It's a good week to concentrate on getting to sleep

OK, everybody, here's the plan.

Saturday night, everyone go to bed 71?2 minutes earlier than usual. Sunday night, do it again, and again Monday.

By Tuesday night, you'll be in bed a half hour early, say 9:30 p.m. instead of 10. Continue the process, and by a week from Saturday, you'll be in bed an hour early.

Then, just adjust your clock to fit your new schedule, and presto! You're on Daylight Saving Time.

Come a week from Sunday, you'll be bright and chipper, while the rest of us, who didn't follow the schedule, who used the traditional plan of "springing forward" all at once, will be drab and dour.

Well, maybe.

"It's easy to blame the time change for our lack of sleep, but the cause really goes much deeper," said William Baumann, M.D., co-director of the Sleep Center at the Nebraska Medical Center.

"Many people aren't getting the sleep they need on a regular basis. It's not just a 'once or twice a year' problem," he said in a news release promoting National Sleep Awareness Week, March 5-11.

The observance encourages all of us to make sleep a priority in the days leading up to Daylight Saving Stime, which occurs the second Sunday of March this year, three weeks earlier than previously.

The average adult needs about seven or eight hours of sleep per night to function properly, Baumann said.

Many of us make sleep mistakes from the time we go to bed, he said.

"Keep the bedroom quiet, cool, comfortable and restful," Dr. Baumann said. "Use low lighting and don't leave the television blaring. The bedroom should be a good sleep environment, not a place to multi-task," he said.

Regardless of the calendar, there are certain do's and don'ts that improve sleep.

For instance, don't eat a big meal or do a big fitness workout within four hours of bedtime. And don't depend on sleep aids as a permanent solution.

Do consider a small snack like yogurt, a banana or warm cup of milk before turning in, and do exercise at least 30 minutes several times per week to improve overall well-being.

Do keep a consistent sleep routine, similar bedtime and wake-up) even on weekends, and seek medical attention if sleep disturbances become serious and disrupt daily life.

Baumann agrees that this would be a good week to try going to bed a little earlier each day to help stave off the feeling of sleep deprivation.

If all else fails, take a short nap -- but do it early in the day, so it doesn't interfere with your regular sleep schedule.

Let's all concentrate on getting good sleep this week, and maybe, come March 12, we'll all be in a better mood.