PATCH POLL: Superwoman Sleeps, Why Can't We?

Arianna Huffington is arguably the queen of social media and connectivity.

She admits to being obsessed with her three Blackberrys, and seems to be constantly reading, tweeting, and traveling in addition to her job as president and editor-in-chief of AOL Huffington Post Media Group. 

She appears on talk shows and speaks on lecture circuits and ostensibly knows and socializes with anyone and everyone important, as comfortably as she does with average folks like Iowa Patch employees. She is one of those people who thrives on people, ideas, and action.

But one day during a particularly busy period in her life several years ago, Huffington passed out, hitting her head and gashing open her cheek. After a battery of tests, the doctors told her that her faint was not caused by a serious medical condition. Instead it was the result of exhaustion and low blood pressure.

That was the day she began her love affair with sleep, she told a nearly full house of Smart Talk ticket holders at the Des Moines Civic Center. 

What is your sleep life like?  Take our poll and tell us in the comments section.

Sleep is one of her many pet issues, to the point that she installed two nap rooms — "NapQuest1" and "NapQuest2" — for Huffington Post employees to use during workdays.

So the one question I wanted to ask her last night was how does she do it?
By this time, most of us know that American adults are a sleep-deprived bunch. We understand that lack of sleep is harming our health, dulling our mental abilities, and making us, well, darn-right cranky at times.

I get that. You probably do, too. 

The harder part is doing something about it. How do we get more sleep?

I sleep well once I get to bed, but I can't seem to get to bed on time. There always seems to be one more thing to be done — a load of laundry to switch, phone messages to check, one last work task. 

Last month, I downloaded a sleep tracking app and diligently logged my sleep for about a month. I thought I was doing pretty well at getting enough sleep, but my "sleep deficit" was growing by 15 minutes, half an hour, an hour a day.

Eventually, I  became more stressed out about that sleep deficit number flashing at me twice a day, than I was tired. So I fired the sleep app. 

I love to sleep, but here's the rub: I don't really want to give up things to routinely get enough of it. Loading the dishwasher, I can give up. A late dinner with Arianna Huffington — not so much.

Apparently, Huffington doesn't get perfect sleep every night either. This morning, she had to be at the airport for a 6 a.m. flight.  She could have gone back to her hotel right after her lecture to get a full night's rest. She chose to meet with us.

I'm glad she made that choice. But I'll also note that she left earlier than any of the rest of us.