Sleep Efficiency

[Dave McClung]

My daughter, LeEtta, gave me a "fitbit" for my birthday. It is a small device that measures physical activity. Last night I wore it on a wrist band while I slept. It determined that my sleep efficiency was 98%. I had never focused on that number before. It is a simple calculation number of minuts asleep divided by the number of minutes you are in bed. The instruction book says that anything above 85% is "normal."

That has me thinking. Do most people spend 15% of the time they are in bed awake? That is a much higher number than I would have expected.

[Ryan Scott]

It often takes me 45 minutes to an hour to fall asleep if I'm not really exhausted. I will also often read in bed either in the evening or in the morning.

That still may be under the 15% threshold, but likely just barely.

[Jon Bemis]

I generally take a long time to fall asleep and wake several times during the night and so 85% for me seems like an optimistic goal.

[Dave McClung]

It often takes me 45 minutes to an hour to fall asleep if I'm not really exhausted. I will also often read in bed either in the evening or in the morning.

That still may be under the 15% threshold, but likely just barely.

The fitbit instructions say not to count time that you read or watch tv as "bed" time.

[Billy Cox]

My daughter, LeEtta, gave me a "fitbit" for my birthday. It is a small device that measures physical activity. Last night I wore it on a wrist band while I slept. It determined that my sleep efficiency was 98%. I had never focused on that number before. It is a simple calculation number of minuts asleep divided by the number of minutes you are in bed. The instruction book says that anything above 85% is "normal."

That has me thinking. Do most people spend 15% of the time they are in bed awake? That is a much higher number than I would have expected.

I suspect that 'sleep efficiency' is reduced by tossing and turning, which is not necessarily the same as being awake.

[Dave McClung]

I suspect that 'sleep efficiency' is reduced by tossing and turning, which is not necessarily the same as being awake.

I don't yet know the technology involved in the fitbit device. How does it know when I am awake and when I an not? I have only worn it one night, but based on my review of the chart, it was correct. The device is connected to my wifi network and sends information to a secure web site. When I awoke this morning, I had a chart that showed exactly when I was awake.

[Jim Chabot]

I don't yet know the technology involved in the fitbit device. How does it know when I am awake and when I an not? I have only worn it one night, but based on my review of the chart, it was correct. The device is connected to my wifi network and sends information to a secure web site. When I awoke this morning, I had a chart that showed exactly when I was awake.

It appears to be a rather sophisticated device. They say that their primary input comes from an accelerometer, it appears that they are using gps data as well to measure distance and altitude. They use algorithms to bring the fitbits accuracy as close to sophisticated precision measuring devices as possible. There is some explanation here;

http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=69

[Diane Likens]

Sleeping is not something I generally do well. I find it difficult to GET to sleep and even harder to STAY asleep. I dream very vividly and if the dream affects my emotions, I will waken completely and stay away for at least 30 minutes -- sometimes hours if the dream has scared me. Though I've never measured it, I wouldn't be surprised if my "sleep efficiency" was well below 85% even on my most restful night.

I guess I've learned to adapt.

[Jim Franklin]

If anyone has noticed the times that I post they will get the hint that I have a very difficult time getting what sleep I do get. Most oftern I get to bed right after the news that ends at 10{30 and may lay awake praying until 1:30 to 3 Am or after. Recently some sleep has not come until 6:30 AM or later. I then may get up and have a minimal breakfast and go back to bed and sleep until 11 AM or noon. With family concertns and various prayer requests I am carrying those burdens on my heart.

[Dave McClung]

If anyone has noticed the times that I post they will get the hint that I have a very difficult time getting what sleep I do get. Most oftern I get to bed right after the news that ends at 10{30 and may lay awake praying until 1:30 to 3 Am or after. Recently some sleep has not come until 6:30 AM or later. I then may get up and have a minimal breakfast and go back to bed and sleep until 11 AM or noon. With family concertns and various prayer requests I am carrying those burdens on my heart.

My grandmother got her days and nights confused. She would stay up all night and sleep all day. It sounds like you are headed in that direction.

[Ian Gentles]

At present I sleep well, but dream vivadly, and these are not the nice type of dreams. My wife can stay awake for hours reading, but dosent have nasty dreams. Dont know what this says about anything?

