Entrepreneurs have plenty of different challenges to deal with when they are pursuing their professional goals, ranging from the need to conduct good customer research, to the need to manage their finances in a thoughtful and efficient manner.
Some of the biggest challenges that can tend to affect entrepreneurs, though, are actually related to their own health – as entrepreneurs are quite notorious for burning themselves out on a regular basis.
These days, there are all sorts of health scares and crises being reported on a regular basis. Between Zantac cancer lawsuits, disease epidemics, and other public health issues, the last thing you need is to add work-related conditions to the list of things to worry about.
Here are some tips for taking care of your health as an entrepreneur.
1. Aim to stick to a balanced schedule every day
One of the major reasons why entrepreneurs frequently burn themselves out and crash is because they simply don’t exercise anything like a decent degree of work-life balance.
For new entrepreneurs, in particular, the temptation is often overwhelming to work pretty much all day and all night and to sacrifice things like sleep, social interactions, and simple leisure time, in the pursuit of greater productivity at work.
Of course, doing things this way will lead to rapidly diminishing returns, as your health and sense of well-being begin to slip, and your creativity likewise diminishes.
Instead of doing things this way, aim to stick to a balanced schedule every day. Set yourself regular working hours, and avoid exceeding them.
2. Always allow yourself more of a “sleep opportunity” than you think you need
The sleep scientist Matthew Walker is a big advocate for the idea of leaving yourself more of a “sleep opportunity” every night than you think you need.
In other words, assume that it will take you longer to fall asleep then you think it will and that you will need a bit more sleep than you might initially assume.
These days, chronic sleep deprivation is extraordinarily common – thanks largely to the fact that electric lighting keeps us going at all hours of the day and night.
But chronic sleep deprivation ruins your health, and it definitely doesn’t make you any better at your job, either.
3. Don’t underestimate the importance of eating enough, and getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, conducted during World War II, found that participants who were on a significantly calorie-restricted diet began to underperform on a broad variety of tasks, including both mental and physical chores.
These days, many people will significantly restrict their calories on a regular basis as a result of different diet plans – and they will often, accordingly, end up in the same sort of calorie range as the subject from the above-mentioned study.
If you want to be properly productive, and to stay healthy as an entrepreneur – you need to make sure that you’re eating enough, and – just as importantly – that you are getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals. Nutrient deficiencies can ruin your health and your productivity.
Consider supplementing with a decent multivitamin.
