In my days as an entrepreneur I would often joke with my entrepreneur friends that we should start a "3:00 a.m. Club". It seems that most of us were always awake worrying about something or other in our businesses in the middle of the night. I seemed to wake up right about 3:00 a.m. with spreadsheets in my head (just to date myself a bit, they were Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets).
Well, someone has now come up with a term for this particular entrepreneurial affliction -- "sleepworking."
According to the 2nd Annual Staples National Small-Business Survey, more than half of small-business professionals said that work has actually become part of their dreams. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said that they “sleepwork” (i.e. dream about work), and nearly 70 percent of those “sleepworkers” report they wake up and put their “work dreams” to action.
The survey also revealed that 98 percent of U.S. small-business owners and managers are working during their time off -- including nights, weekends and vacations -- and nearly 54 percent expect to work even harder in 2008. This is not good news. I am on a personal quest to find a verb that describes entrepreneurship so we can stop defining ourselves only by what we do in our work (see this recent post for my rant on this issue).
Other results from this survey also give us something to think about:
- The car remains a favorite place to work, with 72 percent saying they make business calls while driving and nearly 40 percent saying they get their best ideas behind the wheel. I think I get stuck behind these people every morning on my way to the University.
- Slightly more than 38 percent cannot remember the last time they took a vacation. If this bothers you at all, please see this essay on why a good vacation is so important and how you might really make one happen.
- If given a choice, nearly 52 percent said they would accept comparable business results in 2008 if they could have twice as much free time. There is hope!! But wait... 48 percent said they would work even more hours if they could double their company’s sales. Fifty-two percent make New Year's resolutions for their business. Of those, 58 percent said they resolve to increase business, while only 21 percent said they want more time off.
Folks... I love entrepreneurship and free enterprise as much as anyone, but not ahead of my family and my health.
Here is a New Year's Resolution for all entrepreneurs. Slow down, just a bit. Enjoy your successes in business, but never at the expense of your health, family, faith, and friends.
