Today I’m going to get a bit guru on everyone, sleeping more = higher rankings.
For a long time I undervalued sleep, I thought I was some sort of machine that could go harder than everyone else. This was not the case at all, in fact I made myself petty sick about a year back from burning the candle at both ends.
Over my career I’ve had periods of super health then some dark hours as well. This time period was dark, and I kept repeating the same cycle over and over. Until one day my stomach started hurting in a very strange way and I knew I fucked up big time…
My routine was like this, I’d work fucking constantly, any minute I got I’d be grinding. I suppose I was still trying to get back to the pre penguin glory days. Here is where shit got really crazy though, I’d sleep for about 4 hours per night then repeat that process. Basically I trained myself to be accustomed to walking around like a fucking zombie.
Oh and let’s not forget the massive amount of booze I was consuming. Also eating shitty to top it off. For a guy who was considered a “health nut” at one point this was a definitely a dark time.
Then one day it all caught up, I started feeling this uncomfortable pressure in my lower abdomen and it would not go away. It was awful and I was totally freaking out…
28 years old and scared as fuck that I might have literally worked myself to death.
I’m happy to say that is not the case as I’m typing this and that I’ve made a complete turnaround. It took me literally making myself sick to realize this shit, YOU NEED TO FUCKING SLEEP!!
And no, not like some bullshit your parents told you that you can ignore. More like if you don’t stop at that gas station you’re going to run the fuck out of gas and be pushing that hoopty for miles. Same as charging your phone, if you forget to plug it in at night, you won’t be not playing Candy Crush on the way to work.
Now this is a hard thing to understand for some of us hungry entrpeuners, but just hang onto this one thought and you’ll stay on the right track.
Sure you might have this voice in your head “work harder”, “don’t quit”, “the other guy/gal isn’t going to sleep”, etc. but forget all that shit.
Optimize your life and strive for the most efficient hours possible vs quantity. Because this could make the difference between pounding away on a task for hundreds of hours and seeing one little trick to fully automate it. This is why sleeping more can lead to better rankings.
Thanks for your advice…
It’s 3:36 am here.. and I go to sleep now…
:)
Good advice. But for long sitting periods, a workout or at least walking session is appreciated also!
Gotta workout, without I’m even more scattered than I already am!
hey jacob, am from india, am new visitor to your site, your writing style awesome mate, I love your blog
zzzzzzz… zzz… zzzzzzz…
Really good advice – still in one of those “dark slumps” really hard to break that cycle.
Add to that – if you’re not sleeping super well, during the day it’s realllly easy to get into Netflix binge mode – at least for me.
How do you fight that crap off?
Well for me I have a 5 year old waking me up at 7am everyday so that is unavoidable. If I stay up late I’m going to have a shitty day, no way around it. Also exercise, if I’m on top of my fitness then it’s much easier to just walk away at the end of the night and want to recharge for the next day.
Thanks for the reply :)
I’ve got a 1yr, 3 yr, and 9 yr…so feel your pain about having a “mandatory” alarm clock :( … after the 2nd little fella’ was born that’s when my productivity took a nose dive.
Do you exercise during the “work day”? Like if you see productivity going down hill do you just step back and go work out?
Holy crap you got a little army waking you up. Nah not really, sometimes I get it in early (like 10ish), but most of the time I hit it around 5 or 6 after work is finished. Then I’m dead tired after, I try to work some more, then pass out.
Haha – couldn’t have said it better myself!
Appreciate the explanation. Always helpful to hear from fellow stay-at-home entrepreneurs how they balance all the life/work junk out.
Wow, this is me and I’m living in the “scared shitless” mode currently. No sleep, lots of stress and Im even getting the exact pains you’re describing. I used to be a health nut and now I’m drinking every day, eating crappy and my body is falling apart.
Got any advice? “Sleeping More” is a bit easier said than done.
Exercise a shitload and get started slowly pushing your bed time back. I run 3+ miles 4-5 times a week and I do calisthenics/lift weights 4-5 times per week as well. Sleep like a baby.