🎨 Why Sleep Should Be Your Life Non-Negotiable, Especially if You Work in Consulting

At a Glance:

• My relationship with sleep and its evolution
• Irony in the current reality of success chasing
• Game-changing tips to improve your sleep

"You’ll sleep when you’re dead."

It’s a popular saying, especially in high-pressure careers like consulting. But here’s the irony: the shorter you sleep, the shorter you live.

My mother is a night owl, and so is my sister. From a very early age, I was used to going to sleep late and still waking up early (not the case anymore). So I never had a chance to experience another way of approaching sleep—at least until adulthood.

I used to buy into the mindset of not needing much sleep. When I was in consulting, there were periods when I worked crazy hours, stayed up till 2 a.m., and was back at the gym by 6 a.m. I thought surviving on 5–6 hours of sleep was a badge of honor, a testament to my resilience and dedication.

Now? I see things differently. Sleep isn’t a luxury; it’s my Most Valuable Practice (MVP). Without it, nothing works at its maximum capacity. Sleep is your brain’s secret sauce for clarity, creativity, and resilience. Here’s how I turned sleep into a career superpower—and how you can, too.

The Reality of Sleepless Consulting

Working 5–6 hours a night and starting a 14-hour shift the next day: that was my routine. Consulting culture often glorifies sleeplessness as a mark of dedication. But are you really delivering your best work when you’re running on fumes?

Here’s the truth: science shows that sleep deprivation harms memory, creativity, and decision-making. It also increases stress and burnout. In consulting—where decisions and presentations make or break your success—these are risks you can’t afford.

Why Leaders Must Model Healthy Sleep Habits

Leaders, take note: encouraging sleeplessness in your teams doesn’t lead to better outcomes. A well-rested brain is more innovative, decisive, and resilient. If you want top performance, promote a culture that values rest. It’s not just compassionate leadership; it’s effective leadership. I wish this was the day-to-day approach in consulting too. It’s not, but it’s high time to change it!

So if you are an ambitious consulting manager, why not start changing it now?

Game-Changing Tips for Better Sleep

A simple system to optimize your nights:

• 3 hours before bed: No food.
• 2 hours before bed: No drinks.
• 1 hour before bed: No screens.

Your prefrontal cortex (the part of your brain responsible for rational thinking) is most effective in the morning.

Why? Because it’s tiny, and ONLY sleep fully recharges it. Use morning time for your most challenging work, and you will see improvement in your productivity.

More tips on the quality of your thinking can be found here.

The prefrontal cortex is tiny and metabolically hungry. Focus in cycles of 45–60 minutes, followed by short breaks, to maintain productivity and creativity.

Consistent sleep and wake times help your body’s natural rhythms. Treat your bedtime as a non-negotiable meeting with yourself.

But don’t stop there—build a downtime routine that will help you sleep better. For me, this was the 3-2-1 rule and reading 20–30 minutes before falling asleep.

Game changer! I now sleep like a baby, a minimum 7 hours each day!

Glucose rollercoaster impacts sleep negatively. So no sugar spikes before sleep!

• No alcohol or caffeine.
• No napping if you have trouble sleeping at night.
• Keep it regular every day (same sleep and wake-up time, even on weekends!).
• Keep it cool in your bedroom (18 degrees Celsius is the perfect sleep temperature).

If you can't sleep at night, get out of bed and do something else until you feel sleepy again.

Why? You don’t sit at the table waiting to get hungry. Apply that logic to sleep too!

Recommended Resources

Need motivation to prioritize sleep? Start with Matthew Walker’s TED Talk, “Sleep is Your Superpower”.

Let’s ditch the outdated belief that sleeplessness equals success. It’s time to work smarter, not harder—and that starts with prioritizing rest. Tonight, sleep on it. Your brain (and your career) will thank you.

Great quote from Matthew Walker:

Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent reason.

Mother nature (...) has never faced a challenge of sleep deprivation.

That's why sleep deprivation has such serious consequences. We aren't adjusted to it, our body can't deal with it.