Book Review: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

What Professor Walker doesn’t know about sleep isn’t worth knowing – or he hasn’t discovered yet. He has dedicated his professional life to understanding more about sleep; he is the Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology and Director of Sleep and the Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Why We Sleep* is Professor Walker’s first book, but not the first time writing about it! His research covers over 100 research studies.

Over the years we have all been given different messages about sleep; from the luxurious lie-in, teenage laziness, the risk of burning the candle at both ends or the praise for the person who is productive by getting up at 5 am! I am also sure we all know first-hand how we feel if we have a bad night sleep, either self-inflicted from a night on the town or new-born interruptions. Even though we all live with the repercussions of great or poor sleep, I don’t think many of us have actually considered why we sleep? For something that takes up quite a large part of our life, it’s about time we start understanding its function, so we can carve out time to make it happen!

WARNING. This is not a book that tells you how to sleep (we do get 12 tips on the final two pages) but instead an investigation into why sleep needs to be a non-negotiable in all our lives.   It covers four parts that start to answer the question that we didn’t realise we needed answering, Why We Sleep?*

Part One: This Thing Called Sleep
Part Two: Why Should You Sleep
Part Three: How and Why We Dream
Part Four: From Sleeping Pill to Society Transformed

As you work through each part (which you can read in the order that matters to you), Walker shares the research that he and his research colleagues and peers have compiled. By the end of the book, you will understand why you have to include healthy sleep into your wellbeing schedule, in the same way, you look at exercise and nutrition. Infact, Walker argues that without healthy sleep, there are certain things that other healthy living can’t impact!

So, in true Clara Cliff Notes style, here are the three things you need to know about Why We Sleep?

People need more sleep than they are getting
I’m sure we all have been there. Either trying to catch up on sleep after a busy week or sleeping to “bank” it for upcoming busy time. The research shows you can’t replace or stock to balance out insufficient sleep! All of the research points to 7-9 hours being the ideal range for everyone, so the brain can do what it’s designed to do when we sleep. So even though you think you can “cope” on less sleep, you aren’t functioning as you could.

Early Birds and Night Owls are real
Our circadian rhythm is a biological driver that decides when we wake up and sleep, but also our energy levels. This varies with age, so teenagers need more than adults, and older adults need less than teenagers. However, modern living is forcing us out of these rhythms, from the start times of school to the factory-like shifts of work. These aren’t being helped by the amount of artificial light and late-night smartphone scrolling we are exposed to, tricking our body into thinking it’s still daytime!
How would things feel if you went to bed when you were tired and woke up when your body let you? With the COVID crisis, many people have been able to dump the commute and shift how they sleep – consider how this change has made you feel?

Sleep and Dreams are medicine
The research has found that the two stages of sleep: NREM and REM. One of the functions of sleep is to cleanse the brain. It rebalances our emotions, helps us learn, reduces our risk for certain diseases, helps us be more creative, innovative, productive and supports healthy relationships. Now, if I told you I could give you something for free to do this, wouldn’t you take it?

As Walker states at the end of the book “this silent sleep loss epidemic is the greatest public health challenge we face in the twenty-first century in developed nations…a radical shift in our personal, cultural, professional and societal appreciation or sleep must occur…I believe it’s time to reclaim our right to a full night of sleep, without embarrassment or the damaging stigma of laziness” Before this book, I knew that sleep was important for me. I could see and feel how lack of sleep impacted every element of my health. But I didn’t know why. Not knowing the “why” meant it was easy for me to fall into the cultural expectations around sleep. Now I know the importance of having consistent sleep. And I feel the benefits already.

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I’m a straight-talking, practical and experienced coach helping clients navigate the tricky waters of returning to work, career changes and professional development. The Balance Collective has a social mission focused on improving the lives of parents, by working together to build inner confidence and promote a healthy work/life balance. Isn’t it time to you had a career to enjoy not endure?