Recommendations: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD.
Updated: May 21, 2020
Written by Lee Boyd
Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker, PhD., resides in my Top 5 Best Books I’ve read this year, if not, ever. This book opens your mind to the powers of sleep and the consequences of lack of sleep. You’ll learn how sleep, memories, and dreams work, and you’ll also learn how sleep can be affected by the choices you make.
Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker, PhD., resides in my Top 5 Best Books I’ve read this year, if not, ever.
This book could have taken a different approach on how it explains sleep: boring and full of facts that would put anyone to bed. Instead, Matthew’s approach was anything but boring: He paints pictures in your mind using real world studies, examples and experiences. The book even shows how our idea of sleep has evolved over time. My biggest takeaway: Kids need sleep and plenty of it!
Along with the importance of kids needing more sleep, I learned how memories work and how your brain moves information from your short-term to long-term memories. This is a fascinating process where your knowledge moves from the short-term memories to your long-term memories.
I have made adjustments to my wake-up schedule in an effort to make sure I get enough sleep. Studies show that lack of sleep affect your reaction time, overall appearance, mood, attitude, recall of information, and so much more. When you get enough sleep, you can work harder, recall quicker, and have an overall better attitude and mood.
My family and I are big fans of Pixar. In my business life, I may even be a bigger fan. This book helped me understood and appreciative the movie Inside Out. The movie takes some of the ideas found in this book and illustrates the findings in a way that only Pixar can do.
One thing I’d recommend you take a look at are the footnotes while reading through the book. They hold amazing nuggets of information that allow for further reader research and a better understanding of the ideas and knowledge the book has to offer.
This book is filled with so many facts, information, and knowledge, it’d be hard to not share what you’ve learned with those around you.
This book is filled with so many facts, information, and knowledge, it’d be hard to not share what you’ve learned with those around you. In fact, my entire family was ready for me to finish this book and return it to the library. I found myself dropping facts right and left: Your head hurts? You need more sleep. You’re grumpy today? How much sleep did you get last night? Hard time focusing on schoolwork? Take a half-hour nap. Do you really want to remember that chapter you just read? You need to take a nap.
The brain is a wonderful and amazing creation. I have been able to read several books that discuss the brain and the power that lies within: Principles by Ray Dalio, Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, and now Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. These books have sparked an interest in me to learn more about the inner workings of our brain and the potential that is locked within. I’ve learned so much with these great reads, and yet, have so much more to learn.
Lee Boyd co-hosts the FNO: InsureTech Podcast, a podcast that interviews leaders from insuretech and insurance to get up to date ideas and perspectives on how technology is disrupting and transforming the industry. Lee is also the Vice President of Product Innovation at Fourseventy Claim Management. Lee creates innovative processes to transform the traditional methods of insurance claims adjusting. He focuses on the newest technologies and processes, and combines them with custom workflows to serve the needs of 470’s customers. He also heads up data analytics and reporting.
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