How Sleep Changes in Retirement

Sleep is important. You know that. While you sleep, your body recovers from the day. Sleep also helps your immune system, regulates your blood pressure, and balances your hormones. People who get enough sleep have lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and other diseases. Getting a good night’s sleep is also vital for your mental and emotional well-being. While you’re sleeping, your brain cleanses itself of toxins, consolidates memories, and processes emotions. All of this helps your body function at its best.

However, sleep changes in retirement, especially as you get older. There are a lot of reasons why.

Why Your Sleep is Different in Retirement

One of the biggest reasons that your sleep schedule will change in retirement is because your overall schedule is different. Work dictates a lot of our lives. For the last 30-plus years, you’ve woken up to an alarm so you could get to work on time. That set your internal clock and told you to wake up at a certain time. This changes in retirement. Now, you can sleep in if you want. You can also stay up late if you want. In fact, your entire schedule changes.

You take lunch at a different time. Go outside at different times. Relax and exert yourself on a completely different schedule than when you were at work. This changes a lot about your life. It also affects your sleep. Most people feel the most rested and get the best sleeps when they’re consistent. That was probably the case while you were working, but it may not be what happens in retirement. Having an inconsistent schedule may also mean you have an inconsistent sleep schedule, and that can make it difficult to sleep soundly each night.

Of course, the changing schedule (and the fact that you can take naps whenever you want to these days) isn’t the only thing that’s different in retirement. You’re also getting older. This means changes in your hormones and your circadian rhythm (which is sometimes known as your “body clock”). As you age, your body clock may change so that you’ll feel like waking up earlier and going to sleep earlier. This is natural for a lot of people, but if you fight those urges, it could make it difficult to sleep soundly.

At the same time, your body naturally starts to produce less melatonin, which is the hormone that tells you that it’s time to go to sleep. This makes it harder to fall asleep at night, but it also makes it easier to wake up from sleep. This is part of the reason so many seniors have restless sleeps. Everything from small noises to having to use the bathroom wakes them up.

Many seniors also deal with health problems, and these can affect your sleep. Sometimes it’s the medication you’re taking, sometimes it’s stress or anxiety, and sometimes it’s aches and pains that keep you up. Whatever the cause, health can make it more difficult to sleep soundly.

What You Can Do to Improve Your Sleep

It may feel like there are a lot of factors working against you, making it harder for you to get a night of rest. For some people, in some cases, this is true. Aging can make it more difficult for some retirees to sleep at night. However, this doesn’t mean you’re destined to never sleep well again. In fact, it’s a common misconception that seniors need less sleep. 

Older adults typically need 7 to 8 hours of sleep to feel well rested, which is similar for all adults. To get this much sleep each night, however, you might need to change a few things about your life.

The first is to be consistent with your schedule. Yes, you’re no longer working so there’s nothing saying you absolutely must get up at the same time each day, but it’s a good idea if you want to improve your sleep quality. Having an erratic or inconsistent sleep schedule makes it hard for your body clock to function as it should. Your body is much more likely to wind down correctly and produce the hormones needed for sleep if you head to bed at the same time every day and wake up at the same time as well.

Limiting naps can be helpful as well. It’s very easy to fall asleep on the couch while watching TV or drift off to sleep after a big dinner, but this can make sleeping at night a lot more difficult. Naps can be helpful sometimes but try to stick with a consistent nighttime sleep schedule as much as possible and that often means skipping a nap if you don’t really need one. 

There are also other lifestyle changes you may want to make. For instance, research shows that caffeine sensitivity changes as you get older. Your metabolism is slower than it once was, which means it takes longer for your body to process caffeine. As a result, it lasts longer in your system, potentially keeping you awake. If you find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, you might want to adjust your caffeine consumption. This might mean having less of it overall, for instance, or stopping earlier in the day. For a lot of people, caffeine in the afternoon disrupts sleep.

Living an active lifestyle also helps you sleep better. Moderate aerobic exercise can make it easier for your body to fall into a deep sleep, which is important since this is where your body and brain can rejuvenate. You’ll want to pay attention to the timing, however. For some people, exercising in the evening makes it difficult to sleep at night. To be safe, try to complete your exercise at least an hour or two before bedtime.

Sun exposure helps improve your sleep as well. It helps your body produce more vitamin D, which supports healthy sleep regulation. It can also boost serotonin production during the day, which in turn helps improve melatonin production in the evening. Morning sunlight is especially important, since it helps set your internal clock. 

Healthy Sleep in Retirement

A lot of seniors deal with sleep changes in retirement, but they can be overcome. If you have a consistent schedule, exercise regularly, reduce caffeine intake, and try to get sun every day, you can help your body sleep more restfully. However, if you’re doing those things and you’re still having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, you may wish to speak with a medical professional.

Certain medications can make it difficult to sleep well at night. If you think your medication could be affecting your sleep, talk to your doctor about it. There’s also the unfortunate reality that aches and pains make it harder to sleep. Again, talking to a doctor or other healthcare professional can help you determine the root causes of these issues and work to resolve them, improving your sleep. 

Stress, anxiety, and depression can also negatively affect your sleep. You may think that your life will be less stressful in retirement, since you no longer have to worry about work, but that isn’t always true. Many retirees worry about finances, their health, or their futures. Retirement also removes people from a main social feature of their lives, which is the workplace. It’s not uncommon for retirees to feel lonely, sad, or despondent because they now have fewer opportunities to bond with others. 

Making social connections outside of the workplace can be incredibly helpful. Join a club or group, take part in a class, or participate in a sport. This can help you make new friendships, which will reduce your levels of stress and anxiety. If you’re having trouble dealing with mental health issues, consider talking to a doctor or therapist. They can assist you with strategies to calm your body and your mind, which in turn can make it easier to sleep at night.