Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson
The Book in 1 Sentences
“Sleep is the secret sauce.
There isn’t one facet of your mental, emotional, or physical performance that’s not
affected by the quality of your sleep.
The big challenge is that in our fast-paced world today, millions of people are chronically sleep deprived and suffering the deleterious effects of getting low quality sleep.
The consequences of sleep deprivation aren’t pretty either. Try immune system failure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and memory loss just to name a few.
Most people don’t realize that their continuous sleep problems are also a catalyst for the diseases and appearance issues they’re struggling with.
Studies have shown that just one night of sleep deprivation can make you as insulin resistant as a type-2 diabetic. This translates directly to aging faster, decreased libido, and storing more body fat than you want (say it ain’t so!).
Now stretch that over weeks, months, even years, and you can start to see why lack of sleep can be such a huge problem.” ~ Shawn Stevenson
7 BIG Ideas
Sleep Smarter Book Summary
1. Know the Value of Sleep
“Always remember the value of your sleep. You will perform better, make better decisions,
and have a better body when you get the sleep you require.
Sleep is not an obstacle we need to go around, it’s a natural state your body requires to boost your hormone function, heal your muscles, tissues and organs, and make your mind work at its optimal level.
The shortcut to success is not made by bypassing dreamland. You will factually work better, be more efficient, and get more stuff done when you’re properly rested.
There’s a big difference between ‘working’ and actually being effective. By sacrificing your sleep, you can definitely do more work but the quality and effectiveness of your work will be sacrificed.
A physician study published in The Lancet proved that sleep-deprived individuals took 14 percent longer to complete a task, and made 20 percent more errors than individuals who were well rested. Structure your time to get more sleep first and you’ll be able to get your work done faster and more effectively than if you zombie walked your way through it.”
“A pioneer, and leading authority on sleep research, Dr. William Dement said, ‘You’re not healthy, unless your sleep is healthy.’”
“Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D., called sleep deprivation ‘The royal route to obesity.’ Now understanding the fact that sleep deprivation decreases your insulin sensitivity, disrupts your hormone cycles, and depressed your brain function, we know her statement is 100% true.”
2. AVOID Lights!
“This is likely the number one thing you can do to improve your sleep quality immediately. The artificial blue light emitted by electronic screens triggers your body to produce more daytime hormones (like cortisol) and disorient your body’s natural preparation for sleep.
Computers, iPads, televisions, smartphones, etc. are kicking out a sleep-sucking blue spectrum of light that can give you major sleep problems.”
“Not getting enough sleep, and not sleeping in darkness, will age you faster and suck away your vitality. So, with all the new-found data to back it up, the best solution for improving your sleep is to get your room blacked out.”
3. How Caffeine Works?!
“Caffeine has the unique ability to fit into receptor sites in your body for adenosine, because it’s so structurally similar to the real thing.
Normally, when your receptor sites are filled with real adenosine, your body shifts into rest mode.
The issue with caffeine going into those receptors is that it simply sits there like a distant relative over-extending their stay on your couch. It doesn’t actually turn on functions, like adenosine would, to make you tired.
As a result, your brain and body are still trucking along and you don’t realize that you’re actually sleepy. Pretty cool in some ways, but hopefully you can see where this could become a big problem.”
So, caffeine doesn’t actually “give you energy.” What it really does is mask your fatigue.
Brendan Brazier also tells us in his book The Thrive Diet: “I consider coffee drinking an uncomplementary stress. I view it as a form of credit, similar to shopping with a credit card. You get energy now that you don’t actually have, but you pay for it later—when the ‘bill,’ or fatigue, hits. (Simply drinking more coffee to put off the inevitable is like paying off one credit card with another: It will catch up with you sooner or later.) You’ll most likely pay a high interest rate as well, needing more time to recover than if that energy had not been borrowed in the first place. This is the beginning of a vicious cycle.”
4. The Ideal Room Temperature
“If you live in a home where you can regulate the temperature, you’re more fortunate than billions of other people on the planet.
With that said, overdoing it on the warmth can result in your sleeping the ‘right’ amount of hours but not feeling rested when you wake up.
If you’ve got seven covers, an electric blanket, and you’re dressed like you’re going hunting, you just might be preventing your body from getting the most rejuvenating stages of sleep.”
“Studies have found that the ideal room temperature for sleep is really quite cool at around 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything too far above or below this range will likely cause difficulty sleeping.”
“This may come as a shock, but a 2009 study found that women who slept in their bra had a 60 percent greater risk for developing breast cancer.”
5. Vitamin G (Get Grounded)!
“Since the beginning of time, humans have had a constant connection with the earth. Our ancestors would come in contact with the earth’s surface on a daily basis: walking, hunting, gathering food and water, communing, playing, relaxing and more. Nearly everything they did required a connection with the earth.
Today, in our industrialized world, many people go days, weeks, or even longer without coming in contact with the surface of the earth itself. We are cooped up in our homes or offices, spending more time indoors consuming technology, and less time interacting with the source that all that technology comes from.
Sure, we may walk outside to get into our cars, but most of us wear non-conductive rubber-soled shoes that ensure our bodies never get that intimate connection. We rarely touch the ground, rarely touch a tree, and rarely touch the source that creates every cell in our body.
Scientists are discovering that this is having a huge impact on our health.”
We run on electromagnetic energy. So does the earth. “Bottom line: You may not be able to see it, but you are highly conductive. You give off and receive energy every second of every day. The misuse and misunderstanding of your body’s electrical system is a catalyst for chronic health problems.”
6. Meditate in the Morning
“One of the best times for meditation is when you’re already close to the alpha and theta brain waves. This would be as soon as you wake up in the morning, or right before bed at night.
As the American Academy of Sleep Medicine research showed, meditating in the morning is proven to help test subjects sleep at night. You’re creating a conscious neuro-pathway to relaxation, a buffer against stress, and a profound sense of presence that will help you sleep better at night.”
7. A Bedtime Ritual
“The word ritual is derived from the Latin word ritus meaning ‘a proven way of doing something.’
A ritual is a small sequence of step-by-step actions that put you in a certain mood, state or frame of mind for getting something done. Whether or not you’ve had a history of sleep problems, a regular bedtime ritual will help you wind down and prepare your body for the best sleep possible.
Jessica Alexandra of The Sleep Council stated, ‘A bedtime ritual teaches the brain to become familiar with sleep times and wake times. It programs the brain and internal body clock to get used to a set routine.”
“There is so much greatness in you waiting to be shared, and it starts with passion, consistency, and getting a great night’s sleep.”
That was my QUICK summary of the great book Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson. If you’re interested, get your copy. There is a HUGE amount of life-changing ideas in this book, and we’ve only touched on a tiny bit of it.
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