Effective Sleep Patterns

After 26 years of training high performers, I discovered their most overlooked superpower that allows them to outwork everyone else: It's sleep, but not in the way that you think. I used to try to out-hustle a tired brain and outperform a depleted body, but the fact is, I couldn't. If your sleep isn't replenishing you, it's becoming a danger to your goals. Succesful people don't win because they work when you're asleep, they succeeed because they work harder than you on the right things when you're awake. They're goals are clearer, they're schedule is optimized and they move without skipping a beat because their mind is always well rested. Since learning this I've worked with a sleep coach to optimize for one thing; performance when i'm awake. Here are the 8 habits that high performers use that I started copying: 1. Sleep at 67 degrees Cool environments trigger natural melatonin. You fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. 2. Block out light and sound Black out your room. Use white noise if needed. 3. Clear your mind before bed Use journaling or breath work. Quiet the mental loops that keep you awake. 4. Finish workouts at least 3 hours before bed Don't elevate cortisol late at night. Let your body unwind. 5. Same sleep and wake times daily Even on weekends to protect your natural rhythm. 6. Block 7 hours every night Sleep is non-negotiable. If you miss one night, don't miss two. 7. Cut stimulants by mid-afternoon No caffeine after 2 PM. These break up your sleep cycles. 8. Get up if you can't sleep after 20 minutes Reset and try again. Being successful is the result of how productive you are when you are awake, not the total hours you spend awake. Your day begins the night before. If you want to show up big tomorrow, start tonight. Protect your sleep like athletes do before game day. I treat my sleep like my most important bank account. Every bit of energy and focus you need during the day is a withdrawal. The deposits happen while you sleep.

As a founder, I’ve let my sleep slide—and it’s cost me. Here’s how I’m fixing it in 5 simple steps to boost performance and longevity. 1. Set your wake time—this is non-negotiable. I’ve committed to a 5:30 AM wake-up time. This step is key because a consistent wake time anchors your entire sleep schedule. And I mean, it anchors the whole day. 2. Know your sleep needs and set a bedtime to match. Through trial and error, I’ve figured out that I need about 7.5 hours of sleep to feel rested, most of the time. This means my lights-out time is 10pm. Knowing your personal sleep requirement helps you set a firm bedtime, ensuring you’re getting the rest your body needs to perform at its best. 3. Create a ‘wind-down’ hour. The hour before bed is sacred—it’s when you need to start signaling to your brain that it’s time to sleep. This means no late-night social media scrolling or binge-watching intense shows for me. Instead, I’ve opted for calming activities like reading, meditation and breathwork. This practice helps ease your mind into sleep mode naturally. 4. Establish a food-sleep gap. I’ve started giving myself at least a 3-hour window between my last meal and bedtime. This helps prevent digestion from interfering with sleep. Some people find that a light, carb-based snack before bed, like a piece of fruit, can actually aid sleep, but the first step is creating that food-sleep gap and seeing how your body responds. 5. Focus solely on sleep for 30 days—nothing else. It’s tempting to overhaul your entire health routine all at once, but I’ve seen too many people burn out this way—many of my clients come to me after they’ve tried this. So, for the next 30 days, don’t worry about adding exercise, meditation, or food changes. Just focus on getting your sleep right. You might have a few off nights, but stick with it, and you’ll start to see a difference in how you feel and perform. I understand that not everyone has the luxury to set rigid sleep boundaries due to work and family commitments, but if you can make even small adjustments, they can have a big impact. Sleep isn’t just about rest; it’s the foundation for everything else in your life. So if you’re serious about improving your performance and longevity, start with sleep. How have you improved your sleep?

