If holiday shopping leaves you exhausted, a long weekend should offer an opportunity for some serious shut-eye. We spend between a quarter and a third of our lives asleep, but that doesn't make us experts on how much is too much, how little is too little, or how many hours of rest the kids need to be sharp in school. Let's tackle some popular myths about Mr. Sandman:
1. You need eight hours of sleep per night.
That's the cliche. Napoleon, for one, didn't believe it. His prescription went something like this: "Six hours for a man, seven for a woman and eight for a fool."