Becoming an entrepreneur has many challenges. It’s like you’ve entered the grown-up world at an accelerated pace unmeasurable by the human eye. One day you are sitting by yourself with a great idea, and the next, you are surrounded by…? A new crowd of people demand your time investors, advisors, and so on. There’s money to spend wisely and revenue to cash in; there are customers to satisfy and a bunch of new people to take care of: your employees, who, let’s face it, are the kids you did not plan to have.
Kevin: “This is my house. I have to defend it.”
It is understandable that to remain afloat, you cut down on some of the basics – such as time for yourself, including healthy food, sports, meditation, personal reading, and family time. All of these may sound obvious, but when you ask the entrepreneur, he or she will tell you that although the work-life balance is a company value, it is unfortunately quite rare that they carve out that time for themselves.
Kevin: “Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.”
The negative consequences of not letting go, not allocating this crucial, vital time in your calendar are:
1) Your brain will not function properly.
2) Your emotions will become out of proportion.
3) You may make poor decisions based on 1 and 2, which will take you more time to fix than finding some special time in the day for you and your family.
Kate (Kevin’s mum): “I have been awake for almost 60 hours. I’m tired, and I’m dirty. I have been from Chicago to Paris to Dallas to… where the hell am I?”
As an entrepreneur, you may see your body as a machine. You want that machine to function well. In other words, you want to be healthy, which means the following:
Eat: Let go of the nachos and chips. Forget the microwave meals and the Deliveroos. Eat three proper meals a day with all the veggies and fruit you can get. Don’t skip any. Your busy brain requires sustenance to function correctly. This article from Harvard will guide you to food that fuels brainpower.
Exercise: Some founders run, others do yoga; others sit and work on a chair 24/7.
As a minimum, give your body the chance to exercise for 30 minutes a day, especially during lockdown. Walking 30 minutes can unlock issues and often inspire new ideas. ‘Many studies have suggested that the parts of the brain that control thinking and memory (the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) have greater volume in people who exercise versus people who don’t,’ says Heidi Godman from the Harvard Health letter.
Sleep: Studies show that the average person requires seven to nine hours to function well, although it’s just about acceptable to get six hours. This is taking into account that you care about your sleep quality, which is as important as the quantity. This article from Forbes gives you insight into what works for entrepreneurs. For some, it is a routine. For others, catching up when they can, the point is they make sleep work for them. Can’t make it a minimum of six hours straight? Why not consider a power nap?
Hydrate: Coffee is not hydration!!!
Delegate: Doing everyone’s job when you have a team of five is not acceptable. When you are 15, it is not normal. When you are 25 or older, it is insanity and poor recruitment. Recruit talents, people that you trust, and learn to delegate.
All of these may sound almost too easy and straightforward when you read them at first, but really, how many founders respect all of the above? Especially if we add family members’ attention, requirement, and expectations to the mix. Not respecting these basics will lead you to unwanted emotions, frustrations, and possible outbursts.
Now, you may have all of this under control already. Yet, the passion you put in your startup and the counter-pressure it represents on your daily actions may create an unwanted gap. Your vision may no longer align with your family, partner, friends’ expectations. You may lose people that are no longer part of your new world, or you may need to take action to include them more.
Kevin: “I made my family disappear.”
Now, I may lose some of you on this conclusion but one of the best resets of all times, and best returns on time investment for the busy entrepreneur, is guided meditation. If you are a master at meditation, then this article was not for you in the first place, but if you are new to the concept, try to see if you can unwire for three minutes to get started… The benefits might get you hooked.
Kevin: “I took a shower washing every body part with actual soap, including all my major crevices…including in between my toes and in my belly button, which I never did before but sort of enjoyed.”
Caroline Franczia is a regular columnist for Maddyness and the founder of Uppercut First. Experienced in working for large companies such as Oracle, Computer Associates, and BMC, Caroline also lived in Silicon Valley for four years before moving to startups (Sprinklr, Datadog, Confluent) where she witnessed on the ground the benefits of a well-thought sales strategy. These are the foundations of UF: a structure that accompanies the European startups in their sales strategy by giving them an undeniable advantage in their go-to-market.