I just want some more sleep! Why getting a proper night’s rest will speed you to Financial Independence, and make you happier and healthier
Why, Oh Why, Oh Why, Oh Why, do I do it to myself? I know that I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow so, is this the conversation I have with myself?
“Hey Caveman. You know what would be a really good idea right now?”
“Hey yourself Caveman’s subconscious. No, I don’t know. But speak on good buddy.”
“Well. You know how you’ve got to meet with the CEO for a breakfast meeting at 8am tomorrow?”
“Yeah, yeah. I totally know that. Really important. I’ve got to bring my A-game.”
“I’m just going to put it out there that you could do with an early night ahead of that.”
“Wow. You know what? I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Just flying a kite to see which way the wind’s blowing. Up to you what you do of course but I thought I would mention it.”
“I’m glad you did my friend. Heck. I’m going to turn my computer off right now and read a book in bed to unwind before turning my lights out at 10pm on the nose.”
“Hey, that’s an awesome idea! Nice one.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“No you are.”
Is it chuff? Do I behave like a grown-up? No. The conversation I have with myself goes more like this.
“Hey Caveman. You know what would be a really good idea right now?”
“Shut up.”
“Say what now?”
“You heard. Shut it.”
“That’s a bit rude.”
“I know what you’re going to say so don’t even start.”
“I didn’t say anything. Man, you’re so defensive.”
“You don’t need to say anything. You’re going to go on about how I should go to bed because of that breakfast meeting.”
“Well now you mention it…”
“Just go away. I know. But the internet’s not going to read itself you know? In fact… Oh. My. Dayz.”
“What?”
“Someone’s just said something stupid on Reddit.”
“Caveman…”
“No. Not now. He needs correcting. He needs correcting right now in a pithy yet humorous way that will get me massive upvotes.”
“Er, Caveman, about tomorrow…”
“Shush unhelpful subconscious. I’m creating. I’ll talk to you at 1am.”
So then it’s the next morning. And I’m grumpy because I’m tired. And over caffeinated. And I’ve not managed to do my awesome morning routine (it works for real people you know…).
But it’s not just what I do when I have an early meeting. I do it all the time. I sabotage myself so I don’t get enough sleep and then get annoyed at having screwed myself over…but I don’t change.
Almost the worst bit of it is that I know how great I feel when I’ve got a proper night’s sleep. I feel amazing. My judgement is on point. I’m witty and charming to the people I meet. My family don’t try to avoid me. Heck I just LIKE myself so much more.
My history of not getting enough sleep
When did bed change from somewhere that we reluctantly went to do when ordered up by our parents to our favourite place in the world?
Well for me the real problem it started in my teens. Before then I had definitely been one of those kids that would stay up reading a little too late, but when my parents told me to turn out the light I was pretty good at doing that.
It was when I was about 13 that things started to escalate. Do you remember that mad good moment the first time your parents went up to bed and THEY DIDN’T TELL YOU TO GO AS WELL? I can. My parents suggested it but then they didn’t tell me I had to go.
Man that was incredible. I was in the living room watching TV listening to them get ready for bed. I was just waiting for them to call to tell me to come up. BUT THEY DIDN’T! As an equivalent youth today might remark has on this state of events coming to pass: Totes Amaze-balls. [I know. It’s tough being as down with the kids as I am, but it’s a burden I bear with equanimity.]
I guess they thought that I was old enough to take responsibility for myself. Hah! No, Mater and Pater. How wrong you were. I wasn’t responsible enough. I stayed up until past midnight on a school night aged 13 watching TV. How cool was I? Very cool.
And that was the start. I’ve loved staying up late ever since. Even when I was out late at university I would come back to my room and potter around for another hour or two. It’s something to do with the feeling like I’m owed time to myself.
It then continued through my 20s and I’ve already touched on my lifestyle from back then. I was also doing a lot of travelling for work at that time and that stuffed up my sleep as well.
Through my 30s I had the classic sleep deprivation of a parent of young children.
And that takes me to now when, in my 40s, frankly, I’m out of excuses and I’m forced to face the fact that not getting enough sleep is down to my own choices.
