Sonali Kuruvilla, Founder at Sommer Beauty, offers an honest perspective on entrepreneurship by discussing something many founders experience but rarely talk about openly: the difficulty of switching off mentally when running a business. In her recent LinkedIn post, Sonali Kuruvilla explains how interrupted sleep, particularly waking up between 3 and 4 a.m., has become part of her current experience. Rather than presenting this as a badge of honor, she examines what it reveals about the responsibilities, decisions, and uncertainties that accompany building a business.
For Sonali Kuruvilla, sleeping less is not a sign of dedication or something to celebrate. It is a consequence of having a mind that continues processing work long after the working day has ended. Her experience highlights a reality that often remains hidden behind the success stories and motivational messages associated with entrepreneurship.
The Mental Weight of Entrepreneurship
Building a business involves more than completing tasks during office hours. Founders must make decisions, manage responsibilities, address unexpected challenges, and think about what needs attention next. Even when the workday ends, these responsibilities can remain active in their minds.
Sonali Kuruvilla describes nights when she falls asleep normally but wakes up in the early morning with a particular concern occupying her thoughts. It might be an unresolved decision, a forgotten task, or simply a feeling of alertness that makes her brain want to start working again.
This experience illustrates how entrepreneurial responsibility can extend beyond physical working hours. The body may be resting, but the mind can continue processing unfinished business.
Through her reflections, Sonali Kuruvilla brings attention to the emotional and mental demands of running a company. Her post encourages readers to recognize that entrepreneurship is not defined only by visible achievements. It also involves managing uncertainty, making difficult choices, and learning to live with responsibilities that cannot always be resolved immediately.
Why Conventional Solutions Do Not Always Work
When sleep becomes inconsistent, the usual advice often focuses on routines and habits. Avoiding screens before bedtime, maintaining a regular sleep schedule, and writing down thoughts are commonly suggested ways to improve rest.
Sonali Kuruvilla has experimented with several of these approaches. She has tried putting away her phone during the final hour before bed, keeping a notebook nearby to record thoughts, and adjusting her bedtime to discover a routine that works.
Some of these practices have helped, but none has completely resolved the problem.
Her experience offers an important distinction between managing symptoms and addressing their underlying causes. A consistent bedtime routine may support better sleep, but it cannot automatically remove the uncertainty created by an unresolved business decision.
Sonali Kuruvilla does not dismiss the value of healthy habits. Instead, she questions the assumption that every difficult experience can be corrected by finding the right routine. Sometimes, the source of the problem requires a different kind of attention.
This perspective is relevant to founders who may feel frustrated when conventional wellness advice fails to address the pressures they face. It reminds them that personal well-being and professional circumstances can be closely connected.
Accepting the Present Without Glorifying It
One of the most meaningful aspects of Sonali Kuruvilla’s post is her willingness to acknowledge the current reality without pretending that it is ideal.
She recognizes that waking up at 3 a.m. has become part of this particular phase of her entrepreneurial journey. The business requires considerable attention, and her mind has not yet learned to completely disconnect from its demands overnight.
However, she is careful not to suggest that this situation will continue forever or that sleeping poorly is necessary for success.
This distinction matters because entrepreneurial culture sometimes celebrates exhaustion as evidence of ambition. Long working hours, constant availability, and sacrificing personal needs are often portrayed as unavoidable parts of building something meaningful.
Sonali Kuruvilla presents a more grounded perspective. She acknowledges the difficulty without romanticizing it.
Her message suggests that founders can be honest about their struggles without turning those struggles into achievements. Recognizing a challenge does not mean accepting it permanently, and admitting that something is difficult does not make a person less committed to their goals.
The Decision That Makes the Difference
Perhaps the most revealing observation in Sonali Kuruvilla’s post is that her best nights of sleep tend to follow decisions she had previously delayed.
This insight shifts the discussion from sleep routines to decision-making.
Unresolved decisions can occupy mental space because they represent unfinished responsibilities. A founder may continue considering different possibilities, anticipating consequences, and revisiting conversations until a clear direction emerges.
When a decision is finally made, some of that mental pressure can disappear. The situation may not become perfect, but the mind no longer needs to repeatedly examine the same unresolved question.
For Sonali Kuruvilla, this realization has changed where she directs her attention. Instead of concentrating exclusively on improving her bedtime routine, she is working more deliberately on making decisions she has been postponing.
This does not mean every concern can be solved immediately. Some decisions require additional information, consultation, or time. Nevertheless, identifying what remains unresolved can help distinguish between problems that need action and thoughts that simply need acknowledgment.
Her experience demonstrates the value of recognizing the connection between decision-making and mental clarity.
A More Honest Conversation About Founder Well-Being
Sonali Kuruvilla’s reflections offer a useful reminder that entrepreneurship is not always as structured or predictable as productivity advice suggests. Building a business involves periods of uncertainty, and those periods can affect personal routines in unexpected ways.
Her post does not offer a universal formula for sleeping better or managing stress. Instead, it presents an honest observation about the relationship between responsibility, unresolved decisions, and the mind’s ability to rest.
For aspiring entrepreneurs and established founders alike, the lesson is to look beyond the visible demands of work and examine what continues occupying their attention.
Sonali Kuruvilla shows that self-awareness can begin with a simple question: What is keeping the mind active when the workday is over?
The answer may be a task that needs completing, a decision that needs making, or a responsibility that requires a clearer plan. Identifying that answer can be a useful first step toward creating more space for rest.
Ultimately, Sonali Kuruvilla’s experience highlights an important aspect of building a business: professional progress and personal well-being are connected. Success does not require pretending that every challenge is manageable or that exhaustion is admirable.
Sometimes, moving forward begins with making the decision that has been waiting for attention. And sometimes, the most productive thing a founder can do is recognize what needs to be resolved before expecting the mind to become quiet.
