Mindfulness and sleep reduce exhaustion in entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are often left exhausted at the end of the day. They usually don’t have the time to get proper sleep which will help replenish their energy. Exhaustion can be a huge problem for entrepreneurs has it hampers their cognitive functioning, decision-making, perseverance and their ability to identify and evaluate opportunities. Entrepreneurs are often in the process of launching and growing ventures and when they are feeling exhausted they lose their drive to pursue goals, have less desire to complete their work tasks and find it harder to face challenges which are important to growing their ventures.

The researchers also found that in both the studies mindfulness exercises were less helpful if entrepreneurs were getting adequate sleep but still feeling exhausted.

Researchers from Oregon State University examined the benefits of sleep and mindfulness exercises in reducing the exhaustion experienced by entrepreneurs and found that entrepreneurs can replenish their energy with mindfulness exercises like meditation. This study involved, 105 entrepreneurs across the U.S. in which researchers asked the participants about their exhaustion levels. They also asked whether the participants engaged in mindfulness practices and if so, how often and for how long, and how many hours they slept each night. The researchers found that more than 40 per cent of the participants worked 50 hours per week or more and they got sleep for less than 6 hours a night. Entrepreneurs who slept more, or who engaged in the highest levels of mindfulness exercises, had lower levels of exhaustion.

A second study confirmed the findings of the initial study in which 329 entrepreneurs were again asked about their mindfulness practice, perceived exhaustion and sleep. Both studies confirmed that mindfulness can combat feelings of exhaustion.

The researchers also found that in both the studies mindfulness exercises were less helpful if entrepreneurs were getting adequate sleep but still feeling exhausted. Both sleep and mindfulness exercise work differently to reduce exhaustion and both factors tend to compensate for one another. When the usage of one increases the efficacy of the other reduces. You can reduce stress when you are also getting sleep with the help of mindfulness exercises, but if you are low on sleep then mindfulness does not help in reducing exhaustion. This has important implications for reducing exhaustion and improving cognitive functioning and replenishing energy in entrepreneurs.

Source: Journal of Business Venturing