THE EQ SERIES: On Rest

One regret of my childhood is that my parents never enforced a sleeping schedule on me. Evenings were when my family would decide to watch a Nollywood film and if anyone reading this article is familiar with old Nollywood films you will know typical storylines involve witch doctors, occult practice and blood sacrifice inevitably making me too scared to go to sleep on my own. My parents would half-heartedly tell me to go to sleep at 10pm but I would stay put until everyone else was going to bed.

Bottomline is that my sleeping pattern has been shit since pretty much the beginning of my existence. During my teenage years I was sleeping 5–6 hours and doing okay at school, which foolishly made me think that I was so cool but clearly not. It’s only been the last few years that I have acknowledged that I need to do something about the amount of rest I give myself.

The main thing that frustrates me about my sleeping pattern is that I find it hard to get to sleep and sometimes — to stay asleep. It is a control thing. (Also a loneliness thing too but that’s an article for another day).

For some reason I have always had this concept in my head that one does not just simply close their eyes and fall asleep instead someone has to sedate themselves through other means. And for a long time, I have been considering taking sleeping pills to help regulate my sleeping pattern but I’ve just never really gotten round to it because anytime I bring it up to people around me they advise me against it.

The concern that most people have about sleeping pills is that I will outsource the discipline of regulating my sleeping pattern to chemicals that I may become dependent on.

Alternatively, I could just be proactive about it and make sure I avoid the things that stimulate my mind whilst I’m trying to fall asleep. For example:

• scrolling through Twitter

• listening to music

• eating sugary food late in the night etc.

But easier said than done right? 🤷🏾‍♀️

It also doesn’t help that working as a bar staff I’ve often finished late in the night/early mornings and in such high energy environments by the end of each shift I feel deflated and I develop a deep craving for some fatty, greasy, salty chips and chicken wings that I often get on my way home, which consequently makes it harder to sleep.

I say all this because I know I’m not the only one who views sleep as the battle of their life, statistic by Aviva show that 16 million adults in the UK have issues sleeping. Research after research shows the impact of what shortage of sleep does over time, which includes:

• poor decision-making,
• depression,
• anxiety,
• obesity,
• memory loss,
• heart attack
• stroke

And it goes without saying that the less you sleep the more likely your life expectancy is shortened. Knowing all this, it is no wonder that the global sleep aid industry currently stands at £54 billion and it is set to make a reported £79bn by 2023 (figures have been converted to pound sterling).

One of the start-ups within the industry that I am excited about is ZeezSleep. The product they have created is a low frequency-generating, pebble-shaped device that an individual would place underneath a pillow to regulate their circadian rhythm which will help them get to sleep naturally.

During the summer I attended a demo day event where I met a founder who was working on an interesting project; she had an idea of creating communal spaces for corporate workers in The City to take naps and this has led to the creation of ‘Rest Space LDN’ which I’m eager to watch the growth of. I think this is quite revolutionary in a world where people are obsessed with being “woke” and not acknowledging that being alert requires shut-eye time.

Within venture capital too there seems to be an attitude shift as founders are encouraged to make their health a prime focus. As part of a greater effort to create mental awareness for founders, leading VC firm, Octopus Ventures has put in place CEO coaches. Keji Mustapha from Connect Ventures also reflected on the results of organising a wellness retreat for their founders which had positive impact.

Stowaway Cosmetics co-founder, Julie Fredrickson, details in her Medium post the time when she came to the painful realisation and had to admit to her investors that she could no longer operate her start-up due to an illness that she’d turned a blind eye on and had gradually crippled her ability to perform.

Situations like this are why it’s important for VCs to be empathetic because it puts entrepreneurs in a very vulnerable position when they can no longer execute on their vision due to them having put their health on the back seat.

Point is, it is absolutely imperative that we place a greater value on sleep. It is good for us.

Hayley Mulenda said it best when she said: “You can’t pour water from an empty bottle.”

People say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” in their noble quest to solve the world’s problems but there will always be problems, problems breed solutions and solutions breed problems. It’s a never-ending cycle, hence the reason for reproduction. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Just as there should be discipline to work there should also be discipline to know when to stop. To know that the day’s work is over and tomorrow can think for itself.

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