One of the things I get asked the most is whether or not I actually sleep. Due to the amount I try to interact on various platforms, this blog and Prime Cuts as well as my responsibilities to New Marketing Labs, my steakhouse, and a host of other projects I’m involved in, the short answer is: no I don’t sleep.
Instead of looking at it in terms of getting enough sleep, I look at it in the same way that Diddy does: Sleep is forbidden. Diddy is known for hustling and in turn, not getting enough sleep. He is known for telling his team that “sleep is forbidden” and it has been a quote that resonated with me since first hearing it. If you go to Diddy and tell him that you’re tired, you know what he tells you? “What rhymes with ‘tired’…’fired’? Don’t believe me? Check out this quick video:
You see, I’m not someone that actually requires that much sleep. On an average day I’ll get 3-4 hours of sleep, usually heading to bed around 3a and getting up at 6a or so every day.
Some have wondered if this actually lowers my productivity. I’ve studied my levels of productivity based on different sleeping patterns and length of sleep. I am most productive at around 4 hours of sleep. I start to tweak out a little under 3 hours (which occurs often) and feel groggy at anything greater than 5 hours. This, of course, hasn’t been this way for my entire life. When I was younger I loved to sleep as much as possible. But, for the past 8-9 years I have maintained a sleep schedule of an average of 3-5 hours of sleep per night.
Why do I not sleep a lot? It’s because I have certain goals that I’m trying to accomplish. In order to reach these goals I must stay focused and capitalize on all of the little wins that come along.
My mind races with finding ways to interact more with all of the great people I have the opportunity to meet. I spend countless hours thinking of new projects, what’s next, and trying to chase my goals. I don’t think of my life in terms of work and play, personal and professional, home and the office. Everything blends together for me and that’s how I prefer it. Therefore, I don’t get upset that I work 90-100 hours per week. I’m having fun; I’m running hard towards my goals; and along the way, I’m trying to be as helpful and engaging as possible.
This might sound eerily familar especially if you follow Chris Brogan. That’s because it is. That’s not by mistake either. Over at New Marketing Labs we have some big goals in front of us and we’re putting everything we have into our company. That means that Chris and I regularly are discussing clients, new ideas, how to make the Inbound Marketing Summit or Inbound Marketing Bootcamps better, or a number of other things in the middle of the night. Even this morning, on a holiday weekend, while Chris is taking his first vacation in years, we were discussing some new ideas over DM on Twitter. It even brought about this tweet from me that garnered a few chuckles:
Some of my friends and colleagues worry that I’m going to burn out. Don’t worry, I won’t. I can’t. Not until my goals are reached. When I hit those goals, I’ll set new ones and continue this cycle. Because of that, sleep is forbidden.
I hope that you continue to join me on this adventure…
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