With National Carers week in full swing, lenders and advisers are asked to prioritise their own self-care, with a particular focus on getting more – and better quality – sleep.

Paul Barrett, head of wellbeing at the Bank Workers’ Charity (BWC), says that 71% of workers are getting less than the minimum recommended seven hours’ sleep a night. 

According to a 2024 report by the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter, only 9% of advisers get sufficient sleep every night of the week. And BWC research reveals that 60% of bank employees identify insufficient sleep as a frequent problem – a figure which is likely to be even higher among the many thousands of carers in our industry.

One in eight workers in the UK is an unpaid carer, defined as someone who helps out a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or addiction, cannot cope without support.

According to BWC, caring responsibilities have a significant impact on employees, with many admitting their duties impact their social life (64%), their mental health (49%) and their work (42%). Carers need to build up resilience to cope with the demands on their time and resources, and getting adequate, good quality sleep can be vital. 

It can also be life-changing for everyone working in a demanding industry such as ours, as Barrett explains: “When we sleep we consolidate memories, retain information and the brain gets rid of waste matter via the lymph system. So good sleep protects against neurodegeneration. Sleep is also vital for our bodies – when we sleep we grow muscle, repair tissue and create hormones.

“Poor quality or inadequate sleep is linked to a huge range of mental health conditions as well as physical illness, obesity, strokes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

“When we fail to get enough sleep on a regular basis, we can struggle to concentrate, our decision making becomes suspect, our memory suffers and we make more mistakes – which can have serious consequences. Poor sleep has contributed to a range of catastrophes such as the Challenger space shuttle explosion, the Chernobyl nuclear accident and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The evidence is clear: we all need to take sleep more seriously for the sake of our mental and physical health and the quality of our work – and this advice is particularly pertinent for the thousands of carers among us.”

Tips for improving sleep:

•            Go to bed and get up around the same time every day

•            Make sure your bedroom is cool (18-24 degrees), dark and quiet.

•            Exercise regularly

•            Cut down on caffeine in tea, coffeeand fizzy drinks, especially in the evening.

•            Limit food and alcohol intake

•            Avoid blue light devices before sleep to reduce melatonin levels

•            Try meditation