The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest

The Seven-Day Prescription

by Aric Prather

“Vastly knowledgeable and genuinely brilliant . . . An easy yet most effective how-to guide on sleep.” —Dr. Matthew Walker, New York Times bestselling author of Why We Sleep

From renowned sleep scientist Dr. Aric Prather, a book that offers a simple yet powerful plan to improve your sleep in seven days

We need sleep to survive. Sleep is as essential as food, water, and oxygen. So how can something that should be so instinctual and automatic be so hard? Dr. Prather runs one of the world’s most successful sleep clinics and has cracked the code to help even the most restless of sleepers get a good night’s rest.  

In The Sleep Prescription , Dr. Prather shares the powerful solutions that he uses to help his patients at the clinic achieve healing and restorative sleep. Going beyond the obvious solutions, Dr. Prather shares surprisingly simple yet deeply effective techniques that will help you lie back and let sleep work its magic.

The seven-day prescription will lead you through these

Day 1: Set Your (Internal) Clock
Day 2: Ease Off the Gas
Day 3: Energize—But Do It Right
Day 4: Worry Early
Day 5: You Are Not a Computer; You Can't Just Shut Down
Day 6: (Re)Train Your Brain
Day 7: Stay Up Late

Over the course of seven days, this book will teach you how to get out of your own way, so that your body can do effortlessly what it was built to sleep well.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Science, Mental Health, Psychology, Audiobook

224 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing I didn't already know. This is geared towards the person with traditional insomnia - not being able to fall asleep. That is not my issue. I fall asleep in 5 minutes. I want to know how not to wait up at 3am or if I do, how to fall back asleep quickly. Towards the end of the book, the author actually states that nothing works in terms of solving the waking up in the night problem.

I did like how he stressed that what we do all day affects our sleep that night. It's not just about what you do before bed but what you do all day long. Again, the usual suggestions - don't nap, wake up around the same time each day, stop caffeine 10 hours before bedtime, don't drink booze, stop eating 2-3 hours before bed etc.

Some quotes from the book:

Figuring out a consistent wake-up time is the number one thing I do with people who come into the sleep clinic.

You have two main "drivers" of sleep: your homeostatic sleep drive and your circadian rhythm.

Your homeostatic sleep drive is essentially "pressure" for sleep that builds up the longer you're awake. Picture a balloon. It's flat and empty the moment you open your eyes in the morning. As you go through your day, it gradually begins to inflate, filling up with sleepiness. When it's at this optimal amount -picture a perfectly inflated balloon- you feel the need for sleep.

your master clock's rhythms are shaped by your genes and the proteins they produce. This is something you don't have much control over. It's written in your DNA. Like a lot of other traits (your hair color, your preference for sweet versus salty, whether you can roll your tongue or not) you inherited a circadian preference from your parents and ancestors. The second category of factors that influence your circadian rhythm are external. The "arousal systems" in your brain are, at all times, gathering information from your surroundings. Darkness is a huge trigger for sleepiness.

Factors like when you wake, when drink your coffee or tea, when you eat and exercise, and what you do routinely before bed as a "trigger" for bedtime, can press on your circadian rhythm and shift it.

By keeping a stable wake time, you remove some of the uncertainty and randomness from the morning. And as you stick to it, you may find that your days feel looser and less frantic. You begin to be able to find more time within your busy schedule for things you enjoy a beneficial ripple effect of stabilizing your sleep drivers.

Simple and sugary carbs (think pizza, white bread, bagels, pasta) can cause more wake ups throughout the night. In contrast, complex carbs (again, these are the more high-fiber foods like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and whole grains) can stabilize your sleep patterns

Their real problem is a mismanaged day: their days are too packed with stress and activity. Their days are unpredictable because they're busy. They skip meals one day, stay up late another. Without those
cues their minds and bodies, at bedtime, are at sea.

Revenge bedtime procrastination is when people choose to stay up later than they should in an effort to take back some time for themselves after a day completely filled with obligations and to-do's....Regardless, the fix is the same: take breaks. Real breaks. They can be short, but they should be screen-free, phone-free, and something that's relaxing, refreshing, or joyful. I'm not going to tell you exactly what to do: this varies by individual.

When that afternoon slump hits, go stick your head in the freezer!

The more you tend toward high rumination, the more affected you're going to be by events in the day you perceive as negative, stressful, or threatening. Even ambiguous or neutral events can be viewed through a more negative lens by high ruminators.

