The top earners in the country all have one very simple thing in common: they all get a good night’s rest! People like Jeff Bezos, Serena Williams, and Tim Cook all get over 7 hours of sleep a night and relate that to their overall success.
While getting a good night’s rest may seem like an overly simple component of success, it is actually proven to increase overall productivity. Lack of sleep has been proven to lead to many different health, psychological, and overall life problems. People who get insufficient sleep are twice as likely to get into a car accident, experience impaired coordination, and have an overall lower quality of life.
Lack of sleep clearly affects people physically, but did you know that it also has financial consequences? People who experience a lack of sleep have a reduced ability to make wise financial decisions. Insufficient sleep also leads to more people experiencing physical symptoms that may lead them to call out of work, and an average 1.2 million work days are lost each year due to this lack of rest. With all of these lost work days, lack of sleep cost Americans more than $411 billion in lost productivity each year!
With all of the numerous consequences of insufficient sleep, it seems strange that most Americans deprive themselves each and every night. A good night’s rest can greatly increase your overall quality of life, so what are some easy ways to start improving your sleep schedule?
One of the easiest ways to improve your sleep is to launder your bed sheets each night. 73% of people report that they are more excited to sleep with fresh sheets. If you’re more excited to go to sleep, you’ll find yourself getting into bed earlier and sleeping longer.
Another great way to increase the quality of your sleep is to limit your nightly blue light exposure. Blue light is produced from all screens, and it inhibits your natural melatonin production which is the chemical that induces sleep. Try decreasing your screen time before bed to increase your melatonin production, or investing in blue light glasses which will filter the light for you.
A weighted blanket is another great way to improve your quality of sleep. Weighted blankets help people who suffer from anxiety and insomnia. These conditions make it difficult for people to fall asleep and stay asleep, and can greatly decrease overall quality of life due to the lack of sleep. People suffering from insomnia who used weighted blankets for two weeks reported an overall calmer night’s sleep with fewer movements. Weighted blankets are a cheap and easy way to improve not only your sleep, but overall quality of life.
One of the most effective ways to increase your nightly rest is to get a more comfortable mattress. 93% of people say that a comfortable mattress is what contributes to their best quality of sleep. Investing in a new mattress can be your ticket to better rest and overall increased productivity!
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of a happy and productive life, and yet most of us deprive ourselves of it. If the most successful people contribute part of their success to their sleep schedule, it is clear that we should be trying to improve our own sleep schedules. Improving your sleep schedule can be as easy as changing some of your daily activities. Try making some of these easy changes and reap the benefits of a good night’s rest.
