How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

Forget taking pills or counting sheep. Just make sure you can answer yes to five simple questions, and you're on your way to a restful night

by Bruce Weinstein, PhD

Do you have trouble sleeping? If so, you're not alone—and the price you pay can be significant. Think about how irritable you are and how poorly you perform at work after not sleeping well. It's not just your mood and performance that are at risk, either. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to such heath problems as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The sleepless turn to a wide range of remedies, including over-the-counter and prescription medications and various therapies. People in the U.S. spend $4.5 billion a year on sleep medications, according to a recent New York Times article.

At least one potential solution to sleep problems hasn't been mentioned on TV news programs, on radio talk shows, or in magazine or newspaper articles. It has, however, come up at every lecture I've ever given when I ask, "Why should we be ethical?"

Invariably someone will answer, "So I can sleep better at night." So it makes perfect sense to discuss in an ethics column how you can sleep well every night.

This evening before you go to bed, ask yourself the following five questions:

1. Did I avoid causing harm?

2. Did I make things better?

3. Did I respect others?

4. Was I fair?

5. Was I compassionate?

Rising Above What Others Do

If you can answer yes to all five questions, you will be almost guaranteed to have peaceful, uninterrupted slumber (assuming, of course, you have no physical problems preventing you from sleeping well). You will deserve this pleasant reward, because you took the high road when it might have been easier to take the low one.

In looking back on the day, your commitment to "do no harm" meant that you refused to give in to the harsher impulses we all have, such as lashing out when others lash out at us. Anyone can tear down. It's not so easy to rise above.

By making things better, you went beyond what the law or your company's policies required of you. After all, no rule says you must enrich the lives of others. You could have done just enough to fulfill your job description. Even if your work involves helping others directly, you always have the option to do merely what is asked of you—just as you have the option to go beyond. If you did more than what you were required to do to satisfy the minimum obligations of your job, you should be proud of yourself.

Temptations All Around

Your choice to respect others may have been challenging at times. When your boss asked why you made a mistake you know was your fault, it would have been easier to lie, but you had the courage to be truthful. When you were in a position to reveal a secret entrusted to you, it might have been fun to gossip, but you did the right thing and kept the secret to yourself. Perhaps you were tempted to break a promise to a friend because something better came along, but you kept your word and revealed yourself to be a person of integrity.

Life is fraught with the temptation to do things we shouldn't. We give a job to a friend or family member instead of to someone who is better qualified, or we don't give a job to someone because of a personal prejudice. We choose a certain punishment not because it is just, but because anger and other emotions get the best of us. We fail to take action when we encounter a social or economic injustice. Today, however, if you were able to answer yes to question No. 4, you overcame all of these obstacles.

Most important, you treated others with compassion, kindness, and love. The people who received your gift may not have told you they appreciated what you did, but you can bet your actions made a difference. It might seem strange to talk about love in a publication devoted to business and finance, but without love, how meaningful would our success really be?