Neural pathways are like paths in the forest: the more we use them, the more established and permanent they become. But there's good news within that metaphor: just like a forest path, they can fade with less use.

When people are waking in the middle of the night or early in the wee hours of the morn-ing, it can be really challenging or impossible to get back to sleep-you've already drained out too much sleep pressure and even if you still feel tired, there's just not enough juice left in your homeostatic sleep drive to get you there.

[Deni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend for all humans. As someone who has a clinical diagnosis of chronic insomnia and has been through CBT-i, this book is legit. Thank you Dr. Prather for sharing your knowledge with the world. This book felt like validation and a hug.

[charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a great read. in conjunction with my current sleep treatments, i feel like i’m on the path to better sleep. i really appreciate how this book feels like a comforting hug: knowing you’ll be okay and that a bad night of sleep means it won’t be bad forever. i also really appreciate the charts and data points you can measure yourself on sleep efficiency.

[WhiteMagician · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're s shift worker, skip this one. It also offers little help to those whose problem is sleep quality rather than quantity, albeit some of the author's proposed tactics might help with that, too.

Bottom line, this was a "I wasn't the target demographic" out of five.

[January · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest by Aric A. Prather, PhD
4h 49m read by the author, 224 pages

Genre: Nonfiction, Health & Fitness, Medical, Science, Sleep - Health Aspects; Sleep Disorders - Alternative Treatments; Public Health, Self-Help - Publications

Featuring: Sleep Diary, Why You Need Sleep, Sleep Health Disparity, Sleep Hygiene, Sleep Rhythms, Sleep Drivers, Circadian rhythms, Melatonin, Caffeine, Light, Resetting

Rating as a movie: PG

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

My thoughts: 📱9% 26:02 Day 1: Set Your (Internal) Clock - The introduction was great but his voice, even sped up, calming and makes me sleepy. I'm going to have to find something else as I have errands soon.
📱20% 57:26 Day 2 Ease off the gas. I don't know how I'm supposed to improve on sleeping when his voice knocks me out every time. Screens are off and temperatures are low.


So I read this book 2¼ times. I couldn't read it solo because it put me to sleep, he has a soothing voice, and the explanations on what makes sleep are very suggestive. I decided I wasn't going to go through this day by day so listened to it twice while cooking and driving. I'm not that far gone so I don't need the 7 days, I just need to tweak my routine and give up reading in bed. The table of contents are:
Dedication
Introduction: You Were Built to Sleep
Before We Begin
Day 1: Set Your (Internal) Clock
Day 2: Ease off the Gas
Day 3: Energize - But Do It Right
Day 4: Worry Early
Day 5: You Are Not a Computer, You Just Can't Shut Down
Day 6: (Re)Train Your Brain
Day 7: Stay Up Late
Conclusion: Renewing Your Prescription: This Is The Beginning, Not The End
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Additional Resources
Appendix 2: Your Sleep Diary
Credits.

Hopefully, that gives you an idea of this book and how it can help you, whether you have trouble sleeping or are suffering from insomnia.

Recommend to others?: Yes! This book has tons of fantastic information and solutions and gets straight to the point without fillers.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this book gave step by step instructions to help improve sleep quantity and quality!

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sleeping has been an issue for me from childhood. I've read (or at least started to read) several books about fixing it. This one is probably my fave. I appreciate that he's a sleep scientist who also drinks coffee (often something more hardline books say to avoid completely), acknowledges that meditation can make some ppl *more* anxious, knows that getting rid of electric light isn't a possibility in most modern homes...basically says this isn't all-or-nothing or one-size-fits-all. He encourages you to listen to your body and set up rituals that work for you. Also confirmed some things I've wondered about sleep (ex. Sleep anxiety is a thing.) I wish there had been something about what do if pain is disturbing your sleep (because that's been a huge problem the last few years and yes, I've told every doctor I've seen) but what is here will be things I try to implement going forward.

[Alice-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a couple sleep books in my life and this seems to synthesize the best science and understanding into a very readable, non-condescending book on sleep. (I love his acknowledgment that we not after “perfect” sleep.)
This was just really good if you struggle with insomnia or even anxiety around sleep.

[Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good!

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this simple and short book full of actionable advice. The information was easy to follow and written in a logical and an organized manner.

