Sleep Intelligence - by Els Van Der Helm (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Sleep isn't passive rest, but a critical driver of performance.

In high-pressure environments, sleep is often the first thing to go. Long hours are treated as commitment. Pushing through is expected. But the cost builds, often in ways we don't immediately see, leading to distraction, poor decisions, emotional reactivity, and missed signals.

In this groundbreaking guide, sleep neuroscientist and executive advisor Els van der Helm, PhD, shows that sleep is not just a habit to optimize. It's a system to understand.

Blending cutting-edge research with real-world stories and interviews--from global executives to frontline professionals--Dr. van der Helm reframes sleep as a hidden driver of performance, resilience, and leadership. Her practical, science-backed six-principle framework reveals how we can

• Identify our chronotype and align our schedule with peak performance windows
• Use chronotherapy to align work, energy, and recovery across the day
• Understand how REM sleep supports emotional control, creativity, and decision-making--and how to protect it
• Use strategic napping to recover faster and sustain high performance
• Navigate periods of poor sleep, reducing the impact of bad nights and building long-term resilience
• Become a "sleep leader," rethinking how work and life are structured to make sustained performance possible, at work and at home

Perfect for leaders, ambitious professionals, and anyone operating in high-demand environments, Sleep Intelligence offers a new way of thinking about sleep--and how we work, lead, recover, and live as a result.

About the Author

Els van der Helm, PhD is a sleep neuroscientist and boardroom advisor who works with global organizations to improve performance through sleep. She conducted her research at the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences and at Harvard Medical School, where she studied the effect of sleep on cognitive performance. As a Fulbright scholar, she also studied the impact of sleep on the brain and performance while pursuing her PhD in psychology at UC Berkeley, before becoming a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Van der Helm's work has been covered in The Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, Forbes, and Wired. She is a frequent keynote speaker for organizations such as Novartis, Booking.com, Meta, L'Oreal, and PwC.