Does Procrastination Affect Your Sleep?

Take your time reading this: If you tend to procrastinate, you are also more likely to have trouble sleeping. In the first study of its kind, research involving 600 people found that putting things off leads many people to worry about those things when they should be heading for dreamland, thus spending more time tossing and turning than dozing and dreaming. Lead researcher Ilana S. Hairston, a sleep researcher at Israel's Academic College of Tel Aviv told LiveScience that the study was unique and insightful. One fact that stood out was that self-described "morning people" -- those who are early to bed and early to rise -- didn't procrastinate as much as "evening people," and also had fewer problems falling asleep. Although the new study backs up some findings from previous work, including that morning people are often more conscientious and social, it doesn't necessarily prove that procrastinating causes insomnia. In fact, the opposite might be the case: People dealing with insomnia might not have the willpower to get work done. The researchers said more studies are needed to get closer to the heart of the matter.

Some insomnia facts to sleep on:

• Approximately half of all adults have experienced some insomnia, but 10 percent have dealt with it on a chronic basis.
• Insomnia is more prevalent among women, adults with children, and the elderly.
• Studies show that insomnia can be linked to traffic accidents, missed work, unhappiness with employment, and irritability.