The legendary Ernest Hemingway said: "I like to sleep. When I'm awake, my life falls apart." But this is certainly not true of today's businessmen. Well, at least not for everyone!
Tim Cook, CEO at Apple, gets up every day at 3:45 in the morning, to start answering the 700 to 800 e-mails he receives in his inbox every day. Sleep is a hindrance to him and a waste of precious time, which he would otherwise rather use to fulfill all his obligations.
While some super businessmen and millionaires do not need more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep a day due to their genetics, the rest need a normal 8 hours for nighttime regeneration.
Is sleep overrated? Do people involved in global business management really have to sacrifice their sleep to be productive enough?
The elite who do not sleep
The Wall Street Journal coined the term "elite who don't need sleep" (sleepless elite) for those lucky people who were born with "The Thatcher Genome". It is a genetic mutation that approximately 1 to 3 percent of the world's population has. This genetic mutation is the culprit for normal functioning they need significantly less sleep than the rest. While other Earthlings sleep, they can work.
Among them is the American president and a businessman Donald Trump, who has been living successfully for several decades by devoting only 3 or 4 hours to sleep every day. Angela Ahrendts, head of sales at Apple, even says that when he sleeps more than 6 hours a day, he gets a headache. Her day starts as early as 4:30 in the morning.
Sergio Marchionne, managing director at Chrysler Fiat, gets up at 3:30 in the morning. Employees say he works 8 days a week. Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, also sleeps only 4 to 5 hours a night.
Marissa Mayer, CEO of web giant Yahoo!, is also known to sleep just 4 hours to get through her 130-hour work week. However, in 2014, she missed a very important meeting with the executive committee due to an unplanned rest due to severe fatigue after working as many as 20 hours in total. And it's a good reminder that you can living according to an unnatural rhythm also brings unpleasant consequences.
Motivated ascetics
While some business people achieve incredible success even without a normal amount of sleep, others need their rest in order to extend their working day.
A visionary Elon Musk, who founded the companies SpaceX and Tesla, said in an interview that his mental abilities decline drastically if he does not get the necessary daily amount of sleep; in his case it is at least 6 to 6.5 hours.
Also the founder of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, it cannot be effective if it does not sleep at least 8 hours a day. Years ago, she completely collapsed from lack of sleep, and has been a vocal advocate for healthy sleep habits ever since.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, describes his morning routine this way: "I wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning, spend half an hour meditating, exercise 3 times for 7 minutes each, drink coffee and then start working. I sleep from 11 in the evening until 5 in the morning. Meditation and exercise!”
Successful people who sleep
But there are also people who have the same sleeping habits as ordinary mortals and still manage to build successful businesses. These "ordinary people" do not need extra time to be successful.
One of them is Mark Zuckerberg, the father of Facebook, who gets up at 8 a.m. or even later. Also a millionaire Jeff Bezos he needs 8 hours of sleep a day, and if possible he avoids morning meetings so that he can start the day at breakfast with his wife and children.
Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates emphasizes how important 7 hours of sleep is to be more creative. In 1997, he admitted that he is jealous of those who do not need so much sleep, because they have more time to study, work and play. However, his need for sleep clearly did not stop him on his way to success.
Find your optimal sleep routine
Sleeping habits vary widely, even among successful businessmen. The fact is, yes less sleep does not guarantee greater performance. In some cases, lack of sleep even hinders success. Sleep is necessary so that you can do the things you love when you are awake. Listen to your body and do not fight with an unnatural sleep rhythm if it affects you badly. Find the sleep rhythm that will be the healthiest for you, because only then can you be most efficient and live your fullest life.
