I’m tired. Are you tired? I mean I’m physically really tired. The good news for me is I have a bit of a built in excuse. I have a 2 month old baby in the house. He’s starting to get on more of a schedule and sleeping a little better, but I think I’m residually tired from the first month of having a newborn again. I'm not the only person losing sleep right now. America is residually tired too from the myriad of stressful events that we’ve encountered in 2020. A recent study by Sleep Standards found that 77% of Americans are losing sleep due to the pandemic.
When we aren't stressing out about COVID, other life impacting challenges or issues rob us of a good night's rest. For the last several years Bankrate has commissioned a study surveying Americans on their sleep, and a common theme that emerged was finances were always in the top 1 or 2 reasons people were losing sleep. In the 2019 report 56% of Americans reported losing sleep because of money concerns. Well the 2020 report is in and the number has dropped 8% to 48% losing sleep due to their finances.
The actual article doesn’t celebrate this result but other news and media outlets have picked up the story and if feels like they want to throw a parade. Money problems aren’t impacting our sleep like they used to! Sleepless rates plummet. Hurray!
What am I missing here? Half of us are still stressed so much about our money and finances that we can’t sleep. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see the number lower than the last 2 years but we still have a real problem on our hands. And sleep is a critical ingredient to our overall health and wellbeing. So why does sleep matter so much? Let’s take a look at what science and research has shown us about its importance:
On average we spend about a third of our entire lives sleeping and we know that adults need on average about 7 hours of sleep every night to function effectively throughout the day. We are all different physiologically and some people will need a little more and some a little less. Also, at different developmental stages of our lives or during different life events our sleep needs will change or be altered. For example, kids and teens need 9 or more hours of sleep for proper brain development and life events, like having a baby, will create disruptive sleep patterns for both males and females. Here’s a crazy fun fact about having a newborn. The parents of newborn babies on average lose 6 months of sleep in the first 2 years of their child’s life. 6 months! That is crazy! But instead of getting into those specific life events, we will just focus on the needs of an average adult which means the magic number is going to be 7 hours.
Today only 21% of Americans are getting 7 hours of sleep each night. That means 4 out of every 5 people are not rested and recovered to function effectively throughout the day. And there are a number of side-effects and physical and mental health concerns for those of us not getting the rest we need. And the number one cause of this lack of sleep is the sleep disorder called Insomnia. For most people suffering from Insomnia, stress or anxiety is the culprit of the loss of sleep. Right now COVID is occupying our minds and causing this anxiety, but when there isn’t a pandemic, money, relationships or family problems and work are the common causes of not getting the shut eye we all need.
So what does that do to us over an extended period of time? Well people who fail to get the needed 7 hours have been scientifically linked to changes in mood. Commonly this materializes in more anger, sadness and stress. And if you suffer from depression, we know that 75% of depressed people also suffer from a lack of sleep. Even our memories can be impacted. Sleep helps solidify memory formation so when we cut it short our mental acuity and recall get impacted. Getting rest and recovering is clearly important for our brains and our mental health. But it also is crucial for our physical wellbeing.
Adults that lose sleep are more likely to gain in other places. Specifically we see weight gain in those people that aren’t getting their 7 hours. Sleep burns significant calories and you can lose an entire pound of weight during a night’s sleep just by simply exhaling. Additional conditions like asthma, cancer and diabetes are common for those adults getting less than 7 hours of restorative sleep. What does that all add up to? Well, sadly, you are 12% more likely to die prematurely if you get less than 7 hours of sleep.
All those mental and physical side effects are pretty rough so let’s look at the upside of getting the right amounts of sleep. Not only does sleep boost mood, memory and help with a healthy weight, but sleep also helps with creative problem solving via the mechanics of our REM sleep. Well-rested people have better functioning immune systems, less overall inflammation and lower blood pressure.
Calm Cash is all about where our mental and physical wellbeing meet our money health, and there is some fascinating data where those worlds collide when it comes to sleep. In a study from the Better Sleep Council conducted at the end of 2019, good sleepers were more likely to save for retirement and have emergency savings for unforeseen medical expenses. Conversely, those that rated themselves as poor sleepers in the study where more likely to be living paycheck to paycheck and have more stress about their financial future. I like this quote from Terry Cralle who is a registered nurse at the Better Sleep Council.
