Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve noticed a spike in the articles out there telling me I need to get more sleep. I usually see them when I’m starting my day at 4am, which is a wake-up call in and of itself. I’m sure Americans don’t sleep enough or well enough, but that’s for people with normal jobs, right? Entrepreneurs need less sleep, right?
The longer I’m around entrepreneurs, the more I hear stories of crazy hours. I’m the worst at this. Early in my career, I moved my wake up time from 6am to 4am. My logic was pretty clear. Two extra hours awake every day meant 720 hours of more productivity in a year. That meant I was getting a full month of head start on the world and my competitors!
Now that I’ve kept that schedule for 15 years, I’m beginning to question my wisdom.
Study after study is showing the health risks of not sleeping enough. Weight gain, susceptibility to cancer, heart disease, and an increased risk in early death have all been linked to sleeping less than “normal.” As I get a little older, I’m hearing those stats and paying attention.
But what really got my attention was hearing that getting enough sleep leads to higher creativity, problem solving, and productivity. My friend Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, told me recently that every really good idea he’s ever had has come while either drifting off to sleep or just after waking up (he believes it enough that he’s built a nap room at the HubSpot headquarters for his whole office to use).
So I’ve decided to commit to getting “enough” sleep, (but not a minute more). After researching and talking to a whole lot of people, here are some sleep hacks that I’m implementing.
1. Change your screen, and you’ll change your life.
Study after study is showing that electronic displays rev up our brains, and keep us from falling asleep. Reading a book rather than working or surfing your phone or tablet helps. But if you’re an entrepreneur that needs to stay on a device, consider changing the color of your screen to make it less stimulating. The Flux App automatically adjusts your display during the day and night to produce effective sleep without having to give up your device at night.
2. Sleep in 90 minute blocks.
It turns out that less is often more when it comes to sleep. Researchers have found that we sleep in 90 minute cycles, and that waking up during the middle of a cycle is worse than not starting that cycle at all. Interrupting a REM cycle can leave you feeling drowsy throughout the first part of the day. In other words, 6 hours of sleep is better for us than 7. Set your alarm so that you’re as close to the completion of a cycle, even if it means getting up 30 minutes earlier than you’d planned.
3. Nap for 15 minutes.
If you like to nap, you’re not alone. Churchill, Kennedy, George W. Bush are a few of the productive people who like to take a break. The key to napping is doing it for the right amount of time. A 15 minute nap in the middle of the day can help, but if you sleep much longer than that, you’ll need to stay down for a full REM cycle. Many experts agree that napping the right length of time is the secret to productivity.
4. Use your bed for sleeping only.
As an entrepreneur, I work until the lights go out. But that doesn’t train my body to start winding down. Turns out, one of the biggest reasons I cannot get to sleep is the fact that I’m using my bed for work, watching television, or surfing the web. Lots of research is showing that our bodies can be trained to wind down by only using the bed for sleeping and intimacy. Have some work to finish up? Buy a chair for your bedroom and do it there. Make the bed a sacred space, and you’ll sleep better with less effort.
5. Trade decaf for herbal tea.
Turns out, decaf isn’t really decaf. Decaf coffee is mostly removed of the caffeine, but not entirely. More importantly, decaf has been shown to have a placebo effect on many people, tricking brains into acting as if they have had high octane Joe. As much as I like the after dinner cup of decaf, I’ll be switching to herbal tea, which has been used for thousands of years to calm people’s temperament and get them ready for sleep.
6. Say thank you.
Grateful people sleep well. When we choose a spot of thankfulness, our bodies become more relaxed, problems fade out of our brain and we are able to sleep better. That’s why whatever your faith, you can spend some time before bed giving thanks for the good things that happened during the day. I’d suggest writing down the things you are thankful for before bed. There’s always a list if you look hard enough. And if it’s been a really bad day, then look beyond the day to your source of faith. As my friend Joel Osteen says, “Don’t talk about the size of your problem. Talk about the size of your God.” Focus on gratitude, and you’ll sleep well and wake up focused and productive.
Entrepreneurs have historically been really bad at sleeping. I know I have. But in the name of getting more done during the day, I’m going to try to get more done with my sleep. I’m guessing if you’ll try to improve your nights even just a little bit, you’ll improve your productivity during the day by leaps and bounds.
