Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance

by James B. Maas, Megan L. Wherry, Jennifer Blumin

Do your eyelids feel heavy during afternoon meetings? Do you sleep extra hours on weekend mornings? Do you use caffeine to stay alert? An alarm to get out of bed?

These are all symptoms of sleep deficiency--signals that you are operating below your peak performance and beneath your mental capacity. Despite popular perceptions, sleep is not a luxury--it is a necessity. More than seventy million Americans are sleep-deprived, and make crucial business and personal decisions in an impaired state. In Power Sleep, Dr. James B. Maas, a pioneer of sleep research at Cornell University, has created an easy, drug-free program to improve your body and mind for an alert and productive tomorrow. In Power Sleep, you'll find:

The golden rules of sleep

Twenty great sleep strategies

Dos and don'ts of sleeping pills and over-the-counter remedies

How to combat travel fatigue, including jet lag and drowsy driving

Tips for exhausted parents of newborns, infants, and toddlers

How to overcome sleep disorders, including insomnia

An important and practical book, Power Sleep will help you get the sleep you need to improve your mental and physical well-being quickly and dramatically and to become a peak performer.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Psychology, Science, Self Help, Education, Fitness

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

James Beryl Maas was an American social psychologist and professor who was best known for his work in the field of sleep research, specifically the relationship between sleep and performance. He was best known for coining the term "power nap". He holds a B.A. from Williams College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Maas also produced numerous film specials on sleep research for PBS, BBC, and others.

Reviews

[JDK1962 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read up to the start of Chapter 5 in this book and just snapped. "Do you want to be alert, dynamic, and full of energy all day long? Be in a good mood? Be productive, creative, and capable of making good decisions?" YES, OF COURSE I F--KING WANT THOSE THINGS. I AM READING THIS F--KING BOOK. I AM 25% OF THE WAY THROUGH THIS BOOK AND YOU HAVE NOT YET STOPPED THE F--KING SALES PITCH! YOU ARE WASTING MY F--KING TIME!

Sorry for the all caps rant, but literally the first 25% of this book is NOTHING but sales pitch for a sale that's already been made. Sleep is important. Bad things happen when you don't sleep, or run a sleep debt. I get it. But after four chapters of this, and the fifth chapter starting out with the four "Golden Rules of Sleep" (1. Get an adequate amount of sleep every night. 2. Establish a regular sleep schedule. 3. Get continuous sleep. 4. Make up for lost sleep. Oh, THANK YOU, Captain Obvious! You've SAVED the village!!), I would have thrown this book violently across the room if it wasn't on my Kindle.

I'm into skimming mode now, the fate for authors WHO WASTE MY F--KING TIME.

[Brian Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic.

“For anyone who wants to be successful, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. The conclusions presented in Power Sleep are based on recent studies of the neurological, chemical, and electrical activity of the sleeping brain, which show that even minimal sleep loss can have profound detrimental effects on mood, cognition, performance, productivity, communication skills, accident rates, and general health, including gastrointestinal system, cardiovascular functioning, and our immune systems. Given the role of sleep in determining daytime functioning, most alarming to me is the current extent of sleep deprivation in our society. At least 50 percent of the American adult population is chronically sleep-deprived and a similar percentage report trouble sleeping on any given night. And it’s getting worse by the decade. This devastating trend can be found throughout the industrialized world.

... If you understand exactly what the brain accomplishes during various stages of a night’s sleep and what your individual sleep requirement is, you’re in a position to become a very different person. People who learn about sleep come to value sleep and adopt better sleep habits. After a few weeks they discover, perhaps for the first time, what it really feels like to be fully alert all day long. Their increased efficiency gives them enough hours in the day to work, and to play. They become better spouses, better parents, and better in their careers. They become more energetic, healthier, more successful, and happier with their lives. That’s life as it should be.” ~ James B. Maas from Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance

Sleep.

It’s super important. And, in today’s hyper-busy world, it’s easy to overlook its importance. There’s some odd quasi-heroic ideal associated with *not* getting sleep. Weird.

