Ladies, sleep isn’t self-care. It’s your power strategy.
If you’re doing all the right things but still feel like you’re running on fumes, you’re not imagining it and you’re not alone. Many of the women I coach at the executive level are chronically underslept and it shows up everywhere: energy, mood, focus, wellbeing and even leaks into their leadership.
Sleep isn’t something that impacts your performance.
It dictates it.
The Exhaustion Epidemic No One’s Talking About
A 2025 national survey conducted by The House of Wellness confirmed what so many Australian women are silently experiencing:
- 60% of women feel tired often or all the time
- 19% report being always fatigued
- And 1 in 4 women admit they’re only getting 4–6 hours of sleep per night
This isn’t occasional exhaustion. It’s a chronic, systemic issue. And while inadequate rest is a key factor, the more important question is: what’s driving that lack of sleep in the first place?
The Sleep Gap: Why Women Need More Than Men
A 2015 study from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre confirmed that women need more sleep than men, about 20 minutes more per night. This is due to increased neural complexity and multi-tasking demands, which require deeper cognitive recovery.
And yet? Despite needing more, women are 40% more likely to experience insomnia.
Ongoing hormonal changes (menstrual cycle, perimenopause, menopause), plus the mental load of work-life demands, create an invisible sleep tax that women are silently paying for in energy, ambition and wellbeing.
What Sleep Data Shows (Even When You Do Sleep More)
ŌURA Ring data from over 50,000 users reveals that:
- Women do sleep longer than men, especially in younger age groups
- They spend more time in REM and deep sleep, and have better sleep efficiency
- And yet… they report more daytime fatigue, lower recovery scores, and higher stress
More hours ≠ better recovery. Especially if chronic stress, hormonal shifts, or misaligned rhythms are involved.
Sleep Loss Doesn’t Affect Men the Same Way
A 2022 study in Sex Roles showed that poor sleep lowered women’s mood, confidence and ambition the next day. But for men?
No change.
Men’s ambition held steady, regardless of sleep quality. For women, sleep directlyimpacted their sense of drive and self-trust.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t about fragility, it’s biology. Hormones, stress load and circadian sensitivity all stack the deck differently for women.
Sleep Deprivation = Elevated Stress Response
In 2024, researchers found that even one night of sleep deprivation spiked women’s nervous system activity, cortisol levels and reduced heart rate variability, signals of acute stress. This is why my coaching clients track their biometric data with a WHOOP band.
Translation: when you don’t sleep, your body acts like it’s under threat.
Which means everything, from decision-making to emotional regulation, becomes harder. (This is why we snap at our kids, or send the terse email reply when we’re tired.)
And when this state becomes chronic? Burnout, hormone disruption and emotional volatility aren’t far behind. Performance plummets.
Your Sleep Debt Impacts You AND Your Team
WHOOP data found that for every 45 minutes of sleep debt, psychological safety drops in teams. That means a sleep-deprived leader is more likely to create a tense, closed-off culture, even unintentionally.
Want to lead a more innovative, risk-tolerant team? Start by protecting your own rest.
Women’s Sleep Biology Is Different
Female circadian clocks:
- Shift earlier (you’re more likely to be a morning type). You can discover your Chronotype here.
- Respond more strongly to light and schedule disruption
- Create stronger cravings, metabolic strain and emotional eating after poor sleep
Night shifts, late-night work, and inconsistent schedules hit women harder. And the fallout is more than just fatigue, it’s increased risk of insulin resistance, mood instability and poorer focus.
5 Evidence-Backed Strategies to Sleep Like a High Performer
These are the protocols I share with my coaching clients and practise myself.
1. Stick to Consistent Sleep and Wake Times
Your circadian rhythm craves regularity. Go to bed and wake up at the same time daily, even on weekends, where possible (of course, an occasional late night is okay especially if you’re doing something fun with family or friends). Aim for +/- 30 minutes for going to sleep and waking up each night.
Recently, I’ve been reading and researching about the impact of consistent sleep and wake times on our sleep, wellbeing and performance. So I’ve made a concerted effort of having a more consistent sleep and wake time. Whilst I’m far from perfect, even the gradual improvements have significantly improved my sleep and significantly lowered my biological age. And who doesn’t want to be biologically younger?
