How Sleep Affects Your Effectiveness as a Startup CEO
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Chapter 1: The Struggle for Sleep
Waking up in the middle of the night can be a frustrating experience. I found myself staring at the clock, which read 2:14 AM, just two hours after I had gone to bed.
"Perhaps this time I can finally drift back off," I thought. But for the next hour, my thoughts raced, all focused on one overwhelming concern: "How will I address my issues with investors?"
Despite my efforts to calm my mind, I felt like I was in a relentless battle, trying to keep quiet so as not to disturb my wife. Another glance at the clock showed 3:03 AM.
“Forget it,” I decided. I got up and headed to my home office, where I spent the next 35 minutes tackling emails I had neglected. When I checked the time again, it was 3:38 AM.
“Maybe now I can finally sleep,” I murmured as I returned to bed. My wife, blissfully unaware of my struggles, slept soundly beside me.
After what felt like an eternity, I finally fell asleep, only to be jolted awake by my alarm at 5:00 AM. Yes, it is possible to manage a company on less than five hours of sleep a night, but I wouldn’t advise it.
For more than a year, I maintained this pattern of sleeping only two to four hours each night, sometimes even skipping sleep entirely. Despite my fatigue, I managed to keep my company running, perhaps fueled by sheer adrenaline. I lacked the coping strategies I have now, so my approach was simply to endure. I’m certain the intense stress took a toll on my health.
When short on sleep, napping can be a lifesaver. One trick I employed back then was to drive to an empty parking lot during lunch. I would find shade, set a timer for fifteen minutes, and try to catch a quick nap, which helped me regain some energy for the rest of the day.
It's clear that functioning on minimal sleep is far from optimal. I knew I wasn’t at my best—my focus was lacking, my creativity diminished, and my patience wore thin. Worst of all, I found myself dozing off in meetings.
Imagine enduring this kind of exhaustion for an entire year, and you can grasp the severity of my situation.
The book, Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker, profoundly changed my perspective. A couple of years after my sleepless days as a CEO, I discovered this enlightening work authored by Andrew Walker, a professor at UC Berkeley specializing in sleep research.
Why We Sleep is essential reading for any startup CEO. It highlights the high costs of neglecting sleep, much like I experienced.
Did you know that prolonged sleep deprivation—around 14 days—can be fatal? Or that insufficient sleep increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease? For most adults, 7 to 8 hours is crucial.
Additionally, catching up on sleep during weekends doesn’t really compensate for a week of deprivation, nor does drinking alcohol at night help your sleep quality.
After absorbing Dr. Walker’s alarming insights, I made significant lifestyle changes. I committed to getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night. I adjusted my bedtime to go to sleep earlier and allowed myself to wake up a bit later. Now, when I wake in the night, I practice meditation to ease back into slumber.
Prioritizing sleep has dramatically improved my quality of life. Here’s what I’ve experienced:
- Increased energy levels
- Enhanced focus leading to
- Greater productivity
- Boosted creativity
- More tasks accomplished in less time
- Overall happiness
It’s quite remarkable how simple adjustments can yield such profound benefits. By going to bed slightly earlier and waking up a bit later, I transformed my life.
Chapter 2: Sleep Secrets from Successful CEOs
In this video, the CEO of Eight Sleep shares crucial sleep strategies that successful entrepreneurs use to enhance their productivity and well-being.
Chapter 3: A Founder's Journey to Better Sleep and Fitness
This video chronicles a founder’s transformative journey in optimizing both sleep and fitness, offering valuable lessons for anyone looking to improve their lifestyle.