Why We Sleep - the book that made me do a full 180

I’ve personally been anti sleep my whole life, seeing it as a waste of time and something to minimise where possible. I’ve never had a book make me totally 180 on a view I was so convinced on. But Matthew Walker presents an extremely compelling case for getting as much sleep as you possibly can.

I wasn’t coming at this cold either. I’ve done a lot of my own research on sleep, including trying polyphasic sleeping a few years ago, where I slept 4 hours a night for several months with three 20 minute naps during the day. That experiment actually went pretty well. After a few weeks of adapting I felt fine, and I loved having the extra time. But finding time for naps during the day was inconvenient, and when I got sick I just felt like I wasn’t getting better like usual. So I stopped, and it was too hard to go back. Even with that background, there was still plenty in this book I hadn’t come across in so much detail.

It’s not perfect. The author has certainly done his best to cherry pick studies, and not all of them I found compelling. Still, the core message of “Sleep more” rings true, and it’s explained in a very thorough and easy to understand manner. No single fact stuck with me above the rest; it was the sheer volume of evidence that did the convincing.

It changed my behaviour too. I value sleep more now, and I try to get 8 hours instead of being fine with 6.

There are lots of gems in here, and I think there’s something for everyone. 5/5, everyone should read this book. But if you currently don’t value sleep, or you reckon 6 hours is enough, you’re the one who’ll get the most out of it. I know, because I was you.