I Need to Get This Post Written and Published ASAP

health related issues, humor, lessons learned 2 Minutes

It’s 10:10 pm.

This means I have about 50 minutes to finish writing this post, find an image to go with it, and hit the publish button.

Why, you may ask?

A new research study reveals that going to bed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time lowers the risk of developing heart disease compared to any other time of night.

While bedtimes after midnight resulted in the highest increase in heart-related declines in health, the team finds that even bedtimes earlier than 10 p.m. increased the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults.

So apparently 10:00-11:00 pm is the sweet spot.

It’s now 10:13.

Study author Dr. David Plans from the University of Exeter states: “While we cannot conclude causation from our study, the results suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardiovascular health.”

Here are some specific outcomes:

  • People who fell asleep after midnight had a 25-percent higher chance of developing heart disease compared to those in the sweet spot.
  • Those going to bed between 11 p.m. and midnight had a 12-percent greater risk of developing heart issues.
  • People with a bedtime earlier than 10 p.m. had a 24-percent higher risk for heart disease than those going to bed after 10.
  • The link between bedtime and heart disease appears to be stronger in women than men.

Dang, why did I decide to use bullet points, that took an extra minute or so…

One possible reason that going to bed after midnight was the riskiest time was that it may reduce the likelihood of seeing morning light, which resets the body clock, according to Dr. Plans.

Oops, why did I do that? I just went and checked my WordPress stats. I have to stay focused.

It is now 10:20.

Time to go look for an image. Ideally, it would be a guy getting into bed while his bedside clock shows a time between 10:00 and 11:00. I know the odds are slim. It’s times like this that I wish I knew how to use Photoshop..

It’s 10:40.

Found two separate images. Used PowerPoint to merge them together. You can see the finished product at the top of this post. Took me 15 minutes. I’m sure you would have never known if I hadn’t told you…

OK. I think I’m good to go. No time for editing (not that I ever do).

Now I gotta add some categories and keywords.

Done. It’s 10:46.

Time to hit save, publish, and post to Facebook and Twitter. That should leave me with five minutes to get ready for bed.

Good night…

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

Published

67 thoughts on “I Need to Get This Post Written and Published ASAP”

  1. Welll…guess I better change my sleeping habits then, but its not after midnight every night, sometimes it is between 10 and 11, so that should count for something. The thing is if I go to bed earlier than I typically wake up more times in the night, so its not really getting anymore sleep. its only 11:07 now so I may still be able to make it before midnight. 🙂 Goodnight!

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  2. Haha you made it! Wow you write fast! This was my 2 hrs ago starting my post frantically looking at the clock and just finished! Same routine too, Hehe.. Write, look for image, keyword, categories, etc, publish, BREATHE. 🤣😂 Why I leave each post of the week to the last hours on Tuesday nights beats me! 🙄😳

    Also, I need to sleep earlier. Lately, I’ve been in the post-midnight camp… Intrigued by why the earlier group is at risk…

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  4. Wait, Jim! You have to stay up long enough to respond to our comments.

    I’m always suspicious of correlational studies. Also, this does not specify standard time vs daylight savings time. Nor does it draw any connections between bedtime and sunrise or sunset, which change throughout the year.

    More study is needed on this. Until then, I say pfffffffttt!!!

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    1. Iguess a big part of the study relies on our circarian rhythim, which for many (most?) people is driven by the anatural cycle of the day. Thus, it seems like the goal is to get in a habit where you are getting enough sleep and you are awake in time for the rejuvenating effects of the morning sun…

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    1. not sure about the pressure, but there are the simple time constraints of when a class starts, what days of the week, when the semester starts and finishes, etc. my life has been broken into semesters for a long time 🙂

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  8. No chance of me going to bed before 10 pm so that is a relief. But sleep by eleven no chance either, I’ll just be awake at 3 or 4am unless I die of a heart attack in my sleep! Going to bed and falling asleep are two different things and sleep experts tell us we must unwind for at least two hours. Writing a blog is not relaxing, so did you actually get to sleep Jim?

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    1. I’ve fallen asleep more than once when writing my blog; so I am usually pretty tired by the time I finish my blog. It takes a few minutes to go to sleep, but usually not too long. The problem is staying asleep…

      and I often think, if my blog is putting me to sleep, what is it doing to the people who are reading it!

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  11. I go to bed before ten every day. I may keel over from heart disease at any point now. I promise to go to bed later if someone can help me stop waking up at four a.m. every day. And the photo is perfect. I would not have known it was manipulated if you had not mentioned it.

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  12. i’m clearly in the high risk category, going to bed by 9:30 and waking up at 4:30-5. livin’ on the edge!

    as my nana used to say, ‘nothing good happens after midnight.’ maybe she was on to the late night life.

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  13. With all those extra years you could be adding to your life you might still be blogging until you’re 120, assuming there hasn’t been another study by then that says it’s best to go to bed after midnight. That’s the one I’m waiting for…

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  16. So what happens during daylight savings shifts. That causes a lot of stress and adjustments and sometimes car accidents, which increase the week after the time changes. I would think that could mess with the data a bit.

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  20. It takes a great writer to make me smile and learn something important at the same time. Thank you for doing that, Jim. Thank goodness I fall into the 10:00 club, although sometimes I fall off the wagon add fall asleep at 9:45. Preschoolers can do that to you. 🙂

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