Sleeping is an interesting evolutionary trait — why would Mother Nature design a mechanism where we are completely immobile and sometimes paralyzed for 1/3 of the day? While this book doesn’t give a concrete answer to that, it does stress the importance of sleeping 8 hours every day.
The author, Matthew Walker, Ph.D., explains the importance of why sleeping less than 8 hours can have negative consequences from everything from heart disease, weight control, immune health, performance at work, mood, and memory retention, just to name a few. All of the claims are supported by a lot of research study’s which can make reading this book somewhat dry. It’s fascinating that there are so many health conditions linked to a lack of sleep. However, some studies only show a weak correlation but the author will claim the link is stronger.
Matthew Walker goes into great detail about how the body triggers sleep. With that knowledge, he provides great tips on how to improve your sleep by showing how things like LED lights, alcohol, and caffeine affect sleep quality. Other tips include recovering from jet lag and how a hot shower can help your sleep.
When I started my career in investment banking, I quickly learned that there was no time to sleep. Working 80 hours during the week did not leave much time for sleeping Monday to Friday and then weekends were filled with partying all night so I was in a constant sleep-deprived state. It was common for people to brag about how they were up until 2 am finishing up a deck or even how they pulled an all-nighter in preparation for a client meeting. I still remember my first day as an intern. I was at the office until midnight because we were still making final edits to a deck and then was expected to be back in the office at 7:30 am. My perspective has definitely changed after reading this book and I understand how my lack of sleep really negatively impacted my health back then.
Towards the end of the book, there was a handful of studies that point to how adjusting school start times to later greatly benefit students. Because of the studies, later school times are becoming more common. Understanding how we can make sleep a requirement in our culture is critical to reaping the benefits the author discusses. While one may know the benefits of 8 hours, a manager or a boss, for instance, may still view sleep as secondary to hitting a deadline, and therefore, perpetuate the status quo of sleep deprivation.
As a final note, be prepared to not look at sleep the same way after you read this. I will say that I am now slightly terrified if I know I am at risk of not getting 8 hours of sleep. If your friends haven’t read this book, then explaining why you are trying to leave the party early because you don’t want to fight your circadian rhythm or increase your risk of heart disease will get you strange looks. On a serious note, I thought this was a fantastic read and would highly recommend it.
Check out the book on Good Reads or Amazon