Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

It's remarkable how much we disrespect sleep as a society. We even go so far as to take pride in our ability to sleep less or feel great about our reduced amount of sleep. So often, I hear people say something of the sort, “I sleep only 6 hours so I can work and live more,” which is quite ironic; sleeping less shortens your lifespan, so here's to living longer. Additionally, even if you put in more hours, the work you accomplish after sleeping 6 hours is less effective than the work you'd do with more sleep.

Of course, some people can function on as little as 4-6 hours of sleep, and despite my lifetime belief that I am one of those people, unfortunately, I'm not. And, neither likely are you; your chances of possessing the gene that enables you to feel just as content on less sleep are lower than your chances of being struck by lightning. As a result, we are not special people; we are just sleep-deprived. Although being sleep-deprived is something we are unaware of while we ARE sleep deprived.

Some quick facts:
• Sleeping 6 hours for 10 days impairs you equivalently to not sleeping 24hr in total. This effect progressively deteriorates over time. Instead of being 24hr in total for the next 10 days, it will be more than that.
• Drowsiness causes more accidents than drunk driving — combined (which is the usual), have terribly high odds of car crashes.
• Learning anything and trying to memorize is almost impossible or too difficult if you haven't slept sufficiently.
• REM sleep (which happens in larger quantities later in our sleep) benefits us in so many obvious ways. Still oddly enough, it also benefits us emotionally by helping us let go of even horrific experiences and heartbreaks. We perceive the situation as it is because we process complicated and distressing events while having some portions of the brain that control emotions switched off. The proverb “time heals all wounds” is actually “sleep heals all wounds,” it seems. And more so: a good night of sleep.

I was aware of the value of sleep, as are most people, but this book will genuinely enlighten you on its true significance. It's more vital than food and exercise. And yet we underestimate its power. Starting with schools and their fucked-up systems. Teenagers seem to have a different circadian rhythm by default — they feel sleepy later in the night, usually past midnight. And unfortunately, some of them have to wake up even to the hours of 5 AM to go to school, which is plainly wrong. I can't believe how shitty the school systems are and how they still keep them in this way with no shred of shame. But it's not just schools. The entire architecture of our modern societies is poorly designed for sleep. Sadly, I think it'll get worse. Or it could get better if, by chance, we follow the pieces of advice of people that life's purpose is studying sleep! Matthew has hopeful prospects at the end of his book regarding what we could do to improve sleep as a society (surprisingly, the ideas include technology too).

Although sadly, we can't change the world, and I'll quote Tolstoy here, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” I've been sleeping horribly for the past few years, averaging just 5 or 6 hours per night, so as I read the book and was introduced to this crucial knowledge — much of which should be taught in school — I began working on improving my sleep. It's just been two weeks, and I still need plenty of sleep to recover. However, it's absolutely incredible how sleep-deprived I was without realizing it until obtaining a sufficient amount of sleep. I feel so much better, healthier, more energetic, etc. My creativity is increasing, my brain processes difficulties more quickly, and I believe my work hours have been more productive. More importantly, I don't feel like someone beat me at night when I wake up in the morning; I also don't feel fatigued throughout the day. All adults need a minimum of 7 hours of sleep — not 7 hours in bed, but SLEEP. When I was talking to my friend about this, he replied, “Eh, we only live once, sleep doesn't really matter that much.” Yes, we may only live once, but we don't have to make ourselves miserable by depriving ourselves of our human necessities. You don't deprive yourself of food, so don't do it for sleep.

This book is beautifully written, organized, and well-researched. It is one of my favorite reads so far. It has lots of science, but it's comprehensible to non-scientific people like myself. I recommend it to everyone, to the point of thinking it is mandatory, as it's so enlightening.

“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.”