In today’s modern society, your wellness should be on the forefront of your mind. However, in the lives of many, the importance of wellness often takes a backseat to success and financial gain. With everything that’s been going on in the United States and abroad, it can be easy to neglect your mental health and physical well being. For that reason, we revisit a conversation between Gary Vaynerchuk and Arianna Huffington — two mavericks in their respective media niches — about how they think about wellness.
On Sleep
Gary: Arianna, for the four people who don’t know, can you describe who you are?
Arianna: I’m Arianna Huffington and I was not born in this country, I was born in Greece. I’m an immigrant, a naturalized immigrant (whatever that may mean). In 2005, I launched the Huffington Post with Kenny Lerer. I have two daughters and I have written 15 books.
Gary: Excuse me, did you say 15? Geez, I was proud of my four. That’s a real number. I got a lot of work to do.
Arianna: You have plenty of time to catch up.
Inspiration for Arianna’s book The Sleep Revolution
Arianna: I had collapsed from sleep deprivation and burnout; I hit my head on the way down from my desk. It [was] a terrible wake-up call. I broke my cheekbone and [I woke up] in a pool of blood, asking myself: is this really what success looks like? Not just I, but millions of people have bought into this collective delusion.
Gary: People know I work a lot. [However], I say this often: I’m a huge believer in sleep. I always [talk] about hustling 18 hours a day, and [working] those kinds of crazy numbers, but boy, I am all in on sleep. It’s just math; you need to sleep. In the same way, I started taking care of my health a couple of years ago.
Sleep Habits
Arianna: Eight hours each night, 95 percent of the time.
Gary: I think, people think, four or five hours. [But], I’m rarely five. I sleep mainly six, sometimes seven, hours. It’s [harder] when I travel, [but] I’m a much bigger fan of sleep [than] I think than people realize.
Fighting Sleep Deprivation
Arianna: Try to take a nap [whenever possible]. It will make you more productive [because naps] reset your system.
Sleep Transitions
Arianna: [Yes], we need a transition to sleep. If anybody has children you know that you don’t just drop your baby and your young child to bed. You give her a bath, you put her in PJs, you sing her a lullaby….modern men and women have dropped the transition.
The transition is: you are texting, emailing. You put your phone by your bed and you turn off the light. Then, what happens is that you may be exhausted enough to go to sleep but your brain has not been given the opportunity to wind down. So, it’s going to wake you up in the middle of the night with all this innate chatter that is completely and utterly unproductive.
Sleep and Productivity
Gary: If you wake up fully recharged, it means you wake up ready to take on the world. You know that feeling? You wake up and say, “Come on, bring it on.” It won’t matter how many obstacles, challenges, or setbacks [you encounter].
So, get your sleep in, but don’t watch four hours of “House of Cards”, or play Candy Crush for an hour, or play video games for six hours if you want to build a business. I’m not [talking] about how much you sleep, I’m [talking] about what you do when you’re awake.
Arianna: Hard work is not the problem. We’re talking about being your most efficient, best self when you show up to work.
Work/Life Boundaries
Arianna: You’re not going to be much use to your children, your patients, or anybody if you let yourself burn out. Nobody should be able to reach you at all hours, unless you have what I have. [I have] a dumb phone that has no data. [It’s] for my daughters and for an overnight news editor [to contact me] if there is a crisis. My regular phone is outside my bedroom [when I sleep].
Gary: The same thing for me. I have [my emergency phone] by my bed but it is completely silent. It never wakes me up.
If you liked this article, it would mean a lot to us if you shared it on Twitter!
magnificent issues altogether, you just received
a logo new reader. What would you recommend in regards to your publish that you made a few days in the past?
Any positive?
Howdy! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout
out and tell you I really enjoy reading through your
posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with
the same subjects? Thank you!
Hi it’s me, I am also visiting this site daily, this site is actually
pleasant and the viewers are in fact sharing good thoughts.
I’m really loving the theme/design of your website.
Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems?
A handful of my blog visitors have complained about my site not working
correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do
you have any tips to help fix this issue?
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your blog.
You have some really great posts and I believe I would be a good asset.
If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really
like to write some content for your blog in exchange
for a link back to mine. Please blast me an e-mail
if interested. Thank you!
I think this is one of the most significant information foor me.
And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark onn
few general things, The webb site style is great, the articles is reqlly great :
D. Goood job, cheers
Thanks very nice blog!
Wonderful goods from you, man. I have bear
in mind your stuff prior to and you’re just too fantastic.
I really like what you’ve received right here, certainly like what
you’re stating and the way in which by which you say it.
You’re making it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it sensible.
I cant wait to learn much more from you. That is really a
terrific site.
I’ve been browsing online more than 2 hours today,
yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did,
the web will be much more useful than ever before.
Hey very interesting blog!
Howdy would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re using?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most.
Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a honest price?
Many thanks, I appreciate it!
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment.
I think that you should publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don’t speak about such issues.
To the next! Kind regards!!
Awesome blog! Do you have any suggestions for
aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid
option? There are so many options out there that I’m completely confused ..
Any suggestions? Many thanks!
I do not know if it’s just me or if everyone else encountering problems with your blog.
It seems like some of the written text in your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else
please provide feedback and let me know if this
is happening to them too? This might be a issue with my internet browser because
I’ve had this happen before. Appreciate it
You really make it seem really easy together with your
presentation however I find this topic to be really
one thing that I believe I would by no means understand.
It kind of feels too complex and very extensive for me.
I am taking a look forward for your next put up, I will
try to get the grasp of it!
What i do not realize is if truth be told how you’re no longer really much more neatly-appreciated than you might be right now.
You are so intelligent. You know thus significantly in terms
of this matter, produced me individually consider it from
numerous various angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be
fascinated until it’s one thing to accomplish with
Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs great. All the time maintain it up!
Hi there, yup this piece of writing is genuinely good and I have learned lot of things from it concerning
blogging. thanks.
Greetings! Very useful advice within this article!
It’s the little changes that make the most important changes.
Thanks for sharing!