“In a disordered mind, as in a disordered body, soundness of health is impossible.” Cicero

There are several reasons why I fell sick last week. However, I do believe it all started when I developed and sustained erratic sleep timings. This started a nasty domino effect and slowly permeated into other areas of my life and eventually, I fell sick. Sleep is an integral part of our lives. Our bodies need to rest and rejuvenate to enable them to function optimally. The number of hours of sleep needed, varies from person to person. A widely publicized study performed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2003, demonstrated that cognitive performance declines with fewer than eight hours of sleep. When we develop a cycle of less than 6 hours of sleep over prolonged periods of time, it begins to show as lethargy and an inability to concentrate, and eventually to falling sick.

It does all come down to having the discipline to develop and stick to a routine. Ideally, one would like to have set timings to go to sleep and get up. This timing pattern should remain constant on both week-ends and week-days. Isolated deviations from the routine are acceptable, but the routine  should not be disrupted for more than a period of 3 days. Admittedly there is the argument that as entrepreneurs things are  sporadic, and one week the work flow is manageable, and the next, one gets drowned in it. The ability to stick to a routine under such circumstances is tough. However,  inability to do so, as I have experienced many a time, has nasty consequences. There needs to be balance to enable us to perform and rest both, adequately.

To develop such a routine, we first need to identify when we actually feel sleepy given that we wake up at a fixed time for a couple of days.  We can then establish a suitable time accordingly and develop a routine for a half hour prior to getting into bed. This could involve setting a to-do list for the next day, reading or going over your goals list to see and work on how far you have reached. It is another scientifically proven fact, that brain processes prior to going to sleep have a huge impact on your sleep quality and the next day. The brain processes the last input received many times more effectively than anything else you may have experienced during the day. Therefore it is critical that you use this time wisely.