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…
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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hope you got a good night sleep…
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I slept pretty well, hope you did too. 🙂
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the usual; sleep for a few hours, and then it’s off and on for the rest of the night…
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Yup, Know the feeling!
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👍
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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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nice to know we have a similar routine..
and I was surprised by the going to bed earlier as well; you would have thought that would be even better…
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What you are doing after 11am may have an impact. If you are in a Bar after 1:00am that may be the key variable!
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That’s what I was going to say! What if you’re up past midnight eating chicken wings?
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that does not sound like it would end well…
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that’s a good point; as they say, nothing good happens that late at night…
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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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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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Could be. Unless you’re Dracula.
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there’s always that possibility…
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I’m now more impressed with the image. I’m much lazier than that.
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it was probably a total of five minutes 🙂
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We know you university professor types are used to operating under pressure and other time constraints.
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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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Look into Social Media Automation for WordPress Sites – Jetpack. 😉
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wouldn’t that require writing some posts in advance? I’ve never been able to do that…
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Not at all, Jim. When a post is published, the Jetpack plugin (once setup) automatically sends it to your social media accounts.
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ahhhh… that sounds like a nice little tool. I’ll take a look into it; thanks for the tip!
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Great pleasure.
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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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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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And I thought I got stressed out about getting a post out on time.
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I guess there are a few of us out there… 🙂
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Writing posts takes me about 45 minutes to, Jim. I start earlier than you do.
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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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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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sounds like you re on a schedule that works for you.
and I agree that not much good happens after midnight…
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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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I’ll still blog if I reach 120, but only if I have at least one million followers…
sounds like you are a night owl…
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Two things to aim for, then…
I try to be in bed by midnight, but don’t always manage it…
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as long as you are getting enough sleep, I think that is just as important as when you go to bed…
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That’s my view, too, and as I’m retired there’s nothing to stop me taking a daytime nap if it all gets too much for me…
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I’ve been dozing more than normal some afternoons…
naps are quite enjoyable 🙂
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They are indeed. And a good way to pass the time between lunch and tea 😉
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it is the slow part of the day… 🙂
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Well, that’s just great. Between my poor exercise/dishwashing habits and my poor sleep habits, I’ll probably drop dead tomorrow.
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Even worse for your heart: night shift work and sleep apnea.
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that sounds like a rough combintion…
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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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I’m not sure how they accounted for the change in time for daylight savings time… that is a tough transition for many people…
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Cool. I’m generally in the sweet spot. I’ll probably get hit by a bus and won’t have to worry about heart disease anyway.
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so I guess that means you can go to bed whenever you want….
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Yep.
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That bed time is too late for me! Have you tried using Picasa to edit your photos?
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I have not tried Picasa? Is that free?
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It is and it’s what I use
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ok, I will take a look into it; thanks!
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Yay! Finally a study that admits its findings don’t prove causation.
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I agree; it is nice when the studies mention correlation and how it is different than causation…
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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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My wife starts to lose her steam after 9:00…
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I’m right behind her.
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Great. Got me chuckling again. Mostly a late night guy, but love the early morning too. Bit of a conundrum….cheers
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I had you pegged as a late nighter…
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Creativity can strike at any hour. Sometimes it never gets to me until I fall asleep.
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and if that were me, I’d forget what it was by the time I woke up…
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Yes indeed.
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I am exhausted from witnessing your whirlwind pace in putting this post together. I sort of feel like the medical student observing a surgeon at work. By the way, I am usually sleeping between 11 and midnight.
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sounds like you are on a decent sleep schedule!
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Way to beat that clock Jim. And arg, thanks for the bad news. I’m a nighthawk, always have been. 🙂
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I think some people are just on a different rhythm than others – sounds like you have found what works for you…
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