Counting sheep? Could mean counting fewer bills in your wallet
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Trent Hamm Guest blogger
The National Sleep Foundation suggests that the聽average adult should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.
For a long time, six to six and a half hours was a pretty typical night for me. I would go to bed at a reasonable time (between 10 and 11), but I would read for a while and then I鈥檓 usually awakened by a child around six in the morning.
The child awakening is still ongoing in my life, but today I try to have the lights off by 10.
奥丑测?听I make better decisions when I鈥檝e had a full night of sleep.聽Without that, I tend to spend more money.
Here are some examples of what I鈥檓 talking about.
If I鈥檓 not well-rested, I鈥檒l find my defense mechanisms against impulsive buying are much lower.聽I鈥檒l buy a book on the Kindle, even though I have several books from the library that I鈥檓 looking forward to reading. I鈥檒l add some unnecessary things to my cart at the grocery store. These things cost money, and I end up with stuff that I don鈥檛 need or even really want that badly.
If I鈥檓 not well-rested, I鈥檓 not highly productive when working.聽I鈥檓 easily distracted and find myself browsing Twitter or other web sites. I鈥檒l have difficulty coming up with the words I want to use. I鈥檒l just stop at awkward points in my writing and struggle to find the next word or phrase. All of this adds up to low productivity when I鈥檓 supposed to be working, and that has a direct financial cost and an impact on the valuable time I get to spend with my family.
If I鈥檓 not well-rested, I鈥檓 prone to mood swings.聽I get upset and cranky at things that would not otherwise bother me. This is particularly true when I鈥檓 dealing with my kids. When they鈥檒l do something that鈥檚 a normal thing for a kid to do 鈥� get messy in a mud puddle, for instance 鈥� a well-rested Trent deals with it just fine. An unrested Trent responds with crankiness. This impacts professional relationships, personal relationships, and quality of life.
Cutting back on sleep can often feel like a convenient shortcut. There were times in my life, such as my college years, when an all-nighter would provide much more benefit than drawback.
The problem is that I鈥檓 not that same kid who could stay up all night in college and still do okay on the 8 AM final. I might gain some productivity by putting off sleep, but I lose so much productivity and focus in the following day or two that it ends up being a net loss.
If I have something important to work on, I鈥檓 far better off going to bed, getting a great night of sleep, and tackling it in the morning. I鈥檓 more focused and much more able to solve the challenges at hand.
Get a good night鈥檚 sleep every night. Over the long run, your life will reward you for it in almost every way.
