Lack of sleep is often attributed as a sign of hard work and competitive strength. I thought so too, until I started suffering from insomnia. Now, I would give anything to get a good night’s sleep. In this busy, always-connected world, we under estimate the power of sleeping. I have seen my roommates sit up and chat online or Stumble until 2 or 3 in the morning. According to the Better Sleep Council, only 27% of people get the recommended 8 hrs of sleep. 17% only get 5 hrs (Studies have shownthat 5 hrs of sleep a night for one week induces an impairment level equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1%, which is legally drunk in most states). And 8 out of 10 people report at least one negative side effect due to lack of sleep (not able to think clearly, bad mood, quality of work slipping). I can personally say that my sleep deprivation has affected the quality of my life and finances tremendously. Here are some ways sleep could affect your life:
Health
Every knows about the obvious health effect of not sleeping well – tiredness. But sleep and health are much more intertwined.
- Lack of sleep lowers the level of leptin in our body and messes up insulin levels. In layman terms this means – you will be hungry all the time and have high carb cravings. This in turn increases your weight, waist size and BMI.
- Sleep regulates short term memory and metabolism. If you have very slow metabolism and carb cravings to go with it, losing weight becomes near impossible.
Career
Lack of sleep is not the way to success, quite the contrary. Sleep increases:
- Productivity : A well rested mind is the best workshop.
- Better mood : Better relationships with coworkers and better attitude overall.
- Problem solving : This is an intangible benefit of sleep. More often than not, if I sleep on a problem and I get a good night’s sleep, the solution seems obvious to me the next morning… almost like my mind has been working on it all night. Even if I don’t get the solution right away, I can think much clearer after sleeping on it. If I don’t sleep well, even simple problems take a lot of time for me to figure out.
Money
Health and career might be indirectly affecting the bottom line, but there are plenty of factors that directly affect my finances.
- Paying for convenience : We take out or eat out more often when we are too tired to cook something. And without energy we tend to outsource even smaller DIY projects and pay big for them.
- Poor decision making : I already touched on this when talking about career, but it goes beyond is as well. When I am tired, I don’t want to think too much about my investments, insurance or any financial affairs. I won’t even understand all the details about that financial product and will be prone to make errors in my decisions.
- Poor judgment : Lack of sleep weakens our impulses. Operating machineries or driving a car in this state not only endangers me but also others. And even if you hit a fire hydrant and no harm was done to you, imagine all the money you have to shell out for increased insurance for the next few years.
- No comparison shopping : When you are exhausted do you really comparison shop? Personally I pick up the first thing I see that will do the job even if it is a high priced low quality item.
- Forgetful when tired : When we are tired we also forget stuff which costs us a lot of money. Leaving coupons at home, buying things you already have, forgetting to send in rebates, forgetting to pay bills… it adds up quickly. Frugality in its essence is all about thinking ahead, which you can’t do when you are always tired.
- Higher medical bills : Combine the weight gain and carelessly operating a car/machine, one strike will raise the medical bills sky high.
- Latte factor : The famous latte factor. We have become accustomed to using caffeine as a substitute for sleep. If we really enjoy the coffee that is one thing, but quite a few people drink coffee/energy drinks to keep them awake. 3 coffees/energy drinks a day @ $10, do the math.
It takes a LOT of effort and time to compensate for lack of sleep. And I can never do stuff as efficiently as someone well rested no matter how much I try. I know for me restful sleep will go a long way in my financial and professional efficiency. Take it from someone who would give up anything to get a good night’s sleep. Don’t take your sleep for granted!
What is your optimal sleep time? Can you work well after 4-5 hrs of sleep?
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Lack of sleep adds to your stress level too. I have not slept more than 7 hours for years. Do I feel rested? In most cases. yes! Sometimes, Pressure turns into stress when I sleep less.
When you go out to eat more you are usually eating less healthy food and more likely to gain weight. So that’s another strike against your health.
