Book Review: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

Too important to pass.

This book is special. A truly important topic, yet not many of us learned about what sleeping does to our body. Matt Walker delivered it with stories backed by research in an entertaining style. It is rich in knowledge, flowing smoothly unlike most majority of school textbooks.

The writer emphasizes during one section about how inadequate is the education about sleeping. I myself cannot remember any meaningful discussion about it during my 12 years of studying at elementary and high school. I was even majoring in science.

Naturally, we want to improve our life quality. One of the best way to start is with what we have in control, sleep is one of them. The book explains how good sleep helps us to become our best version, physically and emotionally. There are many factors mentioned in the book on how to improve sleep quality and build better habits around the bed. Start paying attention to how we sleep and follow what the book recommends and hopefully we will improve our sleep quality, and eventually our life quality.

The book also explains some of the most horrifying sleep disorder. It mentioned insomnia, which number of cases never ceased to increase in current society. Probably the most relatable to most of us is sleep deprivation. The danger lies within is not always clear for those who suffer from sleep deprivation. Ironically, majority of current society glorify sleep deprivation as the pinnacle of functional working habit. However, companies such as Google and NASA are paying attention on their employees sleeping quality as explained in the book, which works effectively.

For those who like to peek what is inside the book, you can watch some of Matt Walker’s TED talks such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0kACis_dJE or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJWF4km3y0. Generally, he speaks what he wrote, but the book has the full research story and study case on most of the topic explained complete with his witty commentary.