Entrepreneurs put especially rigorous demands on themselves. The constant pressure, empowering ambition and energy draining tasks can leave a person exhausted. It can impact sleep patterns, diet quality and energy balance. However, changing your overall lifestyle is likely not going to happen without conscious effort to put your health first.
Sleep is my business. As the owner of the online retailer Rest Right Mattress, specializing in sleep products, it consumes my day to day activities. I’ll be the first to admit though; I don’t always prioritize my own healthy sleep. I do however know why sleep is important and the difference it can make in my productivity. That’s one of the reasons we should all aim to get the recommended amount of sleep. Continued success as an entrepreneur requires focus and energy and those are only two of the reasons sleep is necessary. Maintaining healthy sleep patterns allows your body and mind to recharge. Internally, sleep affects multiple processes. If you don’t get enough quality sleep, you could find yourself less creative and more likely to forget that thing you need to remember. It can also influence your attitude and decision making.
Diet quality goes hand in hand with sleep. A proper diet supplies your body with energy in the form of nutrient dense calories. When people work hard – and stay busy – nutrition is often one of the first things to go to the wayside. Sneaking in a fast snack can end up replacing meals. Rich fatty foods are often consumed in client meetings. Office junk food is all around tempting a time crunched go-getter. It only takes a few minutes each day to set yourself up for success in this area. There are lots of tips out there but something that I find that works is planning ahead. Make healthy snack packs and keep them readily available. I prefer that it be something that doesn’t require refrigeration for convenience, but if you have refrigeration available throughout your day you have a lot more options! Apples or other pieces of fruit and nuts make great natural pick me uppers. It goes without saying that these aren’t meal replacements, rather an emergency stash for those times you are hungry and don’t want the sugary, fat laden donuts from this morning’s meeting.
Sleep patterns, diet quality and energy balance can all be very important to an entrepreneur. Exercising regularly is a great way to boost your energy levels. Not only does getting your heart rate up (due to exercise, not stress) benefit your overall health, it can lead to more creativity. Finding the motivation to prioritize your workout can lead to increased motivation for other tasks as well. In fact there have multiple studies performed that show results that diet and exercise are directly tied to motivation, productivity and happiness.
As a fellow entrepreneur, I encourage you to make yourself a priority today for the sake of your health and the sake of your business. I challenge you to get enough uninterrupted sleep to cycle through the necessary sleep stages multiple times each night. I invite you to make healthy food choices and to get some exercise! I wish you the most success.