[Dave McClung]

At present I sleep well, but dream vivadly, and these are not the nice type of dreams. My wife can stay awake for hours reading, but dosent have nasty dreams. Dont know what this says about anything?

My father, a Nazarene pastor, was always interested in dreams. People would tell him their dreams and he would intrepret them. In his opinion, most dreams are the result of what you eat. Most of the time, he would relate people's dreams back to their evening meal. The more spice, the more dramatic the dream.

I realize that his "intrepretations" weren't scientific, but I think he had good powers of observation. I suspect that he was right that many of our dreams relate to what we eat.

[Craig Laughlin]

My father, a Nazarene pastor, was always interested in dreams. People would tell him their dreams and he would intrepret them. In his opinion, most dreams are the result of what you eat. Most of the time, he would relate people's dreams back to their evening meal. The more spice, the more dramatic the dream.

I realize that his "intrepretations" weren't scientific, but I think he had good powers of observation. I suspect that he was right that many of our dreams relate to what we eat.

And the stress levels (In the broad sense). I have certain recurring dreams and I know exactly what they mean. I shared one with my congregation last Sunday. (We are doing Joseph) I wake up in my office and someone is saying time to go pastor. As I come out of my office, down the hall toward the sanctuary to preach, I suddenly realize that I forgot to prepare a sermon that week....

This dream directly correlates with how much stuff I feel I've (both me personally and the organization I lead) not been able to get done. (performance stress). I had a version of it in Seminary where I was in line for graduation and they pull me out telling me I had forgot to complete this or that paper so I would not be graduating.

- Subconscious is a funny thing but I think our dreams can tell us a lot about ourselves including the appropriateness of the previous nights meal!

[Marsha Lynn]

And the stress levels (In the broad sense). I have certain recurring dreams and I know exactly what they mean. I shared one with my congregation last Sunday. (We are doing Joseph) I wake up in my office and someone is saying time to go pastor. As I come out of my office, down the hall toward the sanctuary to preach, I suddenly realize that I forgot to prepare a sermon that week....

This dream directly correlates with how much stuff I feel I've (both me personally and the organization I lead) not been able to get done. (performance stress).

Yep. Have had various versions of this most of my life. For years it involved a college schedule with classes I completely forgot to attend. More recently, the setting is Sunday School where we have visitors and I realize I am completely unprepared to teach.

- Subconscious is a funny thing but I think our dreams can tell us a lot about ourselves including the appropriateness of the previous nights meal!

I've been paying attention lately and haven't noticed a food connection at all. However, there are plenty of other connections. Generally, it's with stuff that has happened in the past few days. For example, I heard about an accident at Breeden Road. I know the road only as a sign along a route I sometimes travel. However, I know an entire family of Breedens. One once considered pastoring the Nazarene church at North Pole, Alaska.

A couple of nights after the accident, Michael Flowers, whose father did pastor at North Pole, posted something on NazNet about Bible Quizzing. That all came together that night in a rather involved dream about Bible Quizzing and Michael and how smart the Breedens are and whether one of them was at North Pole the same time as Michael.

Another dream lately made me laugh out loud when I sorted it out. An unidentified woman was being tortured. I could see it and hear her screams. No details necessary, but the torture involved the twisting of limbs in painful ways. Then a young man from my church named Jon came along and offered to take her place, explaining that he was the one who should be tortured. However, as the torturers compliantly prepared to torture Jon, I could still hear the screams of the woman in the background and see that nothing had changed for her even though Jon had explained that she deserved to go free! His sacrifice was all for naught!

When I awoke, I realized the connections of this dream to real life. A few years ago life got crazy and I tried to give up my position as church treasurer. However, no one could be found to take my place. Jon was the most likely candidate but declined the appointment. Just a couple of weeks before my dream, however, he had decided he was in a better place in life than then to take the position. In my waking life, I was trying to figure out when and how to transfer everything over to him. Thus, I realized, I was the woman being tortured in my dream. Jon had volunteered to take my place and was starting to take on the job, but I was still doing the bulk of it. Rather than releasing me, the torturers just took on another victim.

Really, subconscious self? Torture? Really? Is the job of being church treasurer that painful? It made me laugh.

Actually, I suspect the connection behind the torture metaphor is the television shows my husband watches on the SyFy channel while I'm in the next room studying the church finances. It seems like many of his shows lately have had non-stop screaming. Those screams must have crept into my dream.

Marsha