“Sleep and stress enjoy a very bidirectional relationship. Obviously, it’s hard to fall asleep and stay asleep when you’re stressed, but sufficient sleep provides us with resilience, and we can tolerate higher stress levels much better when we’re well rested. We can approach financial issues better and step back and look at things in our life that may not be optimal and how to make them better, but we have to have sufficient sleep to do that.”
So how do we get better sleep? Well first and foremost, attacking the underlying cause of any stress or anxiety is important for long term improvement in your sleep. If the anxiety of the coronavirus is keeping you up, check out the “Coping with COVID Stress” episode of the podcast for some practical ways to manage your feelings. If money problems are stressing you out and you can’t sleep, you have to create a plan to chip away at those parts of your financial life that are causing concern. Calm Cash has strategies to help with asking for a raise, considering a side hustle, building emergency savings and in the coming weeks we will be focusing on budgeting and getting back to basics with where our money is going. So check out some of those past episodes and posts, and stay tuned for more strategies to help solidify your money situation and goals.
If relationships and family situations are driving your stress and subsequent insomnia, consider talking to a therapist or family counselor to help you and your loved ones work through your issues. I’ve mentioned this many times before but your employer may offer Employee Assistance Programs ("EAP") which are great resources for helping with these kinds of stress and anxiety. Really focus on solving the root cause of the insomnia and not just the symptoms.
There are some more tactical things you can do to start getting a better night’s sleep too. Here are 5 tips you can do now to get more zzz’s:
1. A consistent schedule is everything. Having a set time to go to bed and waking up each day is a proven way to get longer, more consistent sleep. I know the temptation is to sleep in on the weekends or stay up later when you are taking a day off or don’t have a big meeting the next day, but avoid those urges if possible. Set your bedtime and wake up time and keep that schedule 7 days a week.
2. The sleep environment is critical. The temperature of the room, noise level and the amount of light can all play significant factors in how much sleep and how restful that sleep is for you and your body. We know that the best temperature for sleep is between 60 and 67 degrees. Sixty sure does feel super cold to me personally but science is science. Try to eliminate as much light as possible as well as noise and even consider a weighted blanket. These have been found to calm a restless body, reduce feelings of anxiety and boost relaxation.
3. Get rid of the screens at least an hour before bedtime. Any light before bed isn’t good for getting to sleep, but the blue light emitted by your phone or iPad is twice as bad as other types of light. This blue light impairs the secretion of melatonin which is the sleep-inducing hormone that helps us rest. I recommend taking the TV out of your room too. We did that years ago and my sleep immediately improved. Set a timer an hour before bedtime and when it goes off, put away the technology, turn off the TV and start to settle.
4. Don’t have stressful conversations right before bed. If money conversations or relationship discussions create stress or anxiety, they should be had earlier in the day. Back to a quote from nurse Cralle: “Any conversations at night about stress-related issues, such as finances, won’t get you anywhere. When we are sleep-deprived, we are acting like someone who is intoxicated. We’re not thinking straight, and we have to approach these topics in a rational, logical, reasonable manner, and that’s with sufficient sleep under our belts”. So any talk about bills, debt, or significant life changes are better had over breakfast than before bed.
5. Use strategies to relax and calm down before your set bedtime. You have an hour now before bed right? Use this time to read, practice meditation or yoga. All of these activities have been studied and prove to boost relaxation and help you have a better night’s sleep. Harvard researchers were the first to link mindfulness meditation and better sleep scientifically. Regular Massages has also been shown to improve sleep but those can get pretty expensive and right now with the pandemic it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense. Don’t forget the power of exercise as well. Thirty minutes of exercise each day correlates with 14 extra minutes of sleep per night. But remember that exercising too close to bed can impact your body’s ability to calm down. Researchers say to avoid your workout within 3 hours of your bedtime to give your heart rate time to come back to normal levels.
Sleep is just so important and I hope you can take some of these tips and strategies to find more restful nights in your future. And if you have friends or family members that struggle with sleeping, tell them about Calm Cash to help them get back on track. Stay safe out there and get some sleep!