Little solace for a sleepless society

We sleep 20 per cent less than our grandparents’ generation did

Many of you probably spent last night lying around doing something lazy — like sleeping. But not me.

I spent the night reading boring books, wrestling with the ISIL crisis and worrying about what to do if Donald Trump ever becomes president.

I also did my usual nighttime math, counting odd numbers backward, starting from 33,001.

I did this all while trying to fall asleep, fighting off the regular bout of insomnia I’ve had since leaving the comfort of my crib.

I’ve spent countless nights wrestling with my pillow — and the pillow often wins.

My own sleep issue is that my brain is often buzzing at 4 a.m., eager to think about everything from global warming to whether I put out the garbage. Once it starts buzzing, it thinks of other hugely important things that never crossed my mind during daylight hours.

Did I leave my hat at the drugstore, or my house keys in the door? Did I park the car on the wrong side of the street ... Then again, did I remember to drive the car home?

A good night’s sleep can be hard to get, so it’s reassuring to know I have lots of company.

According to a recent study by the U.S Department of Health, one in three Americans suffers from insomnia and gets barely six hours of sleep a night.

As well, over half of Canadians complain they feel tired most of the time in our increasingly sleepless society.

Much of the problem is we live in a tech-obsessed, to-do list world, where there’s always something to do after dinner: send emails, check your phone messages, work or download cat videos. Or just go jogging, kick-boxing, Facebooking or bingewatching the latest Game of Thrones.

We sleep 20 per cent less than our grandparents’ generation did, though we still live in the same human bodies.

So I’m practically your average sleeper.

Now, before you send me your favourite sleep remedies — I probably know them. I’ve tried space-age earplugs, night masks, heated socks and New Age hypnosis tapes with the sound of waves, wind and wombs.

I’ve tried herbal tea, hot milk, warm baths and acupuncture. I was once talked into changing the direction of my bed to make sure it was aligned with the Earth’s magnetic field.

I even made a film on my insomnia years ago. As part of my research, I visited southern Spain to take siesta lessons from a Spanish master, which worked beautifully until I left Spain and returned to North American hours.

A new “sleep revolution” is growing fast, driven by new media billionaires, sleep book author and sleep evangelist Arianna Huffington. It’s being embraced by overstressed, overbuzzed computer geeks eager to awaken to the forgotten joys of sleep.

The place that plugged us all in is now urging us to unplug at night, while tech companies create nap rooms, nap apps and other sleep technology.

Apple’s latest iPhone system has something called Night Shift, which automatically reduces your phone’s wakeful blue light as it gets dark, to help you decompress.

As well, endless apps now offer soothing pink light and brainwave music beats to lull you to sleep.

It won’t be long before they invent Sleepbooks — computers that adjust your heating and lighting as bedtime approaches, then dim your screen to a fireplace glow and hum you lullabies, before knocking you out with a sleep-inducing hypnotic zap.

Can Silicon Valley save our sleep? I’ll probably be thinking about that tonight while you’re sleeping.