2. Warm Up to Cool Down
A hot shower or bath before bed helps cool your core temperature, exactly what your body needs to fall asleep faster. Warm hands and feet help release core heat (yes, bed socks work).
3. Set a Food Curfew
Eating within 2–3 hours of sleep disrupts sleep, especially for women. Eating close to bedtime increases the risk of disrupted sleep (more time to fall asleep, frequent wakings and lower sleep efficiency), even if the total sleep looks adequate. These effects are minimised when the evening meal is finished more than 3 hours before bedtime and when nighttime meals are lower in calories and fat.
4. Block the Light
Dim overhead lights early. Use blackout curtains or eye masks. While “blue light” might not be the villain we once thought, bright light in general still suppresses melatonin and delays sleep onset.
5. Wind Down with Intention
Sleep isn’t a switch, it’s a state you enter. Sleeping is the most physically and psychologically vulnerable thing you can do, so if your brain and body are still racing when you get into bed it can impact your sleep. Powering through to exhaustion won’t cut it. Start winding down 30–60 minutes before bed with breathwork, stretching, or writing a To Do list (yes, a study found that people who wrote to-do lists with over 10 items drifted off about 15 minutes sooner than those who skipped making a list altogether and about six minutes sooner than those who jotted down only a few tasks).
And If You Do Sleep Badly… Try This
One surprising solution? Creatine.
New research (2024–2025) shows that a single high dose of creatine (20–30g) can offset some of the cognitive decline from sleep deprivation. It acts as a rapid brain energy buffer, especially during tasks requiring focus, executive function, or decision-making. In some cases, it can actually make you sharper than if you’d slept well.
I’ve tested it myself, successfully delivering a keynote on just 5 hours of sleep. You can read more about how a high dose of creatine helped me to deliver a keynote with five hours of sleep, here.
The Bottom Line
Sleep isn’t indulgent. It’s infrastructure.
For women who lead, build, raise their hand, or carry the load, prioritising sleep is not soft. It’s a strategy.
Your ambition, resilience and clarity are built on your rest.
Let’s stop treating sleep like the reward.
It’s the requirement.
Let’s Connect
Whether you’re looking for a keynote speaker who makes the science of sustainable peak performance resonate, or you’re a high-achieving woman ready to optimise your energy, focus and leadership with wearable data, I’d love to connect.
References
Chung, N., Iao, S. I., Chan, N. Y., Cheung, J. M. Y., Chen, Y., Wing, Y. K., & Li, A. M. (2021). The impact of meal timing on sleep and its gender differences: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). Sleep Medicine, 86, 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.07.013
Crispim, C. A., Zimberg, I. Z., dos Reis, B. G., Diniz, R. M., Tufik, S., & de Mello, M. T. (2011). Relationship between food intake and sleep pattern in healthy individuals. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 7(6), 659–664. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.1476
Gordji-Nejad, A., Friehs, E., Chrobok, L., Schmitgen, M. M., Narzisi, A., Schmitt, J., & Stork, O. (2024). Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 54249. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54249-9
Loughborough University. (2015). Gender differences in sleep need and sleep loss impact.
Lok, R., Qian, J., & Chellappa, S. L. (2024). Sex differences in sleep, circadian rhythms, and metabolism: Implications for precision medicine. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 75, Article 101926. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2024.101926
ŌURA Ring. (2024). Gender differences in sleep, activity, and stress. https://ouraring.com/blog/member-data-gender-differences-sleep-activity-stress
Schmitgen, M. M., et al. (2025). Effects of acute creatine supplementation on cognition during sleep deprivation: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Medicine, 23(153). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03146-5
Scullin, M. K., Krueger, M. L., Ballard, H. K., Pruett, N., & Bliwise, D. L. (2018). The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(1), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000374
Sex Roles. (2022). The impact of sleep quality on women’s ambition and motivation for leadership.
University of Southampton. (2024). Circadian rhythms and sex-based differences in body clocks.
Zarandi, M. H. F., et al. (2024). Creatine supplementation supports working memory and executive function after sleep loss. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 27(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyad100
