You Are Feeling Very, Very Sleepy...

Welcome to the world of the National Sleep Foundation. It's nice here — mostly because everyone is always telling you to ease up on yourself and get more sleep. And if you're like most Americans, you should probably pay attention; the fact of the matter is we're all trying to function on far too little sleep. According to a study released Tuesday by the NSF, one third of 1,154 adults surveyed were getting six or less hours of sleep a night. To put that in perspective, the general recommendation is a solid eight hours.

We can't feel too sorry for ourselves, though; our lack of shut-eye isn't attributable to any medical condition, like insomnia. No, we simply choose to do other things than sleep, like surf the Internet, watch television, discuss global warming. The problem, of course, is that sleepiness can cause serious problems — on the job and in our personal lives. To cite one of the study's most hair-raising examples, 60 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds report driving when they are tired, and 24 percent say they've dozed off while driving. "Obviously, the major concern with sleep deprivation is that sleepy people are far more prone to accidents than well-rested people," says TIME medical contributor Dr. Ian Smith. In fact, the NSF attributes at least 100,000 car crashes each year to sleepy drivers. So before you head out on that next big car trip, hit the hay a little bit early the night before. David Letterman won't mind — and your fellow drivers will thank you for your foresight.