The sun is slowly rising, the birds are singing, the neighbours are off to work and I haven’t been to bed yet. Whether it results from procrastination or unforeseen deadlines there will be times for a lot of business owners when they forgo sleep.

I can tell you it aint fun. Yet ironically I think I do my best programming after midnight and I think it’s from the lack of distraction from the world outside my door.

Drinking coffee gets to be as much of a chore as anything else after midnight. You’re just conscious that you’re, well, not fully conscious and you need those cups of coffee just to keep going.

I could go on about how people should not do this. But I suspect many business owners just can’t avoid it at least once a month or so, especially in the start up phase.

I’m not going to pretend there’s some way to make up for it. All you can do is cope by keeping it to a minimum (if at all) and do the obvious by catching up on sleep asap. By all means set aside a day every week for relaxation and keep to a healthy diet. But lack of sleep on a regular basis really does take it’s toll.

Those of us “bitten by the business bug” have to face this problem. It’s worth putting the effort into time management just so we can sleep at night. I know I’d rather be getting up as the sun is rising rather than going to bed at that time.