The Entrepreneurs' Guide to Better Sleep and Productivity

Sleep is vital for the human body to function. So why does the Center for Disease Control and Prevention report that more than one-third of professionals aren’t getting enough sleep? The American Academy of Sleep and Medicine recommends that adults sleep at least 7 hours a night to promote optimal health and well-being.

Lack of sleep runs rampant among entrepreneurs. Especially if you work from home, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate work and relaxation. Let’s take a closer look.

If you are able to sleep for five hours per night instead of seven, that gives you an extra two hours per day or 14 hours per week to capitalize on growing your business. The major grind is worth it if the end result is a successful business, right?

Well, skipping these hours of sleep could have more of an impact on your productivity than you might think. Harvard Medical School notes that lack of sleep takes a significant toll on perception and judgment, leading to reduced efficiency and productivity. In severe instances, sleep deprivation can generate errors or even accidents in the workplace.

For example, starting an independent travel nursing practice is an entrepreneurial endeavor that can be very time-consuming and quickly result in a lack of sleep. This is one of many career paths where you need to be well-rested to keep your mind sharp. You definitely don’t want your lack of sleep to be putting patients at risk of an error.

Obviously, this is an extreme example. But the theme can be applied to all kinds of business scenarios. One bad decision can have a long-term impact on your company. According to Sleep Advisor, sleep deprivation and insomnia can cost employers $2,280 annually per employee. This is a material amount of money in the small business world.

In an effort to eliminate these worst-case scenarios and encourage better sleep for entrepreneurs, this post breaks down four simple, yet effective tasks for sleeping better at night.

1. Embrace the millionaire bedtime

The secret sauce for Alex Hormozi, an American entrepreneur with a portfolio of companies that generates ~$85M a year, is what he calls a “millionaire bedtime”.

Instead of setting an alarm for waking up in the morning, he recommends setting an alarm for when it is time to go to sleep at night.

The tactic of establishing a bedtime helps with a few important things that are crucial for better overall sleep for entrepreneurs.

First of all, a bedtime helps determine a cutoff between when it is time to work and when it is time to rest.

Without this hard guideline in place, entrepreneurs have the notion that they should keep working into the wee hours of the night. It is important to maintain a solid work-life balance to keep your mental health in good standing.

Secondly, by creating a healthy bedtime routine it allows you to unplug from the day and decompress. With the absence of the morning alarm, you can rest easy knowing that you will not be pried out of bed at five o’clock in the morning by the blaring sounds of your iPhone.

With an established bedtime, you are less likely to wake up exhausted and be able to make overall better, high-quality decisions from being well-rested.

2. Outsource to keep your mind at ease

Ashley Williams, a Harvard Professor and the author of “Time Smart”, argues that valuing your time can significantly improve your quality of life by reducing stress, anxiety and increasing your overall happiness.

If you think about it, what typically causes you the most stress on any given day? Personally, my stress is at an all-time high when I have too many things to do, without enough time in the day to do all of these said things.

Although hiring someone to do your admin or tedious operational work may seem completely unnecessary considering you can do those tasks yourself, the benefits of outsourcing your most disliked tasks far outweigh the cost of hiring someone to do them for you.

For example, you wouldn’t think twice about working with a registered agent to handle all the legal parts of starting your business. So why not apply that same logic to the other aspects of the business as well? Don’t be afraid to hire and delegate.

Outsourcing mundane tasks is a win-win situation. Not only will outsourcing return more time in your calendar, but it will also help keep your mind at ease knowing trained professionals are helping keep your business running like a well-oiled machine.

Now you have all the time you need to focus on business strategy and of course, getting to bed at a reasonable hour each night. Better sleep is closer than you think.

3. Diversify your income streams

Financial stress is no joke. According to a Capital One CreditWise survey, 73% of Americans rank their finances as the number one stress in life.

You can argue that this statistic is even higher for entrepreneurs, given their income is never guaranteed with just over half of business owners paying themselves a salary.

That said, as an entrepreneur, it is helpful to generate other sources of passive income through investments or side projects such as online courses or ebooks.

Investment websites can grant you quick and easy access to the stock market. The key here is time in the market and corresponding compounding returns. The average annual return of the S&P 500 since inception is approximately 10%.

To break it down even further, if you happen to invest $600 dollars every month for the next 30 years, you will have accumulated more than $1.1 million dollars. That is a total contribution of $216,600 over 30 years with a future value of $1,194,826.60.

Time is of the essence. Work smarter, not harder to improve your revenue operations strategy.

Start investing today to generate an additional stream of income, lower the financial stress sitting on your shoulders as an entrepreneur and secure better sleep at night.

4. Engage in 30 minutes of daily exercise

Last but certainly not least, the key to better sleep as an entrepreneur is to follow the advice of your doctors and healthcare professionals.

There are plenty of studies that show the increased benefit of regular exercise. The good news is that you only need 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day to see a difference in sleep quality. That is definitely an investment worth taking for a better night's sleep.

One study shows that exercise reduced the total time to fall asleep by 55% and increased the total sleep time by 18%.

It is important to note that the timing of exercise could matter depending on the person. Some people who exercise close to bedtime actually say it can keep them up at night.

Aerobic exercise causes an increase in body temperature and a release of endorphins that can stimulate brain activity that keeps you awake. It is best to exercise at least one to two hours before trying to go to sleep.

There are plenty of awesome ways to get in a good workout these days. You can join a traditional gym, lift weights, take online fitness classes from your living room or even take a walk around your neighborhood with your pet or significant other.

The opportunities are endless and there is bound to be an exercise that you enjoy and fits easily into your lifestyle. All you have to do is commit 30 minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of your day and you could be sleeping better in no time.

Key Takeaways

As an entrepreneur, sleep is sacred. It is extremely important to help keep your mind alert and ready to make important business decisions.

Sleep deprivation is a real problem and it will only end up doing you more harm than good.

Don’t let lack of sleep drive you and your business into the ground. Establish a bedtime and stick to it. This will help you establish some boundaries between work and life and give you the opportunity to wake up feeling well-rested.

Time is your most precious resource. Don’t waste it on mundane tasks that stress you out. Hire and delegate to free up your plate, clear your mind and allow for more time in your comfortable bed.

Another way to reduce overall stress and improve the quality of your sleep is to diversify the sources of your income. Financial stress is by far the most common type of stress and if you can keep this under control, you will be sleeping like a baby.

Finally, don’t forget the importance of exercise. I know your schedule is jam-packed but all it takes is 30 minutes out of your day. Not only will this exercise help you sleep better at night, but it will also help you live a happier, healthier life.

With some prioritization and a few small tweaks to your daily routine, you can kick the bias to the curb and prove that better sleep for entrepreneurs is actually achievable.