Zerodha CEO’s advice for those who have trouble sleeping because of emails, social media

Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath said ending work chats after 6 pm also did the trick for him and his employees.

Nithin Kamath, the chief executive officer (CEO) of financial services company Zerodha, recently tweeted about the health hazards of sleep deprivation and how the problem has become worse because remote work amid the coronavirus crisis.

Drawing from the experiences of people in his extended circle, Kamath said sleep deprivation seemed to be the common thread among those experiencing severe heart problems. 

Kamath said that he too had trouble sleeping because of emails, news apps, social media and chats. He said that disconnecting from them completely before sleeping, going “full cold turkey”, really helped him.

The number of people having severe heart issues in my extended circle is terrifying. The common thread seems to be sleep deprivation, and not nearly enough is spoken about the importance of sleep on overall health & well-being. The problem has gotten worse post-COVID & WFH. 1/3

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) December 30, 2021

The Zerodha CEO added that ending work chats after 6 pm also did the trick for him and his employees.

“I'm now trying to turn off the phone by evening,” Kamath added. “I keep reminding myself that it is supposed to be Business & not Busy-ness. Being constantly busy ironically means less productivity.”

In August, Kamath had tweeted that after the countrywide coronavirus lockdown in 2020, his team members were probably the unhealthiest ever because of lack of exercise, work-life balance and bad diet while functioning remotely.

Post the first lockdown, like everywhere, our team @zerodhaonline as a whole was probably the unhealthiest ever, due to the lack of physical activity, work-life imbalance, bad diet, & more. We thought of a way to nudge the team to get healthy and the results are phenomenal. 1/3 — Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) August 28, 2021

To change that, Kamath asked his team members to set yearly health targets for themselves and provide updates on their progress every month.

“To increase participation, we said everyone who reaches the goal will get a 1-month salary as bonus and 1 lucky draw for Rs 10lks.”

Kamath said the transformation stories that emerged from the exercise were inspiring.

“We also have proof that getting healthy improves professional performance as well,” he added. “Our Get Healthy program will now run permanently. Sharing to seed the idea among fellow entrepreneurs.”

Kamath had founded  Zerodha along with his brother in 2010. The company has now become the largest stock brokerage house in India.