Trouble Sleeping? - April 2026

And so we find ourselves at the start of the Easter holidays: a moment that many working in education will have been craving for, not just for the ‘break’ but for the chance to finally catch up… on some lingering work, postponed life admin, neglected personal relationships, and much needed sleep. With the clocks changing this weekend too, it feels like a natural point to pause and reflect on our daily, and nightly, rhythm. Even when we know the positive impact good quality sleep has on our personal and professional wellbeing, it seems to evade so many of us.

As summarised here by ASCL, The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2025 paints an increasingly urgent picture. School and college leaders continue to bear the greatest weight of stress across the education workforce. Findings suggest a daily reality defined by intense, high-speed working, tight deadlines, and the constant sense that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

According to the Index:

• 86% of senior leaders feel stressed, with many reporting signs of burnout and exhaustion 

• 81% report the feeling they have too many things to do without enough time to do them in their job (time poverty)

• 62% say they work at very high speed, and 71% they work to tight deadlines, for three-quarters or more of the time

  
  

The findings show that pressure on leaders and education staff is not simply about workload, but about the pace and emotional labour embedded within it.

Many colleagues are running on empty, at precisely the time when more and more is being expected of them. Headteachers report that their sleep is significantly affected by the pressures of the role, and, perhaps more concerningly, the number of senior leaders aspiring to headship has fallen to a record low. While workload, accountability and system pressures are often cited, our belief is that there is something more human at play here: chronic tiredness. Not just being busy, but being deeply, persistently fatigued.

As sleep specialist Dr Lindsay Browning explains through her work on circadian rhythm, sleep is not simply something that happens at night; it begins the moment we wake up. Our exposure to daylight, our movement, our caffeine intake, the pace of our day and the emotional load we carry all influence the quality of our sleep later that evening. In other words, the way we lead our day shapes the way we rest at night.

Small shifts in the rhythm of our day, stepping outside in the morning light, creating moments of pause and setting evening boundaries, can begin to reset the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle.

However, as Dr Browning’s research into insomnia highlights, often the key factor in sleeplessness is not the absence of "tiredness", but the presence of an overactive mind, reducing "sleepiness". For many leaders, the inability to “switch off” is one of the most common challenges. The mind continues to run through decisions, conversations and unresolved issues long after the working day has ended.

You can watch my recent interview with Dr Lindsay Browning here (choose from the full 40mins or abridged 13mins). You can also access lots of research and resources on her website Sleep Blog | Trouble Sleeping

Leading in education – at all levels – demands genuine care, huge responsibility and constant problem-solving and emotional regulation. With the brain working so hard and being so alert all day, it is no surprise that the nervous system struggles to power down at night.

We know the age-old idea of “quiet time” in the evening, reducing noise, light and digital stimulation, is extremely helpful in switching off from our daytime state. These environmental stimuli signal to the brain that it is safe to rest. Yet, how many of us really create this opportunity for ourselves, especially when home and family life are, quite rightly, competing for our attention in the evenings?

Once in bed, quiet techniques such as cognitive shuffling can gently distract the mind, interrupting the brain's problem-solving mode. Similarly, short, guided meditations - even five minutes - can help transition the body into a calmer state. But, again, both of these require us to be prepared and mindful enough to engage in this approach.

There is more helpful advice about switching off racing thoughts in this 10min video Insomnia- How to Fall Asleep When your Brain Won't Shut Up!

In summary:

It is clear that if we want to improve our sleep, we need to take action to prioritise it. But without putting ourselves under even more pressure!

 We need to challenge the pressure we feel from generalisations and sensationalised scare-mongering. Sleep is deeply individual, influenced by complex individual circumstances, as well as likely patterns due to biology, gender and life stage. The idea that everyone needs eight hours, for example, can create unnecessary anxiety. Recent guidance, including insights shared by the BBC's 'twin doctors', reminds us “Don't obsess over 8 hours sleep”: the key question is not “Did I get eight hours?” but “Do I feel rested?”

You can take this 2min quiz to assess the impact of your sleep: Sleep Quality Assessment Quiz - SleepHow | Evaluate Your Sleep Health

Another well-used professional tool is the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, providing a key indication of how seriously your sleep is impacting the quality of your life.

Many leaders will recognise the feeling of an impaired ability to think clearly and quickly due to poor sleep: reading the same email multiple times, struggling to make simple decisions, or feeling disproportionately emotional. But what do you do when you notice these signs of overload and exhaustion? If the answer is have another cup of coffee, I encourage you to read my previous blog on about decision fatigue here.

Sleep is one of the primary ways the brain clears and resets, consolidating learning and processing emotion. Without it, we carry too much residual thought and feeling from yesterday into today. So giving your brain space to think during the day is key. For example, journalling at the end of each working day.

The safe, reflective space provided by PURE coaching is another way of ringfencing this processing time during daylight hours, so that your brain doesn’t need to process as much during the quiet of the night. 

This is where the conversation becomes both personal and cultural. If leadership in education continues to be defined by endurance, by how much we can carry, how long we can keep going, then sleep will always be compromised. But if we begin to redefine leadership as sustainable, relational and human, then rest becomes part of the work, not separate from it. Sleep is not a “nice to have”; It is a foundational condition for thinking clearly, making sound decisions, regulating emotion and sustaining positive relationships.

As well as becoming more intentional and disciplined around our sleep, there also strikes me to be a need for permission: permission to slow down, to create space, and to acknowledge that your wellbeing is not separate from your professional performance, but rather the foundation of it. Let us recognise that rest is not earned once everything is finished, but is necessary in order to do the work well in the first place.

If you have been pondering the question “How do I get more/better sleep?”, I invite you to reframe this and instead ask yourself:

What needs to change:

• in my daily activities / routines

• in my pace

• in my expectations of myself

  
  

… so that sleep can happen naturally?”

As the Easter holidays begin and the clocks shift, offering us lighter days and a subtle sense of renewal, there is an opportunity to reset. Not perfectly, and not all at once, but to gently notice what helps us feel rested. We can give ourselves permission to ease some of the pressure we place on ourselves, and to begin to find a rhythm and routine that works for us personally, and for our working life. In a profession that gives so much to others, this may be one of the most important shifts we can make: recognising that rest is not something to catch up on when everything else is done, but something to protect, value and build into the way we lead every day.

Warmest wishes for a restful Easter break,

Catherine Hulme

Owner Director

catherine@leadershipedge.org.uk

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Leadership Edge is a growing team of experienced school leaders who have seen person-centred coaching create high-performing, happy and healthy cultures within our schools. Our mission is to empower other school leaders to create positive workplaces where staff are solution-focused and actively responsible for their own personal wellbeing and professional development.

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