“No wonder Sleeping Beauty looked so good…she took long naps, never got old, and didn’t have to do anything but snore to get her Prince Charming.” — Olive Green
We spend about one-third of our life sleeping, but we still have many struggles just because we don’t know:
- How our environment affects us.
- What happens when we sleep?
- And why do we even sleep?
These simple questions can solve 90% of your sleep problems
So here are some books that can help you to understand what sleep is about and how sleep helps us:
Why we sleep
“After thirty years of intensive research, we can now answer many of the questions posed earlier. The recycle rate of a human being is around sixteen hours. After sixteen hours of being awake, the brain begins to fail. Humans need more than seven hours of sleep each night to maintain cognitive performance. After ten days of just seven hours of sleep, the brain is as dysfunctional as it would be after going without sleep for twenty-four hours. Three full nights of recovery sleep (i.e., more nights than a weekend) are insufficient to restore performance back to normal levels after a week of short sleeping. Finally, the human mind cannot accurately sense how sleep-deprived it is when sleep-deprived.”― Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep
Fun fact: Matthew Walker’s book Why We Sleep has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 34 languages.
Even Bill Gates wrote this book and wrote an article on his blog This book put me to sleep
In his book, the author explains that sleep has more benefits than drawbacks and simple question that we’re looking
Why do we even sleep?
It says that sleep triggers the release of complex neurochemicals that enhance our brain functions. Additionally:
- Helping to fight diseases and infections.
- It improves our immune system
- Improve your stamina
- Improve your sexual life
- Boost your creativity
- Elevate your mood
- Reduce stress
Essentially, sleep significantly improves our health in many ways that may not be immediately clearly visible.
Take a Nap! Change Your Life by Mark Ehrman and Sara Mednick
“Short naps are good. Given modern workplace demands, this is not possible for many people — but if you have the option, try napping for ten to twenty minutes in the afternoon, preferably lying down in a darkened room.” — Andrew Weil
Here are the three most helpful lessons from the book:
- No matter how much sleep you get at night you will still get a mini dip of energy during your day that’s a sign you got to take a nap.
2. Fatigue is not a disease from the scary movie. It is what happens when you face a dip of energy This cannot happen just because of your sleep cycle but because a nap is a requirement at that time.
3. 1-hour nap can:
- Reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke
- Help you make better decisions
- Reduce your risk of diabetes
- Help to increase memory
- Improve your perception
- Increase your alertness
last but not least, it feels good after a nap.
Okay, there’s no way for science to measure this, but millions of nappers can’t be wrong.
Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson
“If health is your #1 priority, then don’t work the night shift. If service is your #1 priority and night shift is a part of that, do everything you can to stack your conditions in your favour following the rest of the sleep smarter strategies.”
So What inspired Shawn Stevenson to write this book?
When Shawn Stevenson was a teenager, he was diagnosed with degenerative bone and disc disease, which led to an inactive lifestyle. Because of his poor dietary choices his weight increased.
Even though doctors believed his condition was Permanent he decided to make a change. By improving his exercise, diet, and sleep he was able to reverse the effects of his condition.
Now, he helps others improve their lifestyles.
Here are the 3 most helpful lessons about quality sleep from this book:
Lesson 1: Light can be the worst enemy of quality sleep, but it’s best friend, too.
Lesson 2: Get your timing right to make your sleep hours effective.
Lesson 3: Make your bedroom into the calmest atmosphere to get the best quality sleep.
The bottom line
Who would have thought that sleeping could be the most productive thing we can do? There’s no doubt that health comes first. Just by sleeping well, we can become more productive not only in our workplace, but we will also live longer in general.