Why not getting enough sleep is a terrible idea
A year or so ago there was a big thing about a book by a chap called Matthew Walker titled “Why We Sleep”. He’s the Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, and Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
He showed that there are links between sleep loss and, Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, obesity memory, and mental health. That’s a pretty hefty list right?
His conclusions seem pretty compelling. Sleep is the magic bullet, it appears to fix pretty much everything.
If you want to know more about Professor Walker’s work there’s are articles in the Guardian or the Evening Standard which is most of the info in this post has come from…or yanno, you can read his book (NOT an affiliate link).
So um, Caveman, what’s this actually got to do with FIRE…
…well, my dudes, let me tell you. Sleep is just the foundation of everything. It will give us the willpower to not buy stuff. It will help us to wake up in the morning energised by the journey that we’re on rather than feeling ground down by it. It gives us the energy that we need to do our side hustles. It will help us be more resilient to the bricks that, inevitably, will be thrown in our path. It will allow our brains to not be foggy when we’re at work so that we can be more effective, which means that our chances of being promoted will increase.
That effectiveness at work point is an important one. A classic argument for why people don’t get enough sleep is because they’re working too hard. I have some strong views on the value of much of the work that people spend their time on, but putting that to one side sleep makes you more efficient. I’ve repeatedly found that something that I have spent hours on and stayed up late to do can get done in much less time the next morning. It’s been more efficient for me to go to bed, get more sleep, set my alarm a little early and then bash it out.
More delivery in less time. What’s not to like?
The other thing is that sleep is free. That’s the magic price point right? Yes you can buy new mattresses, pillows, hot water bottles, blackout blinds, eyes masks, ear plugs etc. But you don’t have to. Many of the tips to get better sleep are about discipline not money.
But it also comes to why we’re shooting for FIRE in the first place. Is it worth trading our health for FI? What’s the point in having all of the time in the world if we don’t have the health to enjoy it?
More importantly it is actually deeply unhelpful to mentally frame this as a binary choice like I just did. It’s not a case of being FI or getting sleep. As I show in my list above sleep and FI are symbiotic. You can have both. Sleep can be the magic sauce that gets you to FI.
My killer argument for why you should get more sleep on the journey to FI
I can tell that I’ve not quite won you over yet. Not a problem. I’ve saved my big guns ‘til last. If this argument doesn’t win you over then I’ve got nothing left.
*Ahem*
Here it is.
Gather round.
You’re going to love this.
If you’re not tired then you DON’T NEED TO BUY THAT FRICKING LATTE. And that means if you get enough sleep you can avoid the most boring conversation in the FI universe. You don’t need to engage in the debate on whether or not to buy a coffee in the morning. BECAUSE. YOU. DON’T. NEED. A. COFFEE.
Boom!
How do you like them apples?
[Yes I appreciate the irony in writing this after having gone on about how much I love coffee. Cut me some slack, OK? I’m tired. I’m maybe getting a little emotional.]
How am I sleeping now?
Well despite knowing all of this for months I’m doing diddly squat about it. Let’s have a squint at my sleep over the last few weeks as measured by my Fitbit.
Awful isn’t it.
Awful isn’t it. I’m averaging just over 6 hours a night – and that Guardian article says “An adult sleeping only 6.75 hours a night would be predicted to live only to their early 60s without medical intervention.”
*Gulp.*
I’m not close.
This is not good. Not good at all.
Can I change?
Now colour me greedy but I’d quite like to live through more than my early 60s. As Gloria Gaynor might put it “I’ve got all my life to live, And I’ve got all my love to give”…but will I survive?
I’m not sure I know anyone who thinks that they get enough sleep. The question is can we change? Well I want to find out.
My inspiration here is Raptitude and his experiments. I think that there’s something about choosing to hold yourself to account – even if you’re anonymously on the web then just deciding to put it out there means that you have more chance of success.
So I’m going to carry out a sleep experiment. Yes siree Bob, an experiment is what I’m going to carry out and none of you can stop me. In fact you can join me if you want.
My sleep experiment
My objective here is to get more sleep. More precisely I want to average more than 7 hours a night over the course of a week.