I do not currently have any severe problems with sleep per se, but I read this book because I am interested in this topic and an advocate for proper sleep which is lacking in our present culture.

Millions of years of evolution have not eliminated sleep which makes an organism very vulnerable while sleeping. That in itself is a testimony to the critical importance of sleep. Our societies and cultures need to change to create environments enabling good and adequate sleep, not just tout the importance of sleep.

Actionable advice from the book:

1. Set a wake up time.

A nice idea to visualize sleep - When we wake up, our sleep balloon is deflated and keeps becoming inflated throughout the night until it is time to sleep.

2. Take at least 5 micro breaks throughout the day and it should not involve screens.

3. Expose yourself to a small positive stress (something that is not chronic or long lasting stress) when you hit the afternoon slump.

4. Set aside a specific time for worrying before early afternoon every day. Write down your worries to see if they are justified. Try to avoid worrying in bed.

5. Have a wind down period of 2 hours before bed time. Avoid anything too stressful or stimulating.

6. Only use your bed for sleeping. Condition your brain to associate bed with sleeping. If you like to do something on your bed, do it in a different direction or side from the one you sleep in.

7. Push your bedtime later a little to build the sleep pressure. For extreme cases, this can be done in incrementally - go to bed at 1:00 AM for a week, if you sleep well, move it earlier to 12:30 AM. However, this needs to be done in a controlled manner taking into account your health conditions.
Also, wake up time does not change in this case.

I liked the idea of calculating sleep efficiency.

Sleep efficiency = Time spent sleeping / Sleep opportunity (how long were you in bed) X 100

A lot of people are in bed but take a long time to fall asleep or wake up and stay awake at night. All of this was sleep opportunity but not time spent sleeping. Calculating sleep efficiency average over a week gives us a better picture of how a person is sleeping.

Maintaining a sleep diary helps us keep track of our sleep efficiency and how these interventions are working. Take note that these interventions take time to work and are not as quick acting as pills.

We as a culture need to embrace imperfect sleep and the necessity of sleep. Just like life, our skin, sleep also changes throughout life.

[Hlyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sleep isn't something that you do, sleep is something that happens to you. We can't make ourselves fall asleep whenever we want to, but we can make ourselves wake up.

It is the most important of the things that I learned from this book.

I already have a pretty good sleep every night. I always fall asleep within 15 minutes and stay asleep throughout the night. But I want to change my sleep schedule.

When we're trying to improve our sleep or to change our sleep schedule, what we usually think is we need to go to bed early. But it never works because we don't feel sleepy when we go to bed early.

What Aric suggests is that instead of changing your bedtime, change your wake-up time. You can't force yourself to fall asleep, but you can force yourself to wake up. Set a time you prefer to wake up, stick to it, and your body will follow, your sleep will follow and your bedtime will change. This is about taking advantage of sleep pressure and the zeitgebers, or the sleep cues, which you'll learn in this book.

To me, personally, Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep is the best book on sleep published so far. While it is about improving our knowledge and understanding and changing our mindset about sleep, this book The Sleep Prescription is more about practice.

This book goes beyond the basic sleep hygiene that we're all familiar with, like keeping the room temperature cold or not drinking coffee late in the evening, etc.

Yet, what it offers are very simple methods, the ones that Aric the sleep scientist found really work in his sleep clinic. It will even tell you to sleep late, really.

You'll be happy to know, if you're like me who enjoys reading on the Kindle or using the phone to listen to audiobooks in bed, that blue light isn't really the problem most of the time.

This book will also show you how to calculate your sleep efficiency and how you can improve accordingly.

Whether you're sleep is poor or you're already having a great sleep every night, you might still learn something from this book which will be beneficial to you.

[Becky Rivensworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a terrible sleeper for years. Not-so-shockingly I was put on a CPAP for sleep apnea a number of months ago and then transitioned to a BiPAP. None of this is really relevant except to say that my sleep has continued to be less than ideal. Some of the information is about what I expected in regards to sleep hygiene, but much of it was new to me. I didn’t read each days reading on the day I was supposed to, but I implemented the new practices as I got to them, and kept the sleep diary going for the whole week. I feel that some of the practices have certainly been helpful (falling asleep faster, keeping a regular schedule) and I will try to maintain them for a time going forward. Other practices are geared more towards things I don’t feel are problematic for me. All in all I found it a very easy read, backed by research, and very relatable. I would definitely suggest this to anyone who struggles with sleep and is willing to “do the work”, keeping in mind that you might need more than just these guidelines to help you out (medical professionals are there for a reason)!

