Here’s one of those Running Thoughts … Despite (because of?) the pandemic, I’ve been making a point to get out for a run whenever the weather even closely accommodates, and otherwise I’ve been keeping up with my indoor workouts. Either way, the earphones are in, so I’m getting in more audiobooks and podcasts.
I just got through a rather lengthy book this afternoon, Why we sleep from Matthew Walker. This link takes you to Walker’s author page, where you’ll find a link over to Amazon if you want to buy the book – OR, you can do as I did, and borrow it from your local library. In my case, I listened to it on cloudLibrary.
While I didn’t think I was all alone in having occasional sleep challenges, Walker provides an eye-opening view (sorry … typed that before I realized how cheesy, but I’m leaving it) of just how prevalent and problematic sleep challenges can be. He reinforces over and over how drowsiness is worse than drunk driving (in terms of its statistical frequency, not morally speaking).
My own sleep challenges
As a young(er) adult, like many I thought I was almost immune to sleep problems. Once our babies were on the bottle, I was the primary night-feeding designate, as I could be done and back to sleep almost immediately, often 2 or 3 times on a given night. My belief was bolstered (to my detriment) by the ease with which I could rise early for flights, adapt to time zone changes and hotel beds, and fall asleep right after coming back in the door. (Hmm, those regular absences might also explain why I was on tap for baby bottles when I was home.)
Things changed in recent years, with changing job responsibilities, changing jobs altogether, and just changes in me due to age (this last one not boding well, given that I’m not yet at the age when this is more commonly a concern).
Thoughts on sleep and personal finance?
Your ability to focus is significantly impaired if you are not getting 7-9 hours of sleep consistently. Despite the bravado claims of people who burn the candle at both ends, they are paying for that now, and will pay for it in future in terms of weakened health, frayed relationships and reduced life expectancy.
The simplest application of this material is that one should be careful to be well-rested before making any significant financial decision.
And as financial decisions go, a house purchase is the biggest for most of us. If you have been going through bidding wars, you can literally be losing sleep for weeks on end. Walker’s research shows that your cognitive ability declines in a measurable way when this happens. With the very personal nature of a home purchase, there’s a danger that your emotional drive could overtake your logical side. With so much on the line, it’s important to stay alert so you can keep those two influences in balance.
Walker explains how you can’t catch up on lost sleep one night by simply adding the same amount the next. He emphasizes that it doesn’t fit the analogy of accumulating credits that you cash in later.
Looking now at real credit and debt management, that’s the classic situation where people may lose sleep. Your ability to appreciate, analyze and manage your debt will be compromised if you can’t bring your best brain to bear. Staying awake at night (possibly intentionally) could take you down a spiral that causes large and long-term harm. That’s not to suggest that it will automatically be easy with a good night’s sleep, but if you are able to get that sleep then you give yourself much more of a fighting chance.
Walker’s recommendations for good sleep health
Walker has 12 recommendations, and I’m noting here the key points that stood out for me. You can check out the book yourself for the full list:
- Have a regular sleep time. This is #1 for a reason! In fact it’s even more important to have an alarm that tells you when to go to sleep than one that tells you when to get up.
- Go to bed only when you’re sleepy, and avoid sleeping on the couch
- Avoid daytime napping if you’re having trouble sleeping at night. And if you are a napper, don’t do it after 3pm.
- Again if you’re having problems, don’t lie in bed more than 20 minutes dwelling on getting to sleep. Get up and do something relaxing until the urge to sleep returns.
- Remove anxiety producing worries by learning to decelerate before going to bed.
- Understand how the chemical attributes of nicotine, caffeine and alcohol affect sleep, and how they affect your own sleep.
And one last thing … exercise can contribute to greater sleep consistency. Be sure though to finish 2-3 hours before bedtime so that your body is sufficiently cooled down.