This book was written by my sleep doctor! I have sleep apnea, which is treated by me wearing a CPAP machine to bed every night, which is not fun, but is more fun than feeling exhausted all day every day, which is how I was before I got the CPAP machine. Additionally, I take a medication each morning to help keep me awake during the day; due to having undiagnosed sleep apnea for years before I got it treated, I have some loose wires in the part of my brain that keeps me awake.

Anyhow - that’s why I have a sleep doctor. That’s also how I know how important getting enough sleep is! If you’ve ever seen me leave a party early or get grouchy because dinner plans are running behind schedule, it’s because I absolutely love to prioritize my sleep.

This book was kind of all over the place; part autobiography, part motivational speech, part popular science book. If you want to motivate yourself to get into a better sleep habit, it’s definitely worth a read. But it doesn’t take a very research-driven approach. For that, I recommend The Circadian Code by Dr. Satchin Panda, which I read in 2021.

One thing l’ve taken from this book, though, is Dr. Singh’s four-step wind down plan:

  1. Shower
  2. Journal
  3. Read
  4. Mindful Breathing

Something about this 30-40 minute ritual just… works. I’ve been taking a warm shower before bed since reading The Circadian Code, which taught me that warm showers bring your blood flow closer to your skin, which lowers your core body temperature, which helps you fall asleep. And Dr. Singh’s argument for journaling is that it helps you empty your mind and lets you go to bed with nothing to worry about. Reading helps me detach further from the stress or work of the day. And Mindful Breathing is like a final goodnight to myself (I just do 2 minutes on the breathing app in the Apple Watch).

Anyway - it was a fun book.