Suba, I hear you about the insomnia. I struggled with it for years & only recently has it begun to subside. What am I doing differently? I’m exercising more, taking an hour walk about every other day. I also try not to go online too much after dinner or at least keep the last hour or two before bedtime internet free. It’s too stimulating to the mind to be conducive to sleep. Movies work pretty well in relaxing me as does reading in bed. I try to go to bed the same time every night also. I read somewhere that the ideal amount of sleep is 7 hours. I forget how they came up with that, but it sounds like you are on the right track!
I can function on little sleep for a day or two and then things go sharply downhill. I’m irritable, mean and unproductive. I aim for about 7 hours a night and I’ve even learned to start taking naps on some weekends. Getting regular and enough sleep definitely helps improve my life!
I can not function on 4-5 hours of sleep. That’s a ticket to an early grave.
Currently I’m getting about 5-7 hours of constantly interrupted sleep (baby.) I’m feeling exhausted all the time and I’m looking forward to the weekend so I can take some naps.
Optimally, I would like 7-8 hours of sleep.
Have a good weekend.
I absolutely believe that we all need to get the right amount of sleep for us, or we will be shortchanging ourselves long-term. On my blog, I have posted on this very topic, and bring it up from time to time. Clearly, I believe in sleep:)
When I don’t sleep enough for a couple of days, I’ll be more susceptible to getting sick. Not saying it happens all the time of course, but when run down we can get sick easier. Plus, decision-making can be impaired without enough sleep. For me, that means eating food I shouldn’t eat, such as comfort foods. When tired, who feels like working out? Plus, it gets harder to concentrate on work and kids in that case, when tired.
I don’t see it as a badge of honor for people to work super late on work, side projects, etc. Rather, they’re taking away from health in order to improve on another area of life. We can’t get something for nothing, right?
Overall, it’s just better to accept that we need sleep and work the rest of our projects, etc around it. The funny thing is, we’ll be better off in the long run anyway:)
Suba, Financial Samurai had a post talking about all the benefits of sleeping only 4-5 hours a night. This seems like a nice response to that idea.
I don’t even feel human unless I get 8 hours each and every night. All the things you mention happen to me. I get careless, aggravated and in a hurry. My eyesight even gets worse!
I’ve learned that I can adapt to just about any sleep pattern (at least for awhile). When I was in graduate school, I took a 2-3 hour nap every morning, then crashed for about 14 hours every Saturday night. After a year of that, I was pretty used to it.
The older I get, though, the more I feel it when I don’t get enough sleep. I’ve been struggling with insomnia for most of the summer and I am constantly tired (except when it’s time to go to bed!). I think all my years of manipulating sleep have messed up my circadian rhythms – I seem to want to sleep from about 4PM-8PM, then I’m wide awake until about 1AM, then sleepy from 1AM-8AM. Not that I actually sleep during those times – that’s just when I notice it the most.
Man Suba, we are very similar on posts this week!
Oh boy–my husband’s job went crazy in December-February, and we have not had a normal sleep pattern since. Then we rescued a dog who would wake me up each night (I am a VERY light sleeper). We finally found a good home for the dog, and Paul and I are still working on our sleep issues. I am tired most of the time.
Also, I have noticed an increase in the amount of carbs I am craving!
When I was younger, losing sleep was not a problem. I took a nap every two weeks and functioned fine. Now, I take melatonin with Vit B (Natrol from CVS), don’t drink cola or eat chocolate late because they will keep me awake. Where I did sleep with lights on in the hall and in my bath, now, all lights are off. The room is cool even if I have to run the ac through December. If I don’t get 7.5 hours sleep, I am a mess, grumpy, stumbling, hungry, and forgetful. If I have a particularly hard day or two, then I need 9 or more hours. The sleep that I tried to escape in my youth is my best friend now.
Every time I work too hard or get stressed out and skip sleep to try and work even harder and catch up; I pay the price. Missing sleep is definitely one thing that is so avoidable but I do it fairly often and it causes so much trouble for me. Anyway, I agree, sleep is so important and when I get great sleep I am so much more productive.
I dream (excuse the pun) of getting 8 hours of sleep every night for a week. Most nights it is 5 to 8 hours, and I definitely feel I am not myself. Between kids who get up during the night and working late at night, I just don’t get enough sleep. Hopefully in a few months (but I have been saying that for almost a year now!)