Bedtime Story

If you woke up feeling a little sleepier this morning, it’s not surprising. It sure was dark outside for my morning commute.

It’s always tougher to wipe out the sandman’s sprinkles when it’s a dark, rainy morning. Guess this’ll all change in a few weeks when we do the ‘fall back’ thing.

A sleepy Monday morning reminded me of an article I saw late last week about bedtimes. It featured another one of those interactive maps like I wrote about two weeks ago. This particular map shows the average bedtime by county.

This sleep study was produced by Jawbone, which, I learned, manufactures a line of fitness products. Sleep, of course, is an important component of anyone’s personal wellness plan, so it all makes sense.

As you’d expect, so called ‘party cities’ have later bedtimes than, say, quiet rural towns. Same goes for specific college towns.

Of particular importance to me was a critical look at our area. Because we are located at the extreme western end of the eastern time zone – Lisa tells me that her Granny always maintained that we used to be on central time – our sleep patterns are interesting when compared to our neighbors to the west (who are on the eastern edge of the central time zone).

Compare, for example, Roane and Cumberland (two counties where I spent considerable time when I worked at Roane State). The average bedtime in Roane County is, according to the interactive map, 11:26 p.m. In other words, an average Roane Countian finishes watching the late, local news and then switches off the t.v. set and heads for bed.

According to the clock in Cumberland County, where it is CDT, it’s just 10:26 p.m. So, there is extra time to pack tomorrow’s lunch, brush teeth, feed the cat and so on. The average bedtime for Cumberland County is 11:07. It’s a bit earlier up the road in Overton County (where Lisa’s youngest sister lives). 10:56 is the time.

For the record, here is how the average bedtimes stack up for the metro Knoxville area (sans Roane):

• Anderson – 11:22 p.m.
• Blount – 11:29 p.m.
• Grainger – 11:14 p.m.
• Jefferson – 11:30 p.m.
• Knox – 11:29 p.m.
• Loudon – 11:18 p.m.
• Union – 11:22 p.m.

I find the subtle nuansces to be fascinating. Some viewers make it all the way through the newscast; others switch off the t.v. set just after the weather. That’s usually the case with the clock on the wall at our house.

Anyway, that’s my bedtime story.

Across the state, here are the times for the large metro counties:

• Davidson – 11:27 p.m.*
• Hamilton – 11:28 p.m.
• Shelby – 11:20 p.m.*

* Bedtime may be altered, tonight, by storms.

When I was a tiny tot, we lived in the central time zone. I used to love summertime because it seemed like it was light outside until nearly 10 p.m. The downside, of course, comes in the winter when it’s dark before suppertime.

I’m sure the bedtimes account for that.

A second interactive map details our nighttime sleep hours. Most of us, it seems, get about seven hours of sleep. In Knox, it is 7.03 hours.

This might also tell us why we feel the need for that extra jolt of caffeine in the mornings. We all grew up thinking we should get eight hours of sleep for optimum rest.

With that in mind, it seems we are falling about an hour short. 

JG

Originally posted 10/13/2014