The fact is we are wired to sleep a LOT more than we do. It’s quite obvious that if we want to optimize our lives, we need to prioritize our sleep!

Who better to help us do that then Cornell Professor James Maas—one of the world’s leading authorities on sleep?!

Below are some of my favorite Big Ideas from this book. You can hear more about this book here:

1. Sleep Is Powerful - Even more so than you may think.
2. How About You? - Getting enough sleep?
3. Sleeping Ten Hours - Yah. Every night.
4. Power Sleep - It’s time to rock it.
5. Absolute Synchrony - Rhythms are huge.

Here’s to optimizing our lives and starting with an optimal night of sleep! :)

I’ve added Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance by James B. Maas to my collection of PhilosophersNotes. (Which help you change your life, 20-minutes at a time, with the best Big Ideas from 600+ of the best books on Optimizing your life via 6-page PDFs/20-min MP3s on the go!)

Get instant (free) access to all 600+ PhilosophersNotes AND all 50 Optimal Living 101 classes AND 1,000+ Optimize +1s as part of our free 2-week trial: http://optimize.me/

[Alaa]

Perhaps revolutionary in the late 90's when it was published, but over a decade later most of the information is common knowledge or could be summarized to a few bullet points in an online article.

It contained a bit of in-depth science on sleep with the brain waves and everything but besides that it's an easy read.

Wouldn't recommend purchasing decade old information that could just be googled tho.

--------------------

But besides that I could appreciate the amount of work, research, effort and time it took James B. Maas to write this book back when this information perhaps wasn't as common as it is nowadays.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Detailed look at how and why we sleep, the consequences of sleep deprivation, and the metabolic processes that occur during sleep. I enjoyed learning this stuff, but I wish there had been more info on how to combat specific sleep problems. (It has a great chapter on shift workers. I'm glad I don't do that anymore.) At the very least this book will make you value sleep more.

[Brooklyn Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contained a lot of interesting factoids, but very little helpful advice. The introduction drew me in because it explained in detail what happens during all the stages of sleep. But after that, without exaggeration, the majority of the text consisted of scary statistics and horror stories about countless tragedies that have occurred due to sleep deprivation. If someone has decided to read a book about sleep, I doubt they need to be frightened into trying to get more of it—they need sound advice on how to do it.
There is only one chapter that really focuses on that. It offers two kinds of tips: those that should already be obvious to someone trying to improve their sleep (follow well-known rules of sleep hygiene), and those that appear self-contradictory—for example, watch a comedy right before bed, even though you’re not supposed to be looking at any screens.
If you are simply fascinated by sleep and by the effects of not having it, you’ll probably enjoy this book. But if you genuinely want to improve yours, it probably will not be as helpful as you hope.

[John Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a long time. I've picked it up a couple of times but always put it aside for somethign more interesting. It's hard for me to evaluate a book like this as I read far more fiction than anything. However, I was interested in the topic and I did learn a few things. A lot of the sections didn't apply to me so I was able to either to skim through them if not skip them entirely. I'd say that if you have any sleep problems the book is worth checking out but this book came out in 1998 so you might be better off looking for something more current.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started interesting talking about sleep. The how what when etc. but the “solutions” were vague regurgitations of stuff you find on the internet. I know sleep is the best for your body, mind and emotional state. I already know that. I was looking for more of insight to how to deal with problems. Obviously I chose the wrong book.

[Jenny Vazquez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could have been an article in all honesty.

It had some things that were informative that I didn’t know but everything else you could find online these days. I bought this book at a thrift store, revolutionary for its time but there is so much that we have gained in the modern day of new information on sleeping.

[David Schlack · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 - Power Sleep was very informative. I was disappointed in the fact the book didn't focus on the sleep and higher performance in sports. Picked up a few salient points about sleep that I will try to use. I may get myself checked out for sleep apnea. READ ON!

[Chad E Spilman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the information in this book I did know already but it was good to refresh myself or remind myself of strategies for better sleep. There are 20 golden sleep strategies mentioned in this book as well as common sleep disorders that could be causing poor quality of sleep.

[Sunni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doses of practical advice interspersed with professorial lectures built on anecdotes. Think qualitative, not quantitative.