While, of course, that itself isn’t directly in my control some other things are. So what I’m going to do is this:
Firstly, if I’m going to get 7 hours of actual sleep every night I’m going to need to be in bed for 8 hours a night. My alarm goes off at 6.40 so I’ll need to be in bed by 10.40 every night.
Secondly I know that using electronic devices is definitely having an impact on my sleep. So, as a result I’m going to stop using them no later than 10.15 (Prof Walker says you should do this an hour before bed but throw me a bone…).
Thirdly I’m going to do what my boy Professor Walker does and not drink coffee after midday or booze after 6pm (which in practise means that I won’t drink at all during the week). I should be clear though that I’m totally going to give myself a pass for Christmas and New Year parties – I’m not a monk you know.
At the end of six weeks or so (so early in the new year) I’m going to report back to show you how I’ve fared.
But first I’m going to get to bed…
Thoughts?
Do you get enough sleep? If so do you have an tricks or routines to help you?
If you don’t get enough sleep what’s stopping you?
How does lack of sleep affect you?
Do you fancy joining me on my sleep experiment?
I think everyone is different, some need more sleep than others, just like some are ‘larks’ and others ‘owls’.
During the week, I go to sleep around 12.30am and my alarm (the first one!) goes off at 6.50am. So that’s around 6hrs 20 mins I’m sleeping, which is better than what you’ve been clocking but below the so-called recommended amount. Occasionally I’ll stay up til 1am but I do feel tired the next day. At weekends, I’ll generally get 7 hours but no more, as this leaves me feeling lethargic.
My routine seems to work for me, I don’t feel tired at work and have energy to do my workouts in the gym. I also don’t tend to nod off or doze on the sofa in front of the tv (unless I’m hungover!)
I’ve been practising no drinking alcohol during the week for years now and don’t have caffiene after 6pm.
I don’t look at my phone last thing before I go to bed, it’s always a book, although sometimes, if the book is so good, I end up reading into the wee hours!
Good luck with your sleep experiment and catching those zzzzzzz’s!
I completely agree that sleep is an individual thing. You sound like you have a systems that’s delivering for you. I’m jealous!
I just know how much mine’s not working for me. I am just awful for falling asleep on the sofa – my speciality is doing it on Sunday afternoons (which again suggests I’m not sleeping enough!).
I would love to get to the level that Matthew Walker has of sleeping enough to not need a coffee to get going in the morning!
That’s a great experiment Caveman!
I absolutely need sufficient (more than 7 hours effective) sleep to be productive the next day. Also, if I know I will have less than 7 hours sleep I usually worry about it – especially if I have an important meeting the next day. The result of course is that I can’t fall asleep. It ruins my next day and I will worry even more the next time I go to bed too late. It’s a vicious circle 😉
My trick? Go to bed early. It’s that simple. I am am in bed by 10:45 or so I am not worrying, fall asleep quickly and have a great rest. Well, usually.
I support you and am very curious about the results 🙂
You’re right! Going to bed early is absolutely the key…but this is my thing I know what I need to do I JUST DON’T DO IT! That’s what’s behind my rules. I’m trying to find a way to force myself to do the right thing.
You’re internal argument reminded me of this xkcd webcomic – https://xkcd.com/386/
I can fully relate to this. If I don’t get enough sleep the night before then I am just not as productive during the following day. On the other hand, if I do get enough (maybe 7-8 hours), then the next day I am on fire! (Pun not intended, ha). And yet, despite this, I’m my own worst enemy and occasionally stay up late playing videogames, as if I was still 16 years old!
*Your internal argument.
This is what I get for not proofreading my comments!
I’m judging you…
I hadn’t seen that comic. That’t great!
I used to do the late night computer game thing. Clash of Clans was my last vice and deleting it really helped.
It’s odd isn’t it? Why do we sabotage ourselves? I have no answers…!
I really enjoyed this article- so much if it rings true for me.
The table of how long you’ve slept is wonderful- so many people wear fitbits but this is the first I’ve seen of the results.
On sleep – in every single night owl there’s an early bird dreading to wake up.
Glad you enjoyed it! It’s strange how little people actually use so much of the technology they spend their money on. Being able to track my sleep and steps and exercise intensity is one of the explicit reasons I got my Fitbit. If you just want to track your steps there are many more cost effective ways of doing that!