Sleeping Tips for Small Business Owners

by Rey Beltran | www.executivechronicles.com

Sure, you’ve been busy. There are so many things to do! But you need sleep in order to function well. A 6- to 8-hour of sleep is needed for our body to fully recover. Much less than 6 hours would render a lot of us cranky. (Although there are those who sleep 4 hours a day… but they’re not the general public.)

So here are some that were culled from different sites online (attribution doesn’t help as they were also culled from different sites). Anyway, all of these tips may prove helpful in the long run. Especially to SME owners who drive their businesses in the long road to success.

Tip 1. Have Enough Protein in Your Meal

Protein promotes sleep. It contains small amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid, which helps induce sleep. Especially when combined with carbohydrates during a meal, makes tryptophan more available to the brain. Having enough portion of protein in your 3-meal a day regimen will help you sleep easily at night.

Tip 2. Forego Nightcaps

While consuming a shot of brandy is tempting, alcohol doesn’t really help you sleep. It just makes you drowsy. And when that drowsy feeling passes away, you are left wide awake. Warm milk may help (milk contains that important protein tryptophan—see above) so you might want to have that. But if you can avoid those nightcaps, do so. Nightcaps sometimes make your brain more active unless you’re really dead tired.

Tip 3. Hide Your Gadgets

Cell phones, e-book readers, or any other electronic devices, emit blue light that reduce melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. Aside from that, the OC in you would probably not able to resist checking out your cell phone once it receives a message. These are also distractions from your sleep. So as much as possible hide your gadgets at night, in your bedside drawer, muted.

Tip 4. Have a Regular Bedtime

Sounds childish, especially when you recall that you were usually sent to bed at 9pm (or 8pm) when you were young. Now that you are your own boss, naptime can be set at 10 pm, the earliest. Just don’t have it at 1am only to wake up four hours later. Remember, a minimum of 6 hours is enough rest. And with you having set a routine for your naptime, once the clock strikes the appointed time, go to sleep.

Tip 5. Exercise in the Morning

While others exercise at night, it is advisable to do it in the morning. Your adrenaline would definitely be up so that high energy should be the start of the day. As you wind the day with so many activities for your small business, you don’t need to get that boost of adrenaline at night to keep fit. Generally, exercising at night will only leave you wide awake. Do it in the morning.

These are just 5 of the many sleeping tips for business owners that can be find online. Remember, what works for you might not for other people. But hey, you deserve the sleep you can get anytime of the day!