You can be exhausted all day and still struggle to switch off at night. When the laptop closes but your brain keeps running through tomorrow’s meetings, staff issues and unfinished work, better sleep isn’t just about going to bed earlier. It’s about creating an off-switch.
It’s 10:15PM.
You’ve sent the last email.
Then you remember something you need to do tomorrow.
You pick up your phone.
One message becomes three.
You check tomorrow’s calendar.
Then you finally get into bed.
But work has finished everywhere except inside your head.
Tomorrow’s meeting.
That proposal.
A staffing issue.
School drop-off.
Something you forgot to reply to.
Something you absolutely cannot forget tomorrow.
You’re physically tired.
Your brain isn’t.
And even when you spend eight hours in bed, you sometimes wake up wondering why you don’t feel particularly refreshed.
For business owners, sleep can become another casualty of an overloaded calendar.
But improving it doesn’t necessarily mean creating an elaborate 90-minute nighttime routine.
Start by giving your brain and body a clearer message:
The working day is over.
When people decide to improve their sleep, they often start with:
“What time should I go to bed?”
But your wake-up time matters too.
Australia’s current 24-hour movement guidelines recommend 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep for adults aged 18 to 64, with consistent bed and wake-up times. Department of Health
That doesn’t mean you need to join the 5AM club.
And it doesn’t mean waking at exactly 6:32AM every day.
It means giving your sleep some consistency.
If you’re waking at 6:30AM during the working week but sleeping until 9:30AM every Saturday and Sunday, your sleep timing is changing considerably.
Instead, aim for a reasonably consistent schedule that still fits your life.
You don’t need the earliest wake-up time.
You need one you can sustain.
Here’s a difficult transition:
9:58PM: analysing a business problem.
10:00PM: close laptop.
10:01PM: sleep.
Your brain doesn’t necessarily operate like your MacBook.
Healthdirect recommends establishing a “buffer zone” before bedtime when you’re no longer solving problems or planning the next day, and avoiding your computer or phone during that period. Health Direct
Think of it as your shutdown period.
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
You could:
You’re creating a transition:
WORK → SHUTDOWN → SLEEP
For someone running a business, that boundary matters.
Because without one, work can expand until the moment you close your eyes.
This one’s for the business owner who becomes incredibly productive the second their head touches the pillow.
Suddenly:
“I need to call that client.”
Then:
“Did I approve that invoice?”
Followed by:
“What are we doing about Thursday’s meeting?”
You don’t need to solve tomorrow tonight.
Instead, before your shutdown period, take five minutes and write down:
1. Send proposal
2. Call supplier
3. Review presentation
Add anything else you’re worried about forgetting to your task list.
Then close it.
You’re not trying to finish tomorrow’s work.
You’re giving tomorrow’s work somewhere to live other than your head.
Coffee isn’t automatically the enemy.
For many business owners, it’s part of the working day.
But timing matters.
If you’re using caffeine late in the afternoon to survive because you’re tired, and then struggling to sleep that night, you may be creating a cycle.
Healthdirect recommends avoiding tea, coffee and caffeinated soft drinks for at least 3 to 7 hours before bed. It also notes that caffeine affects people differently. Health Direct
So don’t immediately declare:
“No more coffee.”
Run an experiment.
If your final coffee is normally at 4PM, move it earlier for a week.
Then see what happens.
And remember that caffeine isn’t just coffee.
It can also be found in:
The goal isn’t eliminating everything you enjoy.
It’s finding out what’s actually affecting you.
You’ve finished a long day.
You pour a drink.
You finally start feeling relaxed.
Understandable.
But there’s a difference between feeling sleepy and getting good-quality sleep.
Healthdirect notes that alcohol may initially make you sleepy but can disrupt sleep cycles and reduce sleep quality. Its sleep guidance recommends avoiding alcohol for at least four hours before bed. Health Direct
That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a drink at dinner or a client event.
But if:
“I need a drink to switch off”
has quietly become part of your nightly routine, it’s worth noticing.
Experiment with another off-switch.
Walk after dinner.
Take a shower.
Read.
Talk to your partner.
Or simply close the laptop and don’t reopen it.
Your bedroom doesn’t need:
A sleep tracker on every surface.
A $500 pillow.
Blackout technology designed by NASA.
It needs to make sleeping easier.
Healthdirect recommends keeping the bedroom comfortable, quiet and dark, and keeping known stressors, such as work tools and laptops, out of the room where possible. Health Direct
That’s particularly relevant for business owners.
Because if you’re lying in bed:
Answering emails.
Checking tomorrow’s calendar.
Reviewing numbers.
Scrolling LinkedIn.
Watching videos.
You’re giving your brain plenty to do.
Try making the bedroom bad for business.
No laptop.
No proposal.
No “quick email.”
Tomorrow’s work can wait until tomorrow.
You wake up.
You look at the clock.
3:07AM.
Then the calculation starts.
“If I fall asleep right now, I’ve still got three hours and 23 minutes.”
3:19AM.
“Great. Now I’ve only got three hours and 11 minutes.”
You’re no longer sleeping.
You’re doing sleep accounting.
Healthdirect recommends avoiding clock-watching because it can increase anxiety about not sleeping. Its insomnia guidance also recommends getting up and doing a quiet activity if you can’t sleep, then returning to bed when you’re tired. Health Direct
Keep things quiet.
Keep the lights low.
Read something.
Then return to bed when you feel sleepy.
Most importantly:
Don’t decide 3:15AM is an excellent opportunity to get ahead on emails.
This is where generic sleep advice often falls apart.
Client dinner.
Early flight.
One of the kids wakes during the night.
Social event.
You’re not going to execute exactly the same evening routine 365 nights a year.
That’s okay.
Focus on the things you can control most often:
Keep it reasonably consistent.
Create some separation between work and sleep.
Know roughly when you’re stopping.
Keep work out where possible.
Give yourself enough time to obtain the sleep you need.
After a disrupted night, return to your normal routine rather than abandoning it.
The aim isn’t perfection.
It’s having a default routine to return to.
Don’t overhaul your sleep.
Run one experiment tonight.
Pick a realistic time when business finishes for the night.
Get the important things out of your head.
Laptop away.
Client messages finished.
No more decisions unless something is genuinely urgent.
Read.
Shower.
Talk to your partner.
Stretch.
Do something quiet.
Then go to bed.
Do it consistently enough to see whether it makes a difference.
Lifestyle habits aren’t the explanation for every sleep problem.
If you regularly wake feeling unrefreshed, frequently struggle to fall asleep, feel restless in bed or tiredness is affecting your mood or daily life, speak with your GP. Healthdirect specifically recommends seeking medical advice in these circumstances. Health Direct
Persistent sleep problems can have causes that aren’t going to be solved by simply putting your phone away earlier.
For a business owner, sleep isn’t wasted time.
It’s recovery time.
And you don’t need a perfect morning routine, an elaborate nighttime ritual or a life with zero stress to start improving it.
You need enough consistency around the things you can control.
Protect your sleep opportunity.
Create a shutdown from work.
Pay attention to caffeine and alcohol.
Keep business out of the bedroom.
And when life disrupts the routine, as it inevitably will, return to it.
At The Ultimate Health Project, we look at sleep as part of the bigger health and performance system.
Because your business will still have another email tomorrow.
Another decision.
Another meeting.
Another problem that needs solving.
Your recovery deserves a place in the calendar too.
Want to improve your energy, sleep and performance without building another complicated routine?
Insights only go so far. A personalised program, built around your life, is what actually moves the needle. Book a free consultation and find out what that looks like for you.
