What Science Says You Should Be Doing This January for Better Sleep
I’ve struggled with sleep for as long as I can remember. I struggle to fall asleep. I struggle to stay asleep. I wake up hours before my alarm and can’t get back to sleep. Basically, I am a bad sleeper in every sense.
The lack of energy was starting to affect my job, health, and relationships, so I decided to do something about it. Before checking into a sleep lab or taking prescription sleeping pills, I thought I’d learn as much as I could about sleep to see if I could fix it myself.
But instead of wading through the mass of misinformation online, I wanted to learn from the experts.
Learn from Experts Lightning Fast
I bought about 10 or so books about sleep written by sleep scientists, doctors, and researchers. But those books gathered dust on my bookshelf for months as I just didn’t have the time — or energy! — to read them.
I was searching for a quicker way to get knowledge from books when I found Blinkist.
Blinkist is an app that shares key insights from nonfiction books in bite-sized explainers. You can read or listen to each explainer and most of them are about 15 minutes long. The app has 27 categories and more than 7,500 titles, including many books about sleep.
I rounded up the top sleep titles, listened to one a day, and by Sunday night I was sleeping better than I had in years.
Here’s a selection of the books that transformed my nights.
The Sleep Solution by Dr. Chris Winter
The Sleep Solution
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
Dr. Chris Winter is a neurologist and sleep specialist. He has also advised businesses, sports organizations, and even the US military on how to get better sleep. Count me in.
In The Sleep Solution, he goes over what insomnia is and isn’t — knowing this is the first step to building a better relationship with sleep.
Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson
Sleep Smarter
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
Shawn Stevenson’s book, Sleep Smarter, is packed with practical tips you can implement for better sleep tonight. Tips like increasing light exposure during the day, and decreasing it in the evenings, or cutting yourself off from caffeine by 4 P.M, sound simple, but work wonders.
“You will perform better, make better decisions, and have a better body when you get the sleep you require.”— Shawn Stevenson.
The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington
The Sleep Revolution
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
If you need convincing that it’s worth improving your sleep, this book will do it. Co-founder of The Huffington Post Arianna Huffington used to dismiss sleep, until she realized how she couldn’t get by without it.
Her book, The Sleep Revolution shares how everyone from athletes to employees to school kids perform better when they get enough sleep.
The Sleep Prescription by Aric Prather
The Sleep Prescription
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
As a clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, Aric Prather knows what he’s talking about when it comes to sleep. His book, The Sleep Prescription outlines a seven-day plan to get you sleeping better.
Steps include regularizing your circadian rhythm on day one to building sleep pressure (the urge to sleep) on day seven.
Hello Sleep by Jade Wu
Hello Sleep
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
Behavioral sleep medicine specialist Jade Wu outlines a program to overcome insomnia without medication. In Hello Sleep, she shares the science behind the most interesting parts of sleep, like why you feel tired on the sofa, but wired when you get into bed — and how to break that link.
“Treating sleep like a friend sets you up for a healthier relationship with it in both the short and long term.”— Jade Wu.
You can find all of these sleep books — and more — on Blinkist, the app that made it possible for this tired insomniac to learn how to sleep.
Learn from Bestselling Books in 15 Minutes
Books are such a great tool for learning, but I would never have managed to read these books cover to cover. On Blinkist, it took me under an hour and a half — 85 minutes to be exact!
Blinkist shares all of the key information from nonfiction books in about 15 minutes. You can learn from leading experts on a topic, and get all of their practical advice and inspirational insights, in minutes.
Blinkist shares the key insights from books in 15 minutes.
Learn New Skills from Expert Authors
There are 7,500 titles in the app’s library across 27 categories with 70 new books added each month. So, as well as sleep, I’ve been learning about investing, sales, stoicism, and habit formation — gaining new skills straight from expert authors.
Blinkist also has Guides, in which an expert walks you through everything you need to know about a topic with help from bestselling books and the latest research.
I listened to a Guide led by Aric Prather — author of the Sleep Prescription — to get even more actionable advice on improving my sleep.
Listen and Learn On the Go
As anyone who’s struggled sleeping knows, you can’t concentrate on text for long before your mind wanders. So, I decided to listen to each of Blinkist’s explainers.
Each one is available in audio form. I listened while at the gym, traveling to work, and when winding down in the evenings — which I learned is key to a good night’s sleep.
“With Blinkist, I am able to read ten books a week — something I’ve never been able to do before. This helps a lot, because I want to maximize my learning in order to develop.”— Jonas, 7Mind.
One of the Best Apps for Making Positive Changes
I wanted to improve my sleep, but users are turning to Blinkist to learn about all sorts of topics, like meditation, leadership, and parenting.
They’re not just reading about these topics either. Like me, Blinkist users are implementing their newfound knowledge into their lives — 91% say they’ve created better habits and 87% have made positive changes since using the app.
31 Million Users Turn to Blinkist to Improve Their Lives
Big names have taken notice. Blinkist has won awards from Google and the United Nations, it’s been praised by Forbes and The New York Times. Apple named it a top 20 app for lifelong learning.
But most importantly, Blinkist has 31 million users, and counting, who turn to the app to learn complex topics faster. They’ve given the app 94,000 5-star ratings on app stores.
“Blinkist is such a quick and easy way to access new ideas.”5-star review.
“If you don’t have Blinkist, you might be missing the learning evolution. Completely life-changing, bringing principles from books in the simplest manner.”5-star review.
To improve your sleep (and everything that goes with that), download Blinkist and learn from the experts in less time.
Vanessa is a freelance writer living in London. When not at her laptop, she loves to run, travel and scuba dive wherever she can.
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What is Blinkist?
Blinkist is an app that transforms key insights from great nonfiction books into quick, easy-to-understand highlights. The reality is – everyone loves reading, but no one has the time. Blinkist fills this learning gap and makes acquiring new knowledge effortless.
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