“I got 8 hours… so why am I still exhausted?” Turns out, you can ‘sleep’ through the night… and still not rest. Studies now show that most people experience 10–20 micro-wakeups per hour of sleep especially in light sleep phases. You won’t remember them. But your brain and body feel every single one. And here’s the kicker: These wakeups are often caused by things you thought you fixed: 🧠 Light exposure too late in the evening Even 30 lux (a dim bedside lamp) can suppress melatonin production. LED overheads and late-night screens? Far worse. 👀 Visual overstimulation Eye strain doesn’t turn off when your laptop does. If your eyes are wired before bed, your nervous system is too. 🌡 Room too hot = poor thermal drop Your core body temp needs to fall ~1°C to induce and maintain deep sleep. Too-warm rooms (or too many blankets) block this and trigger partial wake-ups. 📱 Midnight notifications or buzzing phones Even on silent, that low glow or anticipation can be enough to jolt the brain. And these aren’t just annoyances. They interrupt critical sleep cycles like: REM (memory, learning, emotion regulation) Deep sleep (cellular repair, immune support, hormonal balance) So what actually helps? Here’s what I do, backed by science, not trends: ✅ Block out overheads 1 hour before bed (lamps > ceiling lights) ✅ Use blue light filters after sunset, not just “in the evening” ✅ Keep my room at 18–19°C (sweet spot for thermal drop) ✅ Leave my phone in another room or face-down on airplane mode ✅ Invested in blackout curtains (seriously underrated) Your day starts the night before. And if you’re building a business, your rest is as strategic as your pitch deck. Sleep debt compounds, but so does sleep discipline. Anyone else fine-tuned their evening routine and finally felt the difference?

Most high-performing CEOs I meet are optimizing everything: nootropics, meditation apps, cold plunges, even biohacking IVs. But there’s one proven, free longevity tool that continues to get overlooked by some of the smartest leaders I know: Sleep. Not the kind you grab in between red-eye flights or during weekend catch-up marathons. I’m talking about deep, consistent, high-quality sleep—the kind that literally extends your life and sharpens your leadership. Let me be direct: if you're not sleeping well, you're aging faster. You're recovering slower. You're showing up to your business and your relationships with less clarity, creativity, and capacity. In my decades of experience building a wellness brand and now leading longevity-focused retreats and global wellness initiatives, I’ve seen the same pattern again and again. Executives are burning out quietly and it starts with ignoring sleep. Research shows that adults who get less than 6 hours of sleep per night have a 33% higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Disrupted sleep is now directly linked to Alzheimer’s, cancer, insulin resistance, and hormone imbalance. During restorative sleep, your body flushes out neurotoxins, regulates cortisol, balances insulin, and repairs tissue damage. It also recalibrates sex hormones—critical for both vitality and long-term wellness. And yet, in leadership culture, sleep is still treated like a weakness. We glorify hustle. We brag about 4 a.m. wakeups. We normalize the idea that rest can come later. But here’s the truth: the most effective leaders I know are the ones who protect their sleep like a boardroom priority. I wore an Oura Ring for six months. What it revealed changed everything—about my rhythms, my recovery, my mood, and even my decision-making. I began scheduling my day around sleep instead of squeezing it into the margins. The result? More energy, better mental focus, and far less reactivity. If you’re ready to shift, here are five simple CEO-tested sleep habits that actually work: → Ditch screens 90 minutes before bed → Magnesium glycinate (and taurine) can support relaxation naturally → Install blackout curtains for hormonal regulation → Stick to a consistent bedtime even when traveling → Track your sleep data. Oura, Whoop, or even Apple Health are great tools I share this not as a doctor, but as a founder and a mother who has lived through burnout and come out the other side. Vitality isn’t just about what you eat or how often you work out. It’s how you recover. And in leadership, recovery is everything. Sleep isn’t a luxury. It’s a longevity tool. It’s your foundation. And the most powerful part? It doesn’t cost a thing, just intention. If you’re building something that matters, make sure your body and mind are built to last the journey. To your vitality, Lizanne #ThinkVitality #CEOWellness #LongevityLeadership #BiohackingForWomen #ExecutivePerformance #WomensHealth #SleepOptimization

The secret to high performance isn't what you do during the day. It's what you do at night. As a CEO, I became pretty rigid about my sleep routine. The difference in my performance after a good night of sleep versus a bad one was glaringly obvious. When I’m tired, I get… - Irritable and impatient with people - More easily overwhelmed - Less inspiring  and effective …not ideal for making important decisions every day. Now as a coach, I see so many CEOs fighting the same battle. Pushing harder and sleeping less, thinking that's the price of success. But effective sleep is a non-negotiable if you want to be at your best. During sleep, our brain literally repairs itself, clearing out toxins and reinforcing neural connections essential for memory and learning. Deep sleep in particular plays a vital role in restoring overall cognitive function. So, how can you optimize sleep for brain health and performance? Here's my battle-tested sleep stack: 1.  Daily exercise (but not within 3 hours of bedtime) 2. No screens 1 hour before bed (especially not email) 3. 15-20 minutes of reading (a non-business book, preferably) or Yoga Nidra (“sleep yoga”) 4. CBD, 350mg of magnesium glycinate, and L-Theanine supplements (but ya know, consult your doctor first) 5. Dark, cool room (64-67 degrees)  6. Comfortable sleep mask & earplugs (to tune out all external stimuli) 7. Whoop device (to measure recovery and adjust accordingly) The best leaders aren't the ones who need the least sleep. They're the ones who protect their recovery as fiercely as their KPIs.

