Rating: 
Summary: Assign this book to your students, whatever your discipline.
Review: Assign this book to your students, whatever your discipline may be. That is what I intend to do. Professor Maas not only makes an airtight argument for why college students should follow his suggestions to get better grades, have a more satisfying life outside of class and feel better. His book has the power to change our dangerous culture of approved sleep-deprivation. If young people begin learning now that less sleep can bring on disasters small and large, perhaps in 20 years they will have begun to diminish.
Rating: 
Summary: Something old, something new
Review: Before Thomas Edison came along, people went to sleep and woke up according to the daylight. Now, Dr. Maas argues, we are a nation that has to be woken up by alarm clocks and overall, just aren't getting enough sleep. Crazy schedules, cramming more work into our day, and sleep disorders are turning us into zombies during the hours we're supposed to be performing at our peak. Why?
Some of the admonitions given here are nothing new: decrease stress (through meditation, exercise, eating better, etc.) so you'll fall asleep more easily. However, Dr. Maas has opened my eyes to the need for better sleep. Most people, (especially we work-driven Americans)are only averaging 4-6 hours a night- and that's on a good night! The average person actually requires 8-10 hours to feel energized and rested all day long. Yes, Dr. Maas says, you can "condition" yourself to motor through your day on less sleep, but it doesn't mean it's the best for you.
Other subjects discussed are:
* Which mattress is best for me?
* Are naps a good thing or a bad thing?
* Sleep disorders (such as insomnia and sleep apnea)
* Sleep "debt" and how to pay it back over time (despite popular thinking, you CAN make up for lost sleep
* How to cope with jet lag
* Ideal bedroom conditions (light, temperature) for the best rest
Although some advice is nothing new, I appreciate the (no pun intended) wake-up call. Dr. Maas is also author of "Remmy and the Brain Train", a book that helpd childrem understand the importance of a sleep schedule- also helpful for children with ADD). Dr. Maas encourages sleeping on a regular schedule; whether that is Midnight to 8 a.m., 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., it doesn't matter, as long as your sleep time frame remains the same. I myself am now going to bed a few hours earlier than my normal time, am averaging 8 hours, and feeling much more alert from my efforts.
Rating:
Summary: a good overview on the importance of sleep
Review: I don't think it will shock many readers that Americans are at least one or two hours sleep deprived a night -- the author details dozens of horrifying accidents and incidents that resulted from the actions of sleep deprived individuals. The opening few chapters about the various levels of sleep made for great reading. The twenty tips for good sleep were helpful, although most of them I already knew. In short, there is nothing extremely new or cutting edge, but there is lots of usable and easy to read information about all kinds of sleep disorders. I found it very entertaining and well presented although I would have cut out some of the extra stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a waste of money but not what I expected
Review: I liked this book in a lot of ways, but when it ended, I was dissappointed. There is worthwhile information about sleep and interesting quotations from famous people about sleep but there seemed to be a lot of filler in this book. The book throws out many statistics but rarely explains how these stastics were obtained. I also thought the book contained too many horror stories about deaths related to people falling asleep while operating heavy machinery etc.,.
I got this book because I am 19 years old and in college and basically ever since I turned 13 I haven't been able to maintain a normal sleep cycle for more than a week at a time. I always end up not being able to get to sleep at my set bedtime and throw off my whole plan to wake and rise at the same time everyday. Unfortunately, I don't think this book is going to help me change that. I only just finished it today, though, so I'll keep you updated as to how things go.
The books' main suggestion is that you should wake up at the same time every day and go to sleep at the same time every night. This is pretty common knowledge and unfortunately I just don't think this is something I can realistically do because I have tried hundreds of time in the past and just not been able to maintain a consistent schedule.
The book gives some valuable suggestions like "don't exercise near bedtime" and "don't eat any heavy meals before bedtime". The book describes the "architecture" of sleep which is interesting to read about and gave me a better understanding of my sleeping patterns. One valuable piece of information the book gave is that 8 hours of disrupted sleep is not as restorative as 6 hours of deep uninterrupted sleep. The book also suggest that if you are cramming for an exam late at night that you should get a minimum of four hours of sleep. This is a valuable piece of information which I could have used throughout the last year of college. The message about sleeping pills in this book is that you shouldn't take them. I think one good message that the book delivers is that sleep is more valuable than we think. The book says that, when we get more sleep, we function at a higher level and then throws out some sketchy statistics to support this argument.
There is a list of sleep clinics in the back of the book which is great. I think I'll have to check one of them out because I doubt this book's suggestions are going to solve my sleeping problems.
