5 Sleep Habits Of Successful Entrepreneurs

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The stress of owning a business could affect your sleep, experts have discovered that your decision-making, situational awareness and memory go down by up to 50 percent when you haven’t had a good night’s sleep.

I’m Becca from Passport2Success. The online community and resource that gives you access to a world of business know-how.

Now I’ve got a question for you. Are you tired?

We naturally feel tired at two different times of the day: about 2:00 AM and 2:00 PM. It is this natural dip in alertness that is primarily responsible for the post-lunch dip.

Lack of sleep affects our executive function which is the area of the brain responsible for decision making, creative thinking, memory and reaction time.

You must have noticed the difference before.

It also affects our mood and can increase the risk of depression and cardiovascular disease.

#1 Turn off electronics

Your phone is probably always at an arm’s reach. However, this can and will affect the quality of your sleep.

Your electronics give off blue light which keeps you awake and alert and can contribute to eye strain.

An hour before bed, turn off all your electronics and do something that doesn’t require a screen, chat, read a book or write.

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, finishes her day by spending time with her kids and going to bed as early as 9.30pm, usually getting a solid 7 hours of sleep.

#2 Start a journal

Owning a company can get very stressful at times, constantly playing on your mind. A great way of freeing yourself from this is writing down your worries and stresses before bed.

This will stop your mind from wandering while in bed and will allow you to switch off much faster.

#3 Create the perfect ambience

Getting to sleep when you have a very distracting room or if it’s simply just too hot can be incredibly hard.

Create a cool, dark and quiet environment in your room. Remove all distracting lights, invest in some black out blinds and move any bright lights such as the lights coming off your phone charger in to the other room.

Think of sleep as meditation, create a serene relaxing surrounding you can easily shut yourself off in. CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey described his morning routine in a Product Hunt Ask Me Anything: “I sleep from 11-5a usually. Blackout shades help. Meditation and exercise!”

#4 Exercise

Exercising naturally releases serotonin and dopamine which help regulate our natural cycle and mood. This could simply be a 30minute work out that you do at home, don’t think you need to go out to a gym to stay healthy.

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson frequently posts his 4am workout on social media, which he says helps him consistently get a good night’s sleep.

#5 Avoid sugar

There’s many old wives tales on what not to eat before bed, many people think cheese is the thing to avoid, however, you need to be avoid sugar.

Sugar puts you in a slump after a burst of quick, short lasted energy. If you are a bit peckish before bed, opt for proteins and good fats.

A strong proponent of the 8-hour circadian rhythm, billionaire Jeff Bezos avoids morning meetings to eat a healthy breakfast with his wife and kids. “I just feel so much better all day long if I’ve had eight hours,” he said.

 

Sleep habits vary widely, even with successful business men and women. Less sleep doesn’t guarantee more success, and in some cases can do the opposite.

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, is known to sleep 4 hours a night so that she can allegedly crank out a 130-hour work week.

However, in 2014, she missed an important dinner with chief executives due to an overdue nap, after being awake for 20 hours. It’s a good reminder that unnatural behaviour has its consequences.

 

Did you find this helpful? Do you have any useful sleep tips? Let us know, we’re on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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