Sleep: The Secret Weapon for HR Consultants to Win Clients, Boost Sales, and Stay Focused

Most consultants think the answer to better results is doing more — more marketing, more sales calls, more hours at the desk.

But sometimes, it’s not about adding more. It’s about improving the simplest habit you already do every single day: sleep.

In this Sunday Session, I’m sharing why sleep is the real secret weapon for HR consultants who want sharper focus, stronger performance, and more consistent energy.

You’ll hear why a good night’s rest makes you more persuasive on sales calls, more confident in decisions, and more resilient when challenges hit — plus the practical shifts you can make tonight to start seeing the benefits.

So tune in, switch off the scrolling, and give yourself permission to rest.

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Transcript

0:00 Hello there, and welcome back to another episode of Sunday Sessions with me, Nick Poninski. Last week on Marketing Made Easy for HR Consultants, I had Emma Jay on the show talking about health and nutrition.
0:13 And she said something that stopped me in my tracks. She said, isn't just rest, it's your reset button. And that really stuck with me.
0:20 Because when you think about it, sleep affects everything, your health, your mindset, your energy, and the way you show up in business.
0:26 So today for Sunday Sessions, I want to zoom in on sleep, because if you get this right, everything else gets in the Now, we all know the feeling after a bad night's sleep, right?
0:37 Brain fog, short temperature, ah, short temper, not temperature, short temper, uhm, inability to concentrate. And you end up snapping at small things.
0:48 So that's sleep. That poor sleep, that makes you more anxious, more self-doubting, it drains your resilience, it makes, it means that you don't show up, ah, in the best way possible.
0:58 Now, think about a good night's sleep, right? You know, I'm sure I'm not giving you any brilliantly, uh, negative thoughts.
1:05 I'm brilliant insights here, but you know that when you have a good night's sleep, you have more energy, you feel calmer, you are more patient with yourself and with others, you've got better focus, and your self-talk, those messages that you give to yourself, they are more positive.
1:21 But here's the truth, good sleep, that improves your decision-making, it boosts your creativity, it helps your memory, and it even strengthens your immune system.
1:30 It even regulates your appetite, right? So, fewer cravings, less sugar, more consistent energy throughout the day. Ensure that it. Better sleep means you're happier, healthier, and more resilient.
1:42 And let's be honest, as self-employed consultants, our business relies on us performing at our best. That is the point of these Sunday sessions, right?
1:52 Uhm, check it us to share that, that key bit of information about how to be the best you that you can be.
1:59 And when you're tired, this is the, I guess the big one, you procrastinate. You avoid the tough, but important tasks.
2:05 You shy away from sales calls. You make slower decisions. You're content lacks spark. But when you're well rested, you're sharper in conversations.
2:15 You can handle objections with more confidence. You think clearly, make better decisions, and your creativity flows when you're writing or planning.
2:24 So sometimes, you isn't a new app. It's simply a good night's sleep. So how do you improve that sleep? Well, there are three areas that I want to focus on.
2:37 Routine, environment, and inputs. So routine. For me, this is super important. Pick a bedtime, right? Like, when you're a child, pick a bedtime and protect it.
2:49 For me, that's around 9.30. I'm in bed, reading my book, I'm asleep by ten. And if I wake naturally in the morning, uhm.
2:57 I get up, uhm, sorry not if, when I wake naturally in the morning, I get up rather than drifting back off because those bonus minutes or hours, whatever they are, they make me feel groggier.
3:09 I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but you, you know, you wake up after eight hours of whatever, and then you have a bit of a doze, and then you go back to sleep, and for some reason, that extra sleep, that makes you feel worse.
3:21 I don't know if, maybe that's just me, but I don't know about you. Uhm, one of the big helps that I have for going to sleep in the evening, uhm, I use the Stay Focused app that I've talked about previously, and it locks my phone, so there's no doom scrolling, so there's no, yeah, there's no lighting 
3:41 up my brain, there's no engaging my brain, my brain is getting busy. Now, in terms of the environment, make your bedroom work for you, so keep it dark, you know, blackout curtains, darkness tells your brain it's time to sleep, and it's really important as well for, uhm, when you're waking up in the morning
4:01 , you know, you're don't want to be waking up before you're ready to wake up, so if that means that you are not ready to wake up until 8am, but for some reason you don't have blackout curtains and you're waking up, not good for you, right?
4:14 You've had less sleep than you want. Next up, go to consider making the room quiet, right? So, not consider, uhm, well, yes, consider, consider having loop earplugs.
4:26 So, I use loop earplugs. I highly recommend them. They're on Amazon or loopearplugs.com or something like that. There's a no, uhm, uh, affiliate link for you.
4:37 I just highly rate them and I would highly recommend them to you if you, yeah, if you want better sleep because they block out those micro noises that stop deep sleep.
4:49 And. Finally, the, the, you want to try and consider keeping your room cool. So around 18 to 20 degrees is ideal.
4:59 Think of it as fresh, not toasty. You know, we've all been there when we've been on holiday somewhere warm and it's interfered with our sleep.
5:06 Now I'm not saying get out of temperature or get air con or anything along those lines, but if you need to open the window, then open the window.
5:13 Um, and then I guess the final, um, area to improve your sleep is inputs. So this is where phones come in, that blue light from the screens that delays melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep, and content that keeps your brain switched on.
5:33 The dopamine hits from so-called social media, the endless scroll, the work emails that spike and or get even if you tell yourself, just five more minutes, it can turn into an hour, uhm, before you know it, we've all been there, right?
5:48 So my advice, get that stay focused app, lock the phone, charge it outside the bedroom, get an old smart school alarm clock if you need to wake up for some reason.
5:58 And now I've thrown a lot at you there, right? So don't try and change everything in one night. Pick one thing, maybe the earplugs, maybe the 10pm lights out, maybe putting the phone down an hour earlier, whatever it is, never forget.
6:10 Nail one change, notice the difference, then add the next because sleep isn't wasted time. It is probably the most important thing that we can do for ourselves as self-employed as human beings.
6:25 It's a compound interest on your health. Your energy and your business. And if you want sharper focus, more creativity, better moods and stronger performance, you need to start with your sleep.
6:36 Hopefully this episode has been useful for you. Thank you for taking the time to listen along and, as always, embrace the change.
6:43 Because how we change is how we grow.