You know the drill.

Calls, emails, interviews, more calls, a client who ghosts you, a candidate who vanishes and a CRM that’s 3 coffees behind. You hit 5pm and your brain’s cooked. But instead of logging off, you crack a whiskey or glass of wine, binge Netflix until 11pm or scroll LinkedIn pretending it’s “industry research”.

The next day, you wake up tired. Or have brain fog. Or just don’t feel as sharp as you know you’re capable of.

Sound familiar?

This used to be me – and if it feels like you, I want to hand out what I truly believe to be truth. You’re not tired. You’re under-slept.

And in recruitment, that could be costing you placements.

Sleep isn’t a luxury. It’s a recruiter’s performance enhancer.

Your brain’s got two modes:

• Front of house – daily chaos: convos, strategies, names, LinkedIn stalks
• Back of house – long-term memory, reflexes, recruiter instinct

During the day, you overload the front part. Come night, your brain needs rest to clean it out, file what matters and reset for another round of recruitment madness.

But if you only give it 6 hours instead of 8? Your brain doesn’t have adequate time to clear out & process. You wake up with yesterday’s junk still floating around. Do that every night and you’re running on mental sludge by Thursday.

Recruiters need clarity. Sleep gives you that edge.

Recruitment is a memory game:

• Remembering that candidate you spoke to 3 weeks ago
• Linking clients to prospects in real time
• Recalling job specs, objections, company nuances, all on the fly

If you’re sleep-deprived, that all goes to sh*t. Your recall’s slower. Your confidence drops. Your energy’s reactive.

This isn’t just about rest – it’s about your mindset.
Sleep resets your mental game. It clears your head.
And a clear head = faster placements, better conversations and sharper intuition.

Want to level up your recruitment desk this week?

Try this:

• 8 hours sleep. Every night. Treat it like a KPI if you need to.
• Track your mindset each morning. Foggy or focused?
• Zero alcohol Monday to Friday. (Trust me, I used to think a midweek whisky helped me chill. It did, but only for a short amount of time at night – it didn’t for my performance the next day).

I did this for two weeks and the shift was massive.

Clearer calls. Less stress. More deals. And most importantly, a clear, focused mindset I could trust when it mattered.

I have come across so many recruiters during my time in coaching that don’t need more motivation. They need more sleep.

This week, make it your secret weapon.

Happy hunting.

Brett