By David Rosenblatt, Psy.D., MarketPsych
The units at the psych hospital are locked at night – but the rooms aren’t.
Some patients pace the halls until sunrise. Beyond the usual “nerves” everyone has at times, many of these khaki-clad gentlemen hear voices, see shadows, and slip into vivid nightmares. It’s no wonder sleep is, at times, a luxury comparable to a night in a five-star hotel.
The first part in this four-part series on stress management for traders introduced three cognitive realms that can be controlled: focus, downtime, and mental exercise. In this, the third part, we learn how to maximize success during waking hours by managing non-waking hours.
"I just feel so much better all day long if I've had eight hours," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently told a journalist at an online news agency. He also said that a solid breakfast and ramp-up time in the morning were helpful.
Scientists have developed many well-educated guesses as to why we sleep. One is to clear out neural by-products. Another is to prune neural connections. No matter the reason, some outcomes are clear: Poor sleep hurts our problem-solving skills, concentration, memory, and emotion regulation. These skills are critical to investors and traders.
Sleep has five stages. Stages 1 and 2 are light sleep. Stages 3 and 4 are deep sleep. The fifth stage is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and features dreams. A sleep cycle moves from 1 through REM in about 100 minutes and then repeats. Deep sleep is restorative, and sleep hygiene supports deep sleep.
Sleep hygiene includes simple practices and habits:
- Keep a schedule. Wake up at the same time every day. The human body runs on a 24-hour biological clock. It is a complex cascade of hormones that has been fine-tuned for hundreds of thousands of years. Work with it.
- No screens at night. That 24-hour biological clock is set each morning by the blue light found in full-spectrum sunlight. Screens emit a lot of blue light. If you have to check your phone, then set it to “Night mode” and turn down the overall brightness.
- Keep the bedroom dark, quiet, and cool. Reducing distractions helps the mind slip into deeper levels of sleep. This also means the bedroom is only for sleep and sex. Keep work in a different room.
- Cap off the night, sans a nightcap. Alcohol can help you relax, but it keeps you in light sleep. Remember: Deep sleep is the goal.
- Unwind before bed. A calming ritual prepares the mind and body for sleep. What’s relaxing varies from person to person, but start with light stretching, easy listening, and meditation.
Eight hours of sleep each night will help you make the most of the six-and-a-half hours of trading each day. Sleep helps a person focus, make better decisions, and regulate emotion. It also supports immune system function and enhances overall well-being. Be like Bezos and get your eight hours.
You can control your health behaviors to increase your financial returns. In the fourth article of this four-part series, we’ll look at meditation more in-depth.
(***Click here and here for the previous two installments of "Stress Management Tips for Traders.")
EDITOR'S NOTE
This is a Hedgeye Guest Contributor piece written by David M. Rosenblatt Psy.D. Dr. Rosenblatt is an investor coach for MarketPsych, an expert in stress management, and an avid individual investor. Additionally he works with the California Department of State Hospitals treating Mentally Disordered Offenders. He may be contacted with questions or comments at david@marketpsych.com. This piece does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Hedgeye.
