Since the advent of Railroad Standard Time in 1883, Americans have been participating in a grand experiment.
The resulting establishment of four time
zones in the continental U.S.—Eastern, Central, Mountain, and
Pacific—created conditions that are now shedding light on the one thing
everyone does for about a third of their lives…
Sleep.
For years, medical researchers,
neuroscientists, psychologists, and others have shown us the
wide-ranging benefits of sleep for our physical, mental, and emotional
well-being. Now economists are turning to time zones to reveal the
impact of sleep on our economic well-being.
In a study published in the journal Review and Economic Statistics,
economists Matthew Gibson and Jeffrey Shrader wanted, among other
things, to answer how getting more, or better, sleep affects earnings,
they told Stephen Dubner, host of Freakonomics Radio, during his podcast
titled “The Economics of Sleep.”
Times zones in essence have forced
people to sleep different amounts. Within each time zone, Dubner
reported, “sunset happens roughly one hour earlier in the eastern edge
of the time zone than the western edge.”
For instance, sunset according to the clock in Huntsville, Alabama, happens an hour earlier than in Amarillo, Texas.
“Well, it turns out that the human body,
our sleep cycle, responds more strongly to the sun than it does to the
clock. So people who live in Huntsville and experience this earlier
sunset go to bed earlier,” said Gibson, co-author of the study titled,
“Time use and labor productivity: The returns to sleep.”
Yet, since people in both locations
generally start work at the same time in the morning, the researchers
found those with the earlier sunset slept about an hour more per week.
And based on the wage data for those
cities and similar pairs, Gibson said, “We find that permanently
increasing sleep by an hour per week for everybody in a city increases
the wage in that location by about 4.5 percent.”
And sleeping one hour extra per night on
average increases wages by 16 percent, Gibson said, “highlighting the
importance of restedness to human productivity.”
When you sleep well, you improve cognitive thinking, focus, problem-solving, and memory.
And if you’re an early riser, you’ll
benefit as well, said economist Jens Bonke of the Rockwool Foundation in
Copenhagen. Morning people earn 4 to 5 percent more than night owls, he
told Dubner.
Are you getting the sleep you need to ensure your financial well-being?
If not, set an early bedtime that
ensures you 7 to 9 hours—and stick to it. If needed, take incremental
steps to get your there, like choosing to go bed 10 minutes earlier
every night for a week or two until you reach your target bedtime.
Even the smallest actions that support
your goal can be considered small wins. Just imagine the good feelings
that come with that small gain of 10 minutes of revitalizing sleep each
night. Every time you experience that small win, you experience an inner
reward, building belief in your capabilities.
Once your brain starts expecting the
reward—feeling refreshed and clear-headed in the morning and the sense
of accomplishment you gain—it becomes automatic to make the choice that
supports your goal.
To stay motivated toward your target bedtime, make affirmations part of your nightly routine, as recommended in our New Action Generator Paraliminal:
- State your intention in the present
tense, make it positive, keep it brief, and include at least one feeling
word reflecting the emotion of having achieved your goal. For instance,
“I sleep soundly and peacefully for eight hours and wake reenergized and excited to embrace the day.” - Say your affirmations aloud at bedtime for the next 30 nights. By doing so, you acknowledge the thing you want most as if it’s already complete, and you’re less likely to make self-defeating choices along the way.
- Post your affirmations on your bathroom mirror to remind you as you brush your teeth.
Celebrate the opportunity for each small win as another step toward optimum sleep and the abundant life you desire.
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