The key to a good night's sleep may be rolling in the dough[1] .


According to a new survey of sleep habits from Britain's Sleep Council[2] , 83 percent of people earning £75,000 or more -- that's $116,000 and above -- reported sleeping very or fairly well most nights, compared to a nationwide average of 73 percent at all income levels. In other words, wealthy people were 20 percent more likely to get a good night's sleep on any given evening, regardless of other factors.


The survey also examined how particular occupations affect sleep habits. People in the legal profession, for example, were most likely to say they slept fairly well most nights. Manufacturing and utilities workers were most likely to say they slept very well most nights, according to the survey data, provided by the Sleep Council to HuffPost. The worst sleepers? HR workers. Nearly 10 percent said they sleep very poorly most nights.


Overall, not enough people are reaching the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep[3] a night that most adults need, according to the survey. Nearly 40 percent of people in the legal profession get seven to nine hours, while only 21 percent of people working in architecture, engineering and building can say the same. (Nearly 40 percent of people in that field said they get an average of only five to six hours a night!)


Here's a breakdown by profession -- how does your occupation stack up?




Still Awake?

Every profession has its challenges, but it's not only work keeping us awake. The survey results revealed what's keeping workers up at night. Perhaps unsurprisingly, worry and stress are foremost in our minds. But noise and light are also problematic.



What You Can Do

It's pretty unlikely your boss is going to buy the "I need to make $116,000 -- for my health!" line of reasoning. But no matter your occupation or income, there are a number of simple tricks to improve your slumber tonight. First, make sure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet. Cut off your caffeine use early enough in the day. And reconsider how you spend your last hour or so before bedtime. Electronic gadgets are notorious sleep stealers. The blue wavelength of light[8] omitted by your cell phone, laptop, tablet and television is particularly disruptive to your body's natural melatonin production and can therefore sabotage sleep.


Yet, the majority of survey respondents said they use some kind of gadget during their bedtime routine. Here's what workers are doing right before lights out:




So what do you think: Does your job impact your sleep? Tell us how in the comments below!





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  • Hurts Your Sleep


    A study of police officers found a strong link between working the night or evening shift, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/police-sleep-shift-work-_n_1686727.html">getting fewer than six hours of sleep</a> a day. The research, published in the journal <em>Workplace Health & Safety</em>, also showed that police officers who got fewer than six hours of sleep a day had more than a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/police-sleep-shift-work-_n_1686727.html">doubled risk of bad quality sleep</a>, compared with those who got six or more hours of sleep a day. And in another study in the journal <em>SLEEP</em>, University of Buenos Aires researchers found that shift workers were more likely to experience <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2007/08/02/serotonin-shift.html">lower serotonin levels</a> than non shift workers, which could thereby impact sleep, CBC reported. Serotonin, the "feel-good hormone," is also known to impact sleep.




  • Raises Breast Cancer Risk


    Working the night shift raises <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/01/shift-work-breast-cancer-night-sleep_n_1612486.html">a woman's risk of breast cancer</a> risk by 30 percent, according to a study in the <em>International Journal of Cancer</em>. Specifically, French researchers found that the breast cancer risk of women who <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/01/shift-work-breast-cancer-night-sleep_n_1612486.html">worked the night shift</a> for four years was <em>especially</em> clear, as well as those who only worked the night shift for three or fewer nights a week (meaning their daily rhythms were disturbed more often).




  • Raises Obesity And Diabetes Risks


    Sleeping too little or sleeping "against" your body's natural biological clock could increase the likelihood of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/shift-work-sleep-type-2-diabetes-obesity_n_1418394.html">developing diabetes or becoming obese</a>, according to a study from Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers in the journal <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>. While the study was small -- it only included 21 people! -- the findings are valuable because it was a controlled study, meaning it placed people in an environment where scientists decided how much sleep they got each day, and what time they were able to go to sleep. "Since night workers often have a hard time sleeping during the day, they can face both <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/bawh-lsd040612.php">circadian disruption</a> working at night and insufficient sleep during the day," study researcher Orfeo M. Buxton, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said in a statement. "The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health, and that sleep should be at night for best effect." Plus, another study in the journal <em>PLoS Medicine</em> showed that rotating shift workers had a <a href="http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/07/why-working-the-night-shift-may-boost-your-risk-of-diabetes/">higher Type 2 diabetes risk</a>, likely because of shift work's impact on insulin activity, <em>TIME</em> reported.




  • Increases Heart Attack Risk


    Working the night shift could make you more likely to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/26/shift-work-heart-health_n_1708093.html?utm_hp_ref=health-news&ir=Health%20News&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008">have a heart attack</a>, according to a review of research published in the <em>British Medical Journal</em>. The review included 34 studies, and showed that working the night shift could account for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/26/shift-work-heart-health_n_1708093.html?utm_hp_ref=health-news&ir=Health%20News&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008">7 percent of heart attacks</a> that occurred in 2009 and 2010 in Canada, as well as 1.6 percent of ischemic strokes and 7.3 percent of coronary events during that time period, CBC reported.




  • Provokes Negative Metabolic Changes


    Night shift work could lead to <a href="http://news.health.com/2009/03/03/night-shift-work-hard-on-heart/">lower levels of leptin</a>, the hormone known to play a role in regulating weight, as well as affect blood sugar and insulin levels, Health.com. reported. The findings, published in 2009 in the journal <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, suggest that these changes could lead to a higher risk of <a href="http://news.health.com/2009/03/03/night-shift-work-hard-on-heart/">serious health conditions</a> like diabetes and heart disease, according to Health.com.




  • Makes You More Likely To Be Injured At Work


    Working the night shift could nearly double your risk of suffering a workplace injury, according to University of British Columbia researchers. Their findings, published in <a href="http://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3124">the <em>Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health</em></a>, reveal that work injuries on a whole in Canada have gone down between 1996 and 2007, but they didn't go down at all among people who work at night. "The disruption of normal sleep patterns due to shift work can <a href="http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2010/11/02/mr-10-163/">cause drowsiness or fatigue</a>, which can lead to workplace injuries," study research Imelda Wong, a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of British Columbia's School of Environmental Health, said in a statement. "Our research shows that people working rotating and night shifts are more likely to experience an injury than those who work regular day hours."




  • Ups Depression Risk


    Numerous studies have suggested that shift work could have an impact on mental health. For example, a study in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9891131">the <em>International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health</em></a> showed that depression occurs at a higher rate among shift workers than non shift workers. And in a 2008 study in the <em>International Journal on Disability and Human Development</em>, researchers found that "shift work is suggested to increase the risk of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2559945/">developing or aggravating mood disorders</a> at least in vulnerable individuals," though they also acknowledged that some experts say depression risk may have more to do with the actual job than working the night shift.




  • Sleep Help for the Graveyard Shift


    In this health video you will gain some help so you can sleep when you work odd hours through the night.