Dr Ritika Sinha is the founder of Rocket Health 🚀

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She started Rocket Health with her brother Abhineet Kumar in December 2021. Having literally grown up in a hospital, they have closely seen the challenges faced by doctors in India. Being a doctor herself, Ritika has seen countless patient journeys up close, and experienced doctor burnout while providing care. Together with her brother, she is building mental healthcare for India 🇮🇳

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What is your morning routine like? 

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I do not wake up at 5:00 AM I usually wake up around 8:00 AM, check my phone for a while, browse through Twitter, and spend some time in bed. 

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“Once I get up, I am ready to conquer the world.” 

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I get ready, eat some breakfast, and take my dog out for a walk. When I sit down to work I figure out my priorities for the day and then take them forward from there. 

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How do you spend your evenings?

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There are days when I have to work till 1:00 AM, but there are also days when we get free pretty early. On relatively less busy days, I like to spend some time reading and journaling 📚

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Recently I've been gifted a Kindle, so I like to just go to my room, pick up a book, do some reading, and also do some journaling. 

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How do you manage your workload? 

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If I feel like I need a break, I pick up my phone, talk to a friend, take a vacation, or just spend some time with myself. I think that's pretty important.” 

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I believe a lot of people are good at balancing their life on a daily basis. I like to figure out my routine on days spread across because my work is unpredictable. Some days could be tough, while others are manageable. So I try to get a sense of what I'm feeling 🧘🏽‍♀️

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One thing I really prioritize is sleep. I like to have 7 to 8 hours of sleep. I believe I can work for 14 hours or even 16 hours quite regularly, but if I do not sleep for 7-8 hours I would not be my most productive self. 

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“I believe prioritizing sleep is an essential part of managing my workload.” 

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How do you identify areas to improve?

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I am a doctor and am now building Rocket Health with my brother. There were quite a lot of things that I had to learn on the journey. I am still learning every day and I still feel if I'm running this company for the next 10 years, I will still keep learning every day because there are new things happening around me and there are so many new things that we can do. I feel I learn a lot from my brother, from my father, and even from Twitter. My strategy for learning is quite simple - I pick up the thing, spend some time on it, try to work on it, and then I'll figure it out. 

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What do you do for your mental health? 

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I believe I do a lot of things for my mental health. There is no one single thing. I like to spend time with myself or meet my old friends or just take a vacation 🌊

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It totally depends on what I need at that time. I take a sense of what I need at the moment and make a decision accordingly.  

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Any advice for other entrepreneurs prioritizing mental health? 

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“If you are prioritizing your and your team’s mental health, you have already taken the most essential step.” 

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You are not alone in the journey of building a startup. There is a team behind you who is working day in, and day out. You need to prioritize your mental health so that your team's mental health is also good 🫂

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“Running a company is not like a sprint, it's a marathon.” 

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So please take care of yourself. Take breaks if needed, because the company you are building, you are building for the next few years. So you have to take care of yourself, physically and mentally 🧠 

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I have recently started my physical health journey as well and I hope to sustain it long-term 💪🏽