[Tom Greentree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Older book, but very relevant. I read it in combo with Dr. Fung's book on fasting, which made for interesting interconnections (less food, more sleep, lol). Helpful.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review of all things related to sleep.

[Aric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since one third of your life will be sleeping at bed. Probably it's a good idea to know a little bit about your sleep.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

过了一遍，待实践。

[Demi Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the part on traveling and tips given to negate the effects of jet lag.

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a great book about sleep I highly recommend the first sections all the way through the discussion of the stages of sleeping beyond for everyone

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a ton from reading this book, and I think it should be required reading for so many professionals and academics who believe "you can sleep when your dead" or that sleep is a "waste of time." The name is somewhat silly, but it is entirely to draw in the aforementioned crowd of people who truly believe they are somehow superior if they don't need much sleep. James Maas is an expert on sleep science and fills the book with a wealth of information and cited studies. I would highly recommend this book to pretty much anyone.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this book forever, since I did not have the chance to take Professor Maas' Pysch 101 course. Overall, good read-- very educational, and it makes you more aware of how many tasks you perform throughout the day in a drowsy state. It'd be nice to do all the tips suggested in the book, but seems nearly impossible given school/work demands...if only work would schedule in a nap time...

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn about the importance of getting enough sleep. After my Mom and Dad attended at talk by Dr. Maas they recommended I read this book. From it I was able to diagnose or suspect my husband had sleep apnea and get him to medical care and use of a CPAP machine which has probably saved and prolonged his life. The book also was fun to read and learn about how lack of sleep has contributed to many other events in history such the the oil spill of the Exon Valdez in Alaska.

[John Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sleeping is one of the most important, yet most mysterious, activities people undertake. Most people do not get enough sleep, but do not understand how this shortcoming affects them. This book provides an overview of research on sleep (through 1998 or so, when the book was published), and discusses ways to get more and better sleep. On the whole, the book is a useful addition to one's "self-help" shelf.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by my doctor...and well worth the read. I've put so much energy in teaching my kids to sleep that it was nice to read so much information that confirms how important sleep is. I love the idea that getting to sleep in (what's that?) on the weekends is like only eating healthy two days a week. Great book with tons of info and tips!

[Nanny SA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mengupas berbagai permasalahan tentang tidur, bagaimana belajar tentang kekuatan tidur, gangguan-gangguan tidur dan bagaimana mengatasinya.
Proses Tidur, Jika diberi waktu yang cukup dan lingkungan yang tepat , menghasilkan tenaga yang luar biasa. Memulihkan, meremajakan dan memberi energi tubuh dan otak.
Jadi pergunakan waktu tidur anda sebaik-baiknya !

[Benj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, though it read a bit too much like a self-help good (i guess it is a self-help book). Basic thesis is that USA is chronically underslept, and that certainly resonates for me. Good review of what sleep is and what we know about it scientifically, importance of alertness, and tips for improving sleep habits.

[Roxanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I imagine that in 1998, when Maas published this book, the information was more revolutionary. Now, most of us know that sleep deprivation can be lethal, bedroom temperature matters, and an afternoon nap increases productivity. Maybe that general awareness is partly due to his efforts in the field. All the same, the book probably won't tell you much you don't already know.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good information, I expected more somehow, buy learned a lot. Like we all need 10 hours sleep, run on a 25 hour daily cycle, need to get up at the scant time every day. If you are behind on your slee, don't sleep in, go to bed earlier the next night. Try to catch up on any sleep debts as soon as possible.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had come recommended from friends. A good reminder of the importance of sleep, but not as full of concrete useful information as I had hoped. Asserts the Golden Rules of Sleep:
1. Get an adequate amount of sleep every night.
2. Establish a regular sleep schedule.
3. Get continuous sleep.
4. Make up for lost sleep.

[Mikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dislike the writing style used with most self-help books, but this one helped me figure out it was time to see a sleep specialist for my insomnia, and gave me some useful tips to relax and meditate before bed.

[Reader2007 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really too helpful. The main message of the book is to get as much sleep as you can.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide to better sleep; one of the best available.