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Sleep Prescription, sleep scientist Aric Prather offers practical day-by-day tips for improving your sleep. His tips are pretty common-sense sleep-hygiene stuff, but with a refreshing touch of real life. For instance, Prather doesn't tell you to quit all screens in the two hours before bed. Instead, he says, if watching old episodes of a favorite show before bed relaxes you, you should make it part of your wind-down routine.

This is a helpful read. It targets a foundational aspect of health, and it does so without a lot of fluff, which I appreciated. There's no earth-shattering new info in The Sleep Prescription, but there are plenty of good reminders, based in science, to get back to the better sleep habits that are easy to let slip. Prather's most fundamental tip is to stick to the same wakeup time every day, no matter when you went to bed, and no matter how poorly you slept. I've stuck to this one since I started the book, and it's already making my sleep better.

[Laina Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I mentioned before, I do like these books as they give easily digestible explanations and easily executed “tasks” to support their research and methods towards the goals set within, whether for love, stress, or sleep. Also noteworthy is that the research is current and includes what people have learned from studying these topics during the midst of the pandemic and the impacts the pandemic has had on peoples’ relationships, stress management, and sleep skills.

[Geli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Als ich den Titel gesehen habe, dachte ich, dass ich es unbedingt lesen möchte. Innerhalb von 7 Tagen seinen Schlaf zu verbessern, ob das geht?


Der Autor ist Leiter des Schlafverhaltensforschungsprogramm und Professor für Psychartrie an der Universität von San Francisco, er schien mir also seriös und fachlich geeignet, das Thema Schlaf zu durchleuchten.


Auf relativ wenigen Seiten erfahren wir z.B. vom Schlafdruck, der sich im Laufe des Tages erhöhen muss, bis der Druck so groß ist, dass wir schlafen müssen. Wenn wir nicht zu der passenden Zeit ins Bett gehen, kann das natürlich Auswirkung darauf haben, wie lange es bis zum Einschlafen dauert.


Das Führen eine Schlaftagebuchs wird dringend empfohlen, um z.B. die Schlafeffizienz ermitteln zu können. Wir erhalten Tipps wie z.B. lieber sich tagsüber eine feste Zeit zum Grübeln zu nehmen, als sich nachts damit um den Schlaf zu bringen oder die Gedanken wie beim Trainspotting ziehen zu lassen.


Manchmal las sich der Text etwas holprig und so mancher Fachbegriff wie z.B. "Arousal" war mir nicht klar, das habe ich nachgeschlagen. Größtenteils wird jedoch anschaulich beschrieben und anhand von Beispielen verdeutlicht, wie es Patienten von Dr. Prather erging und wie ihnen geholfen werden konnte.


Ich habe durch Lesen dieses Ratgebers einige Tipps erhalten, die mir neu waren, die ich auf jeden Fall ausprobieren werde, wenn ich Schlafprobleme haben sollte. Auf jeden Fall verstehe ich nun den Schlafprozess besser.

[Emily Mellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's got lots of useful tips, and the tone is helpful & kind. However, his top tip seems to be sleep restriction, which I just can't do. If I get up during a middle of the night waking, I don't get back to sleep. And the more tired I get, the harder it is to sleep, quite often. So limiting sleep time doesn't feel relevant or helpful in my case.
Fortunately I've been sleeping pretty decently lately, with only the odd bad night. If I was desperate I might try his technique.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great easy read to learn best sleep practices, which include easily actionable strategies. Great if you have major sleep issues or if you just want to slightly improve your sleep.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book and recommend to readers just interested in the science and practice of better sleep. Especially useful for folks who have less than desirable sleep patterns. Combines the science with real people's stories and practices.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful, will be reccomended to any of my clients with sleep difficulties!!!

[Chad Durham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book. I was not having as much trouble sleeping as the book focused on, but I still enjoyed reading it and thinking about my own sleep schedule and its importance.

