Posted by Lending Club :: August 13, 2008 @ 9:59 am

Benjamin Franklin popularized the proverbial wisdom of “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” in his periodical Poor Richard’s Almanack. The actual origins date back even earlier, at the very latest to John Clarke's Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina. Origins aside, the truth in the saying endures to this day.

It’s not surprising that wealth and sleep go hand in hand. Try searching on "sleep and wealth" and you’ll see references to two distinct topics.

First is the notion that stress and money troubles are keeping people up at night. If that is the case, then it stands to reason that those who are financially secure should be able to get more rest.

Second, you’ll find that one of the secrets of building wealth is to do so while you’re asleep. Of course, this notion is to generate income not from your labor but from your money itself, i.e., having your money work for you.

The generally accepted connection between sleep and wealth is that productivity soars when we are well rested. Such a correlation may seem rational to most people, but others dissent. To the minority, less sleep means more time to work, which should raise earnings, production, etc. A study published in 2004 provides some insight into whether more sleep increases productivity. The German study provided evidence that creativity and problem solving are directly related to getting enough sleep.

Getting 8 hours of sleep isn’t going to increase your bank account in the short term, but it probably will make a long-term difference. The well-documented health benefits of sufficient sleep should be enough to motivate you to get your rest. If financial benefits come along as well, then your investment in sleep may be one of the best ones you ever make.

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