I was very disappointed by the fact that there was no concluding chapter to the book. The book doesn't tie everything together at the end and just ends with a list of suggestions for elderly people on how to get to sleep and 20 pages of appendixes and footnotes. I also felt mislead by the title of this book. I thought the book would include information about how to sleep less or how to get more restorative sleep but it didn't and I found that most of the information presented is stuff I already knew. You could probably find most of this information on the internet but I only paid $1 for the book and it did have some interesting information (although it didn't provide me with the type of information I was expecting) so it gets 3 stars. p.s. I also found the suggestions to "go to sleep now if you're tired and staying up and reading this book" really annoying haha
Rating:
Summary: Not a waste of money but not what I expected
Review: I liked this book in a lot of ways, but when it ended, I was dissappointed. There is worthwhile information about sleep and interesting quotations from famous people about sleep but there seemed to be a lot of filler in this book. The book throws out many statistics but rarely explains how these stastics were obtained. I also thought the book contained too many horror stories about deaths related to people falling asleep while operating heavy machinery etc.,.
I got this book because I am 19 years old and in college and basically ever since I turned 13 I haven't been able to maintain a normal sleep cycle for more than a week at a time. I always end up not being able to get to sleep at my set bedtime and throw off my whole plan to wake and rise at the same time everyday. Unfortunately, I don't think this book is going to help me change that. I only just finished it today, though, so I'll keep you updated as to how things go.
The books' main suggestion is that you should wake up at the same time every day and go to sleep at the same time every night. This is pretty common knowledge and unfortunately I just don't think this is something I can realistically do because I have tried hundreds of time in the past and just not been able to maintain a consistent schedule.
The book gives some valuable suggestions like "don't exercise near bedtime" and "don't eat any heavy meals before bedtime". The book describes the "architecture" of sleep which is interesting to read about and gave me a better understanding of my sleeping patterns. One valuable piece of information the book gave is that 8 hours of disrupted sleep is not as restorative as 6 hours of deep uninterrupted sleep. The book also suggest that if you are cramming for an exam late at night that you should get a minimum of four hours of sleep. This is a valuable piece of information which I could have used throughout the last year of college. The message about sleeping pills in this book is that you shouldn't take them. I think one good message that the book delivers is that sleep is more valuable than we think. The book says that, when we get more sleep, we function at a higher level and then throws out some sketchy statistics to support this argument.
There is a list of sleep clinics in the back of the book which is great. I think I'll have to check one of them out because I doubt this book's suggestions are going to solve my sleeping problems.
I was very disappointed by the fact that there was no concluding chapter to the book. The book doesn't tie everything together at the end and just ends with a list of suggestions for elderly people on how to get to sleep and 20 pages of appendixes and footnotes. I also felt mislead by the title of this book. I thought the book would include information about how to sleep less or how to get more restorative sleep but it didn't and I found that most of the information presented is stuff I already knew. You could probably find most of this information on the internet but I only paid $1 for the book and it did have some interesting information (although it didn't provide me with the type of information I was expecting) so it gets 3 stars. p.s. I also found the suggestions to "go to sleep now if you're tired and staying up and reading this book" really annoying haha
Rating:
Summary: Really Works!
Review: I recommend this book to all my sleep-deprived customers. Dr. Maas explains in accessible language why how you sleep tonight will determine your performance tomorrow and the rest of your life. Easy to read and POWERful stuff.
Rating:
Summary: A Sleep Suite Recommendation
Review: I recommend this book to all my sleep-deprived customers. Dr. Maas explains in accessible language why how you sleep tonight will determine your performance tomorrow and the rest of your life. Easy to read and POWERful stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Valuable presentation on importance of sleep in our lives.
Review: In the months since I first read Power Sleep, I have referred back to the wonderful information contained in it many times, and each time, have found there is more to remember and to enjoy. Professor Maas' style of writing makes one want to even consider "losing some sleep," just to absorb this book non-stop. It is at once a valuable reference on sleep, both scientifically and practically; a book which is fun and entertaining, but also very challenging to read; and a subject well presented at a time when we all can be reminded of the restorative nature of getting enough sleep to be at our best each day.
Rating:
Summary: Snooze News
Review: Is my forgetfullness the result of low REM? Is my snoring a symptom of life-threatening sleep apnea or life-threatening spousal abuse, if I continue to keep her awake. God, we are all sleep deprived! POWER SLEEP by Dr. James Maas, (the same guy who taught us to manage by the minute), is informative, chocked full of sleep trivia, and it has an appendix that will blur your tired old eyes. In fact the 20% of the book are footnotes, forms, EMAIL addresses and glossaries. I guess the rest could fit in Readers Digest, (new chapter - water closet rest). I never dreamed such a book could hold my attention and actually impact my sleeping habits. I recommend others wait for the paperback version. $25.00 will by a lot of Nytol in the meantime.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you'll ever want to know about sleep
Review: James Maas is not, as another reviewer stated, the author of The One Minute Manager series (that's Ken Blanchard), but he *is* an expert on sleep habits and the debilitating effects of sleep deprivation. This book has everything you'll ever want to know about the subject--what goes on during sleep, how it impacts your productivity, sleep disorders, and much more. While not exactly "revolutionary," as the title suggests, Power Sleep will enlighten you with the facts on a subject so many people know so little about (but *think* they know enough about). Unfortunately, the people who would benefit most from reading Power Sleep (for example, frequent business travelers, or supervisors of night-shift workers) often don't know what they don't know about the subject of sleep, and will therefore never read Professor Maas' very worthwhile book.
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