Wondering how to succeed as an entrepreneur? Sleep on it.

The secret to making more money is simple, and it has been staring us in the face this whole time. The answer resides in pure science – it’s sleep.

Sleep deprivation is not only bad for your health, but your bank account can take a pretty big hit too. A third of working Americans report getting less than seven hours of sleep a night. Which, when measured in financial terms is a loss of some $1.2 million working days and approximately $226 billion annually robbed from the national economy.

The ironic part is that 65% of the workforce is losing sleep over money.

Poor Sleep, Poor Health, Poor Finances
There are close to 40 million people in the United States whose work lines and finances suffer at the hand of sleeplessness. The common mistake people make is thinking that they need less sleep to make more money. But thinking that less sleep gives you more hours to work can be very harmful to both your health and your bank statements.

According to a registered nurse and author of Sleeping Your Way to the Top: How to Get
the Sleep You Need to Succeed, you need to get enough sleep, consistently. It’s less about
working long hours every day, and more about getting quality work out of the hours that you do have. Doctors have been putting out warning statements about the negative effects that lack of sleep has on our health. It can be linked back to obesity, heart disease, anxiety and many other health concerns.

What does the research say?
After a sleepless night, your attention, memory and productivity declined significantly. 24% of Americans reported that sleepless nights make them feel less productive, and 17% stated that their memory was noticeably impacted by the lack of sleep.

“Zoning out” at work allegedly decreases the nation’s productivity by $463 billion a year.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that 20% of workers reported falling asleep on the job, during meetings or at the very least feeling drowsy during their daily tasks.

Sleep deprivation affects your mood and personality, and therefore, your ability to work well with others. A lack of sleep produces excess cortisol in the blood, which is the hormone related to stress. Too much cortisol impacts they way we act and react to those around us. Additionally, a lack of sleep can make it difficult to read facial cues, which in turn can cause further misunderstandings.

HR teams have a special name for people with sleep-deprivation related productivity issues; presenteeism. That is not a label you want, and neither does your career nor finances.

Get Sleep and Get Success
The most common tips for improving sleep usually includes: avoiding caffeine and computer screens, setting up regular bedtimes and not having late dinners. Most of us have tried all of these tips, and probably countless variations of them as well. The good news is that the science-based tips below offer some variation that might actually improve your sleep routine.

Music: Studies show that soothing sounds or noises can be helpful for inducing sleep.
High-frequency music is particularly effective because it works on the areas of our brain
where guilt and bitterness reside. When we hold on to those feelings, sleep never comes easy. Healing music programs are known to have helped people kick the sleeping-pill habit and fight insomnia.

Watch the Heat: When it is bedtime, usually around 9 at night, your body’s core temperature starts to drop to prepare for sleep. People struggling with sleep usually do not feel this temperature change. Therefore, turn the thermostat down and wear light pyjamas (or lose all the clothes). The cool environment will ease your body into sleep. Studies have shown that people get a deeper sleep by turning the temperature down just one degree before bedtime.

Massages: Not only do massages feel great, but the overall relaxation in your body is a
great sleep aid. Your body naturally increases the production of serotonin and oxytocin in
response to physical massage. These are the feel-good neurotransmitters and they are great for guiding your mind into a dream state.

Shake the Pills: It is fairly easy to get hold of sleeping aids and medications these days, but they can get addictive and have dangerous consequences. Instead, you should try melatonin supplements, which is the sleep hormone your body naturally releases. That said, you should always consult a doctor before you start using or stop taking any medication.

Magnesium: Another supplement that is said to improve sleep is magnesium. Magnesium is a mineral that is beneficial for relaxation and stimulates the neurotransmitters that initiate sleep. Magnesium can be bought online or from any health food store. You can take supplemental capsules or get magnesium citrate powder to mix with your tea throughout the day.

Flower Power: Certain plants like gardenia or valerian can greatly improve the air quality of a room. Given that air quality and sleep are closely linked, switching up the atmosphere could benefit your sleep. Additional tip: before heading to your garden-fresh room, try a nightcap of tart cherry juice; as evidence shows these are natural sleep aids.

Set the Alarm: Not the alarm to wake you up, but the alarm to get some shut-eye. We are all busy, and we tend to get distracted by television or work even as we are at home, causing us to lose track of time. To make sure that we don’t procrastinate, and get the hours of sleep we need, it can be helpful to set an alarm reminding you of your bed-time. Then it’s lights out. Whatever the cause of your sleeplessness is, you can change it.

Last but not least;

Think of the negative cycle: No sleep means less productivity, and less productivity means less money. Less money then causes you to get less sleep and the cycle continues.

Break the cycle before insomnia breaks your bank.

About
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Golam Munir

Entrepreneur at Sleep Seed

Golam Munir is a Technical Business Analyst turned entrepreneur. His educational background in Business Information Technology has given him a broad base from which to approach Digital Marketing and Blogging. This lead him to start his own website in 2016, to promote better and hygienic sleep.On that blog, he has shared his battle with the deadly disease - 'sleep apnea' and how he recovered from it.

https://sleepseed.com