We often think about sleeplessness as a personal issue — but reality is, a business cost. For all the business owners, CEOs, women in leadership – this is for you
Sleeplessness:
Increases the risk of burnout by 57%, impairs job performance for 80% of leaders, and reduces daily productivity by 58% across your workforce.
This is why sleep is no longer a wellness conversation – it’s a business risk.
Economically speaking:
Deloitte (2017) reports that insufficient sleep costs $241,800 per 100 employees, per year.
Over a decade? That’s $2,418,000 in preventable loss.
Broken down:
- $1,475,000 in underperformance
- $556,000 in reduced workforce capacity
- $218,000 in absenteeism
- $169,000 in premature mortality
This isn’t theoretical.
This is preventable, modifiable business loss – at scale.
FOR YOU — THE LEADER — THE COST IS IMMEDIATE
Individually, 2025 research indicates the impact is just as critical:
- 69% struggle with clear thinking
- 48% report impaired emotional control
- 58% struggle to execute work accurately
This is not fatigue — this is compromised leadership capacity.
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WE THINK TIME IS THE PROBLEM.
WE THINK BURNOUT IS THE PROBLEM.
What if both had a single root cause?
Sleep.
Poor sleep → 58% drop in productivity.
You take longer to execute.
You call it a time problem — it’s a sleep problem.
Poor sleep → 57% higher burnout risk.
Your capacity declines — not from lack of effort, but from biological under-recovery impairing the systems that drive performance.
Two business problems. One biological constraint.
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IT’S NOT ABOUT MORE SLEEP.
IT’S ABOUT GETTING MORE OUT OF YOUR SLEEP.
Quality over quantity.
We know this when it comes to exercise and nutrition:
Training at the gym for an hour with 2kg or 20kg will lead to a different result.
Same hour.
Different result.
Eating 1500 calories of chicken and broccoli vs 1500 calories of chocolate?
Same calories, different result.
Sleep is exactly the same.
Not all sleep is the same.
Quality trumps quantity.
What is quality sleep though?
Deep and continuous – it’s getting enough slow wave deep sleep, enough REM sleep, and having it continuous – not continually interrupted.
Benchmarks to remember – 20% of your total sleep time in slow wave sleep, 25% of your total sleep time in REM sleep.
How many times should you wake up? Once.
What should your sleep efficiency be (sleep tracking girlies – you know what i’m talking about)? 85% or higher.
That’s high quality sleep – and it’s less about how many hours you sleep for, and more about your sleep stack.
Sleep stack? As in, sleep related habits – think James Clear habit stack, applied to sleep.
And as a CEO, here is one I designed for you – with your best night’s sleep in mind.
THE CEO SLEEP STACK:
1. MORNING MINUTES
Within the first hour of waking, get 10 minutes of direct natural light exposure.
This:
- Strengthens circadian signalling → deeper, more continuous sleep
- Suppresses residual melatonin → reduces morning fatigue
- Starts your 14-hour sleep timer → enabling faster sleep onset that night
This is not a lifestyle tip. It’s a biological lever.
2. SUPPLEMENT STRATEGY
For leaders who struggle to switch off, magnesium isn’t a nice to have – it’s a necessity. Enhancing GABA, our calming neurotransmitter, magnesium has been shown to improve sleep quality by 32%.
- Magnesium Threonate → best for overthinking / difficulty falling asleep (targets the brain)
- Magnesium Glycinate → best for night wakings (supports temperature + nervous system regulation)
3. WAKING AT 3AM? THE RETURN TO SLEEP PROTOCOL
Step 1: If awake for more than 20 minutes: Get out of bed. This reinforces bed=sleep association, a core principle from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, with a 70% success rate.
Step 2: Go into the lounge – low light, no screens. Light spikes cortisol, the biological driver of 3am wakings.
Step 3: Listen to guided audio – podcast, meditation. Mental rumination requires redirection of attention, not suppression. This is what most people miss – and what keeps most stuck.
Step 4: Cool your body: this exact mechanism has been used by unicorn sleep technology company Eight Sleep to reduce sleep interruptions by 23%. Valued at 1.5B, this also has been shown to improve sleep quality by 32%.
Step 5: return to bed only when sleepy.
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SNAPSHOT: Return to sleep protocol:
- If awake longer than 20 minutes, get up
- Go into the lounge – lights off, screens off.
- Read or listen to guided audio (podcast, meditation)
- Cool the body
- Return to bed when sleepy
4. THE NASA NAP: POWER PM PERFORMANCE
Struggling to get through the afternoon… again? Take a NASA Nap – as identified by NASA, a 26-minute nap has been shown to increase cognitive performance by 34% and improve alertness by 52%
Protocol:
- Keep it short – less than 30 minutes – prevents sleep inertia, that feeling of being groggy upon waking from a nap (caused by waking from deep sleep)
- Keep it dark – use an eyemask
- Keep it early – before 330pm. This preserves your ability to sleep well that night, granting sufficient time between nap and sleep to build up sleep pressure compound adenosine.
FINAL WORDS:
You now have the protocols.
You have your go-to guide.
So I ask you – how much are you willing to lose, before you act?
The decision is yours – and your decision is made today.
Written by Olivia Arezzolo –
Trusted by IKEA, Samsung, Westin, Audible, Toyota, YPO, Novotel, Medibank and more, Olivia helps organisations harness sleep science for peak performance.
With over 500 features, she is the go-to media spokesperson for The Today Show, The Morning Show, News.com.au, Body+Soul, Yahoo, House of Wellness, Prevention magazine and more, renowned for sharing practical, actionable advice.
In 2026, Olivia was appointed Global Sleep Ambassador for Novotel Hotels, Thought Leadership Advisor for YPO (Young President’s Organisation) and awarded second year as Editor in Chief for Women’s Fitness Magazine, testament to her growing impact and influence.
With a bestselling book in 10 countries, a second book due for release in 2027, and a 60,000+ social media following, one thing is clear: Olivia isn’t part of the sleep conversation – she defines it.
For keynote bookings and partnership enquiries, please email hello@thesleepretreat.com.au / Whatsapp +61439032625.
