One of the hard things about being a business owner is that you never feel like you can really, truly rest. There are rarely days off when you’re running a business, and at times this lack of a break can really wear on you and make sleeping soundly at night something of the past. If you’re having trouble sleeping at night because you’re up worried about business problems, know you’re not alone.
Here are some tips that can help you get past this major hurdle:
Keep business hours
It’s not easy to work normal business hours as an entrepreneur. I know that I’ve had clients and people I work with text me at all hours of the day and night needing answers or asking about deadlines. When your work life and your personal life are all mixed in together like this, it can be hard to get a break. However, since you are the one who runs your own business, you are the one who gets to set your hours. If you don’t want to answer e-mails, set up an e-mail responder that says you only check e-mails between the hours of 12-2 every afternoon.
When it comes to phone calls and texts, don’t feel like you have to respond right away. You can always respond the next morning during normal business hours, like at 9:00 A.M. versus 10:3o P.M. As business owners, we have to be the ones to set boundaries, and when you are tired and sleepless, this is even more important. You need time to wind down at the end of the day, not time to get upset over work issues late at night.
So, once your business hours are over with, you should follow the next tip on this list.
Power down your phone
I spend hours and hours every day in front of a computer. My eyes always dry out, and looking at a screen can be painful towards the end of a day. Having a bright screen is bad for your vision but it also negatively affects your ability to sleep.
The best thing you can do to help ease your body into night time and rest is to power down your phone, preferably an hour before bedtime. You can also try (gasp) turning your phone off completely at night and using a regular alarm clock to help you wake up. All of this prevents you from being distracted by social media at night.
Exercise
You don’t have to lift heavy weights at 10 P.M. at night, but doing some light stretching, yoga, or some basic cardio can help wear your body out. Sometimes, if your body is tired, sleep comes easily, even if your mind is wide awake.
Ultimately, I hope these tips can help fellow business owners get some much needed rest. I personally have struggled with a lot of sleep issues in the past and found that with a good routine, a little yoga, no screen time, and nice, fresh sheets on my bed, sleep comes a lot easier than it used to.
Have you had sleep problems in the past? How did you overcome them?
