight on prosthetic technology. It just felt like there was something missing for personal health gadgets or software. I mean, even though I haven’t taken a hard look at it, Microsoft’s HealthVault might have been a good candidate!

Bottomline is, I really feel people may have drooled and cackled with futuristic glee at the other categories but skipped past the health section or at the very least, looked at a giant metal foot, yawned and continued through to the next section. I’m not saying that there needs to be a sexiness factor to health but I’m feeling that if it’s not a revolutionary weight loss pill - personal health comes in last place and people have already left the stadium.

For more information on the Best Inventions of the Year, check out the November 12th issue of Time