Sleep research discusses sexy vs. rich
It’s amazing how many people think money has to be complicated. I always talk how the most ordinary things usually work quite well — deciding how much to consciously save, consistently growing your money in a diversified way, etc — instead of debating minutiae about the fanciest investments. Take a look at this new sleep research covered in the New York Times, which has lots of parallels to personal finance.
The “…American Journal of Psychiatry analysis of 21 studies showed that behavioral treatment helped people fall asleep nearly nine minutes sooner than sleep drugs. In other measures, sleep therapy worked just as well as drugs, but without any side effects.
The behavioral strategies for better sleep are deceptively simple, and that’s one reason why many people don’t believe they can make a difference [emphasis mine]. One of the most effective methods is stimulus control. This means not watching television, eating or reading in bed. Don’t go to bed until you are sleepy. Get up at the same time every day, and don’t nap during the day. If you are unable to sleep, get out of bed after 15 minutes and do something relaxing, but avoid stimulating activity and thoughts.
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It may be hard to believe, but studies show these simple steps really do make a meaningful difference for people with sleep problems.”
Hmm, could managing your money be the same? If you have a friend who is paralyzed by inaction, maybe sending this to them will wake them up. (Note to new friend: Here’s the table of contents of all my past articles.)