[Elizabeth Pau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Prather’s reading made listening and retaining the information pleasant. I listened to this book through my library and was disappointed that I could not access the PDFs referenced. I guess PDFs are only available for those that purchase the written or audiobook versions

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very helpful book! Highly recommend it if you are dealing with sleep issues.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book that will give you actionable steps to take to help you sleep better! I got so much out of this despite not having insomnia or a chronic sleep issue (I just don't sleep enough). Prather talks a lot about anxiety/stress and how to cope with these things throughout your days so they don't impact your nights. I felt like he gave real advice for ways to manage anxious thoughts that interfere with sleep in simple ways that anyone could try. He also touches on how poor sleep can affect things you may not be aware of...like stress! Stress and sleep are cyclical, so fixing one can help the other, and one being out of balance can cause the other to do the same. I really appreciated how kind and understanding he was as well - constantly reminding the reader that bad sleep isn't your fault, you won't always suffer with it, sometimes genetics are a factor and you just have to accept that, and much more. He doesn't give strict rules (i.e. get 7 hrs of sleep a night, stop drinking coffee, wake up at 5 am), but allows room for each individual person to find what works for them. If I ever needed to go to a sleep clinic, I would definitely seek him out.

Would highly recommend even if you don't have chronic sleep issues and just want to learn more about how sleep works, what processes your body is going through, and how to make small changes that might impact you in a big way. We all deserve more sleep!

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is okay. There's tip and suggestions. I can't find a practical reason for the process to take seven days aside from the fact that the author has a sleep journal to fill out. It is kept on the back pages of the book.

I borrowed it from the library and would feel that I spent too much money on this book if I purchased it for the amount of material offered. Each chapter gives some scientific information about sleep and anecdotal examples of how and why his methods work but the summaries at the end of each chapter are what it all boils to.

I am definitely going to implement the suggestions and try them out but I recreated the sleep journal on a spreadsheet rather quickly. In my opinion, this information could just as easily be provided on a website but of course the author, etc wouldn't be compensated.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is supposed to be read in a week, but I have a hard time cramming it into a week. Still I liked the format of this book. Light but with some great points on how to achieve better sleep. Ultimately it will still be about your ability to be disciplined about bad habits, but sometimes it’s good to revisit those points.

[Bob Wassermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights on improving your sleep in an easy to read format. Goes deeper than “no blue light before bed”, and provides solutions that don’t require a monk-like discipline.

[Raffaello Palandri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book of the Day – The Sleep Prescription

Today’s Book of the Day is THE SLEEP PRESCRIPTION, written by Aric Prather and published in 2022 by Penguin Life.

Aric A. Prather is a psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor at the University of California, San Francisco, where he co-directs the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center. He has helped hundreds of patients improve their sleep using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.

I have chosen this book for this post as I use and teach Yoga Nidra in my practice to help people sleep better and fight insomnia using meditation and relaxation.

In this interesting book, Aric Prather guides the readers on an effective journey to reducing their sleep debt by growing awareness of those behaviors that negatively affect our sleep. The goal of the journey is to give the readers a refreshing and restoring night’s rest.

Our minds and bodies get extremely negative and serious consequences from a lack of proper, quality sleep. We get more prone to get ill, more often, and for longer, we feel more pain, we are cognitively impaired and our memory worsens, and, from a personal and social point of view, we become less friendly, we lose empathy, and we grow a negative attitude towards others.

The author begins by suggesting the readers keep a sleep log, where they can record how they rest. This will become the starting point of the journey. This technique comes directly from the clinical experience of Prather in the Sleep Clinic he co-manages.

And, as proper sleep is essential for the quality of our life as eating, breathing, and taking care of ourselves, the author gives us his 7 steps in 7 days tool to set the foundation for well-being, as he writes.

During these seven days, the readers will be guided in the following exercises:

Day 1: Set Your (Internal) Clock
Day 2: Ease Off the Gas
Day 3: Energize - But Do It Right
Day 4: Worry Early
Day 5: You Are Not a Computer; You Can’t Just Shut Down
Day 6: (Re)Train Your Brain
Day 7: Stay Up Late

Having helped many patients with their insomnia, the steps are directly aimed at giving immediate, effective, and practical results.

The key elements to succeed are, of course, consistency and trust in the method.

Prather does an excellent job of helping readers become aware of the issue, grow a mindful attitude, and create a healthy sleep routine that will quickly improve the quality of rest and life in general.

I absolutely recommend this book to everyone who suffers from insomnia as it may represent an effective alternative to medical prescriptions.

[Madame Histoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather short book aiming to help insomnia sufferer, from an expert in the field, giving practical advices.