If I could prescribe one ‘drug’ for everyone? Deep, uninterrupted sleep. Why? Because sleep is the most powerful anabolic tool we already have. When you enter slow-wave sleep, your brain triggers pulses of growth hormone (GH) — a natural repair signal that strengthens muscle, heals tissue, regulates metabolism, and even burns fat. Skip sleep, and those signals flatline.  • One night of short sleep blunts GH release.  • Chronic sleep loss rewires your hormonal profile toward insulin resistance, obesity, and early decline.  • Irregular sleep patterns are now linked to higher all-cause mortality — even more predictive than sleep duration itself. You cannot “out-diet” or “out-train” poor sleep. Without GH signaling from deep sleep, your body loses the ability to repair, perform, and age well. 👉 Here’s the prescription I actually give: • 7–9 hours of consistent sleep — non-negotiable. • Same bedtime and wake-up time daily (irregularity is riskier than short nights). • Optimize deep sleep: cool room, dark environment, no late caffeine or blue light. • Treat sleep disorders like apnea — left unchecked, they block GH release. The truth is simple: sleep is the body’s forgotten steroid cycle — and it’s free.

Ever wake up just before your alarm? It might not be a coincidence… It turns out, our brains have a natural way of keeping track of time, an inborn “clock” mechanism, which is synchronised to light in our environment. It’s got the coolest name for such a tiny brain region: the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - literally, the group of cells (nucleus) above (supra) the optic chiasm (crossing). The SCN is essentially your brain’s “master clock” because it is responsible for coordinating our circadian rhythms. Light-sensitive cells in your eyes send signals to the SCN, which regulates melatonin - a hormone that makes us sleepy - via the pineal gland. Our species evolved to be diurnal, being active in the day and sleeping at night. As a result, daylight inhibits melatonin release, making us more alert. At night, the lack of light promotes melatonin release, making us sleepy. This is why for better sleep hygiene, experts often recommend limiting exposure to electronic devices for at least an hour before bedtime. The light from electronic devices can shift your body clock and this gets aggravated by heightened anxiety associated with doom scrolling -- neither of which helps your sleep. Want to support your brain’s internal clock? A few simple habits can make a big difference: 👉 Get natural sunlight in the morning. This helps reset your body clock. 👉 Stick to a consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends. 👉 Limit screens at least an hour before bed. 👉 Keep your bedroom dark and cool to promote better sleep. BTW, in teenagers melatonin starts to be produced later at night, which is why many teenagers don’t feel sleepy until much later in the evening. It’s also the reason they struggle to get up in the morning. For teens, going to school early is a bit like forcing them into a different time zone during the week and only letting them reset on weekends. When your teenager sleeps in on the weekends, bear in mind they are dealing with a genuine biological change in their circadian rhythm during the teenage years. So when you wake right before your alarm, blame (or credit!) your suprachiasmatic nucleus for being such a good time keeper! Understanding our biology helps us work with our natural rhythms rather than against them. How do you optimize your daily schedule around your circadian patterns?

I always thought if I could just get eight solid hours of sleep, I’d wake up feeling great. But after talking to sleep scientist Rebecca Robbins, PhD MS, I realized there’s another key ingredient to a good night's rest that most of us ignore: consistency. “Consistency of sleep is really important,” Dr. Robbins told me. “As much, if not more so, than getting enough sleep.” I’m one of those people who can’t really sleep in. Even when I’ve been out late and I want to wake up at ten, my body wakes me up at seven like clockwork. But after talking with Dr. Robbins, I now know that might be a good thing. Turns out, when you sleep in on weekends, you can trigger what Dr. Robbins calls ‘social jet lag’ — essentially shifting your body’s internal clock to a whole new time zone and setting yourself up for Sunday night insomnia. 😵💫 Next time you’re up late, try this technique Dr. Robbins shared with me: the next morning, wake up at your usual time. Then if you need to, take a nap later in the day to catch up on any missed hours. That way, you avoid throwing off your sleep schedule while setting yourself up for a smoother week. 💤

