No one can experience entrepreneurial success without a lot of hard work. Unfortunately, that ideal has gone so far as to make start-up business owners feel like they must sacrifice the quantity and quality of their sleep to remain competitive. Sleep deprivation even feels like a badge of honor for some entrepreneurs to show how truly dedicated they are to growing their business. As more information about the importance of restorative sleep comes to light, business owners are heeding the advice and learning they can be more productive when well-rested than when continually skimping on sleep.
The Harvard Business Review Sleep Study
In July 2019, the Harvard Business Review published a study on entrepreneurs and sleep quality in the Journal of Business Venturing. The study, which had 784 participants, found that business owners who routinely don’t get enough quality sleep struggle to analyze business opportunities as effectively as their counterparts who do get enough sleep. They also tended to make more mistakes and be less effective in managing others.