Key advices to remember:
- Consistent wake up time! Every day, even weekends.
- Mindfulness meditation works. It has provide some of the same restorative benefits as sleep.
- Worry early because anxiety keep one awake at night. Have a 15 min timer as your "daily intentional worry time" during which you just worry (you can say your worries out loud, or write a journal), but you do not problem-solve.
- Do a problems-solutions two columns list which is a plan (actionable doable steps in the close future, eg tomorrow or the day after) on getting started on addressing each problem rather than being a direct complete solution
- Don't go to bed unless you are sleepy, OR if you are in bed and can't sleep, get up and do a wind-down activity till you are sleepy. If you do to bed and still can't sleep, get up again and repeat. Do not turn on all the light, do not do productive work.
- If up in the middle of the night, try a "thought records" and read it again the next morning and see how our night thoughts are usually incorrect.
- Keep a sleep diary to tract your sleep efficiency (your sleep VS your sleep opportunity aka how long you are in bed, how long it took you to fall asleep), the goal is to sleep as much of your time in bed actually sleeping.
- If nothing else work, restrain your sleep by staying up late until you must sleep.

Unrelated quote that made me laugh about June who stopped dying her silver hairs during the pandemic:
"She doesn't mind getting older-"It's better than the alternative!" is what she always says."

[Alex]

“Vastly knowledgeable and genuinely brilliant . . . An easy yet most effective how-to guide on sleep.” —Dr. Matthew Walker, New York Times bestselling author of Why We Sleep

From renowned sleep scientist Dr. Aric Prather, a book that offers a simple yet powerful plan to improve your sleep in seven days

We need sleep to survive. Sleep is as essential as food, water, and oxygen. So how can something that should be so instinctual and automatic be so hard? Dr. Prather runs one of the world’s most successful sleep clinics and has cracked the code to help even the most restless of sleepers get a good night’s rest.  

In The Sleep Prescription, Dr. Prather shares the powerful solutions that he uses to help his patients at the clinic achieve healing and restorative sleep. Going beyond the obvious solutions, Dr. Prather shares surprisingly simple yet deeply effective techniques that will help you lie back and let sleep work its magic.

The seven-day prescription will lead you through these exercises:

Day 1: Set Your (Internal) Clock
Day 2: Ease Off the Gas
Day 3: Energize—But Do It Right
Day 4: Worry Early
Day 5: You Are Not a Computer; You Can't Just Shut Down
Day 6: (Re)Train Your Brain
Day 7: Stay Up Late

Over the course of seven days, this book will teach you how to get out of your own way, so that your body can do effortlessly what it was built to do: sleep well.

[Girlinthebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Praktyczny poradnik, który w przystępny sposób ukazuje istotę snu dla zdrowia fizycznego i psychicznego oraz proponuje plan poprawy jego jakości, podzielony na siedem dni (zgodnie z metodą atomowych nawyków.) Każdego dnia wdrażamy jedną zmianę, co pozwala krok po kroku przyswoić nowe nawyki – podejście z sukcesem stosowane w klinice snu, w której pracuje autor. Wiele zawartych tu anegdot bazuje na doświadczeniu z tego miejsca.

Książka opisuje fazy NREM i REM, prowadzenie dzienniczka snu, obala mit „nadrobienia snu”, porusza kwestie optymalnej temperatury snu, wpływu snu na nawyki żywieniowe i omawia walkę z wieczornym scrollowaniem (przy czym autor otwarcie przyznaje się do swoich słabości!).

Podoba mi się, że prezentowane treści oparte są na rzetelnych badaniach naukowych, ale przedstawione w lekki, przystępny sposób, pełen metafor i przykładów z życia codziennego. To sprawia że wiedza z każdego rozdziału jest łatwo przyswajalna.

Styl autora wyróżnia się nienarzucaniem zmian – podpowiada, jak poprawić sen, bez oceniania. Poradnik zaskoczył mnie pozytywnie bogactwem narzędzi i praktycznych wskazówek, które można wdrożyć natychmiast. Idealny balans teorii i praktyki.

Książka, która uczy, motywuje, przypomina jak ważny jest sen, a przy tym dała mi satysfakcję z procesu czytania.

Dla mnie dużo lepsza niż słynne „Dlaczego śpimy?”, w którym odnalazłam za dużo analizy skutków złego snu, a za mało praktycznych porad. Te wskazówki otrzymałam w „Recepcie na sen” i ją gorąco polecam!