Finding Genius: Understanding Sleep: Better-Sleep-Inducing Insights From 80+ Geniuses

Although there are many books on sleep, THIS book was created to provide 80 unique, new, thought-provoking expert perspectives (I’m not counting myself as an expert, merely the interviewer of the 80 folks listed herein) all in one place. Another important reason for this book? To help people like you who have sleep problems.Remember when you were younger and you slept like a baby? You could sleep almost anywhere. You laid your head down, closed your eyes, and the next thing you knew, it was time to wake up. You woke up and felt energized, ready for the day ahead.It may have been years since you slept well, but nearly everyone I’ve known has at least one memory of a great night’s sleep. Now that you’re older, perhaps most nights you sleep well; perhaps, like most, most nights you DON’T sleep well, and if you’re lucky, one night a week you sleep better than the others – but it’s not enough to say that you’re sleeping well consistently.From my personal experience in improving my sleep, creating a line of custom-tailored head, huggable and knee-to-ankle pillows, and interviewing well over 124 scientists and sleep entrepreneurs, I’ve learned that there is no one thing you can do to improve your sleep 100%.The reality and the truth of sleeping well? Each tweak to how you sleep and your sleeping conditions will improve your sleep by a few percentage points. The key to sleeping optimally is incorporating multiple ways to improve your sleep. Various improvements – 5% here, 2% there – can add up to a 50% improvement, even an 80% improvement in your sleep.Everyone has seven nights a week to get good sleep or poor sleep. Imagine how your life will improve when you can go from one good night of sleep a week to three, five, or even six good nights a week.When it comes to sleep, I’ve had many problems over the years – sleep apnea, snoring, waking up multiple times to pee, a crazy sleep schedule (I’ve been going to sleep at 4 a.m. and waking at noon for 20+ years now), and more. In the world of chronotypes such as larks or night owls, I don’t think there’s a term for the hours I keep. My father has even crazier hours, going to sleep between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. and waking around 2 p.m. for 40+ years. Perhaps one day, we will be studied by sleep scientists.You’d think that, given the vital importance of sleeping well and the dire health consequences of not sleeping well for years (e.g., elevated risk of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and worse), proper sleep techniques would be well understood by the scientific community. Although many improvements in sleep science are helping millions to sleep better, we’re still far from understanding sleep deeply (pun intended).Although I’m not a “sleep expert” (and you should consult with licensed medical experts when making any decision), I recommend you read through this book and note down several things you can try out to improve your sleep. Consult with the necessary experts and start trying what you and they think might help you. Create a sleep diary – a daily log of how you slept (0-10 scale), how many sleep disturbances you had, how you felt when you woke up, and how many hours you were in bed (hours you slept may vary tremendously from the hours spent in bed).As you implement different strategies to sleep better, keep up your diary and you’ll be able to spot trends and patterns that will help you sleep even better than before.I wish you many, many good nights of sleep and the benefits of waking up refreshed, excited, and full of energy to tackle your day. Yes, your sleep CAN be improved if you work at it. Never give up.If you have any suggestions, questions, or feedback on this book, please email rj@findinggeniuspodcast.com.Thank you for reading!Richard JacobsHost of Finding Genius PodcastExecutive Director of Finding Genius Foundation Read more