The future of longevity isn’t in a bottle. It’s in your choices. WHOOP Healthspan feature, available on our newly released 5.0, offers a science-backed look at how your daily habits impact your long-term health and what you can do to improve it. At the core of Healthspan are two key insights: ✅WHOOP Age – A measure of your physiological age, which can be younger or older than your actual, chronological age. ✅Pace of Aging – A dynamic measure of how quickly your WHOOP Age is changing. Healthspan calculates these insights by analyzing nine key metrics across sleep, strain, and fitness (see image #3 for list of metrics). Today, I am going to highlight SLEEP CONSISTENCY but overtime I’ll make my way across the remaining 8 metrics and give you my take on why they matter and how to improve them. I aim to keep my night to night sleep-wake variability under 45 minutes. I base this number what I’ve observed looking at millions of sleeps along side other performance metrics as well as injury and illness. Minimizing sleep-wake variability is the most important foundational behavior for optimal physiological and psychological functioning. Sleep wake consistency/regularity and its influence on psychological functioning (PMID: 37265329) and mortality risk is well-documented (PMID: 37738616). How does one improve consistency? I back into my “sleep sweet spot” by stabilizing my WAKE TIME (I set an alarm I can adhere to), view NATURAL LIGHT as soon as I wake up, watch SUNSET when possible (my favorite is long walks as the sunsets), MINIMIZE artificial light in lead up to bed. When I adhere to this protocol my greatest pressure for sleep reliably arrives around 10pm so I make sure I am in bed about about 30 min before that time. I’ll just read or do some slow paced breathing until I fall asleep. This protocol has allowed me to know how much time I need to spend in bed in order to wake up refreshed and alert. I also credit this protocol for helping me stay illness and injury free for the last 8 years. Yes, that’s right, no flu, cold, head ache, stomach issues…nothing. And yes, I have 2 children, a demanding job, and travel the world. When you understand the behaviors that build capacity you position yourself to gracefully manage the vagaries of life without getting taken down by them. Here is to a new era of health. 📸 Justin Hoyos

Our bodies operate on a delicate balance. Sleep affects our eating habits & vice versa in a cycle that can either support our health goals or derail them. The two are interwoven in various ways like - Hormonal Harmony: Sleep quality directly influences the hormones that regulate hunger, ghrelin & leptin. A lack of sleep can leave you feeling hungrier, making it more challenging to maintain balanced eating habits. - Metabolic Balance: Insufficient sleep can impair glucose metabolism & insulin sensitivity, increasing the craving for sugary, quick-energy foods. - Emotional Eating: Stress & fatigue from poor sleep can lead to comfort eating, as we seek solace in food. But, a rejuvenating sleep routine is foundational to harmonizing our eating habits. Try enhancing your sleep quality with some these tips -Consistency is Key: Aim to go to bed & wake up at the same time every day. This regularity strengthens your body's sleep-wake cycle. - Create a Pre-Sleep Ritual: Engage in calming activities before bed like reading or a warm bath to signal to your body that it's time to wind down. - Optimize Your Environment: Ensure your bedroom is conducive to sleep by being cool, dark, and quiet. Consider using earplugs, eye shades, or white noise machines if needed. - Mind What You Consume: Avoid caffeine & heavy meals within a few hours of bedtime. A light snack can be better, especially if it includes sleep-promoting elements like magnesium or tryptophan. - Limit Screen Time: Reduce exposure to screens at least an hour before bed. The blue light emitted can interfere with your ability to fall asleep. - Embrace Daylight: Natural light during the day helps regulate sleep patterns. Try to get outside or sit near a window during daylight hours. Better sleep supports more balanced hormone levels, reducing unwarranted hunger pangs & cravings. This clarity and balance makes it easier to listen to your body's true needs, leading to more mindful eating practices. Prioritizing sleep can help stabilize your energy levels and mood, making balanced food choices more accessible. With better sleep, you're in a stronger position to understand & respond to your body’s hunger cues accurately. Improved sleep can help manage stress levels, reducing the likelihood of turning to food for emotional comfort. Prioritizing sleep is an act of self-care that reinforces the importance of looking after your body. By cultivating a respectful and nurturing approach to sleep, we can learn how to choose foods that better serve our body and mind, opening the door to a more intuitive & positive relationship with food. It's not just about what we eat or how much we sleep; it's about honoring our body's interconnected needs & moving closer to true wellness.