They Get Plenty Of Sleep As Part Of Their Habit Of Health
by Michael D. Hume, M.S.
If you're in business for yourself, and especially if you're one of the thousands of entrepreneurs running an internet business from your home office, you know you have to take personal responsibility for your own health and vitality. No one's going to do it for you, just like no one else can run your business for you. If you don't drive the enterprise, no one will, and that's why you have to have gas in the tank. You have to be energetic and vital.
To accomplish this, I believe in five daily disciplines I refer to as The NEWSS: Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sleep, and Supplements. You have to watch what you eat and drink, and you have to exercise every day, as I've mentioned in previous articles. Today, think about what you can do to make sure you're getting enough sleep in order to refresh and replenish both your mind and your body.
You might not think an entrepreneur is defined by how much sleep she gets, and in fact you might even believe a successful business operator never sleeps... but if she's running a sustainable enterprise, she's wide-awake to the need to keep her own energy level high enough to maintain peak performance. And that means getting enough rest, every day. Intuitively, you know this. Long-term sleep deprivation actually destroys your memory, wreaks havoc on your body by keeping stress-chemicals (like cortisol) at high levels, and makes it impossible for you to do your best work.
Experts vary on how much sleep you need each day, but consider that you probably need at least eight hours. If you're under undue stress, you need more than you're getting.
What's "undue" stress? After all, stress is a necessary and unavoidable part of running a business, and enduring it is what earns you the right to live the lifestyle of the entrepreneur. Some operators will claim they "thrive" on stress, and I interpret that as a high tolerance of (and even an appetite for) a high-paced, fast-moving work environment. That's great! But there is such a thing as too much stress, and you know you're reaching that point if your body's routines seem noticeably disrupted. Are you UNABLE to sleep? Is waking up tough - do you find yourself addicted to the "snooze" button on your alarm? Has your appetite either markedly increased or decreased? How about your brain - are you unable to remember things that used to come easily to mind? How about your emotions - do you find yourself feeling depressed or just "not into it?" Are you getting sick too often - does your body's natural resistance seem to be lower? If you answered yes to any of these, think about making some small changes in all five of the NEWSS disciplines, and start by considering how you can improve and increase your sleep.
Here are a few tips to help you develop a better sleep habit:
Don't drink alcohol or caffeine within three or four hours before bedtime. Both of these chemicals can really influence your sleep pattern. If your work puts you in social situations in the evening, and you don't think you can bring your alcohol consumption to zero before bed, try making yourself drink a glass of water with every glass of wine or beer. I find this really works for me - it forces me to drink less.
Create a bedtime routine. Folks I've coached have had good luck with these ideas: set a routine daily bedtime and don't vary from it... read a little in bed (but not something that will get your brain too "wired" to sleep)... turn off the TV at least a half-hour before bed and try never to fall asleep in front of the tube... set up the bed in a way that maximizes your comfort (change pillows or bedding, if necessary)... or do breathing exercises just before nodding off (try simply counting to four in your mind as you inhale, and counting to eight as you exhale, counting more slowly as you go, for up to five minutes).
Which of those three ideas can you implement right away, starting tonight? You need your health. Your body needs energy, to allow you to drive your business. So wake up to your body's need for sleep.
