A recent article in Entrepreneur magazine said it all—many entrepreneurs sleep less than they should. But that stereotypical sleep deprivation is a bad, bad thing that’s hopefully going away.
As entrepreneurs ourselves, we know how tough it can be to build a successful business. There’s just so much to do and all of it is riding on you. Success or failure depends on the quality—and sometimes quantity—of your work. You could end up totally broke if you don’t work super hard.
It can be a lot of pressure! No wonder entrepreneurs often feel overwhelmed and lonely.
But, whether you’re an entrepreneur or simply a stressed-out workaholic who’s been trying to accomplish too much on too little sleep, take it from us: cutting out sleep is not a viable way to manage all of it, long-term. It’ll catch up with you.
Sleep deprivation hurts our cognitive functions, memory and higher reasoning skills. It makes us cranky, too, and less emotionally resilient—less able to cope with stress and difficult situations. Not to mention its negative impact on our concentration, energy levels and health!
We’re not just saying this because we’re in the sleep business. We, like many other business people, have personal experience with this.
“This message is beginning to get through,” Entrepreneur tells us. “Now that prominent business leaders like Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington have begun advocating for a healthy amount of sleep, the sleep-deprived entrepreneur will hopefully become a thing of the past.”
So next time you feel like burning the midnight oil instead of hitting the hay, remember to take care of yourself and invest in sleep. You’ll find you handle the pressures of running a business more gracefully and efficiently.
Here are some quick tips for the workaholic in us all:
- If your job lacks structure or is one of those you could just be doing all of the time, set limits. Quit work at a reasonable hour so you’ll have time to wind down, decompress and get to bed at a reasonable time.
- Get into a sleep schedule that works for you. Try to go to bed around the same time each night and wake up at the same time.
- Make the most of the sleep you get—make it good Buy yourself a decent mattress! We don’t care if you buy it from us, just do it. We sleep on the mattresses we sell and we can tell you, having a quality bed makes a huge difference.
To put it in a nutshell, the quality and quantity of your sleep affects the quality of your life and your work. It all fits together. Success and failure are bigger than your daily To-Do list. So don’t skimp on sleep any more! Rest up, and then go get ‘em.