I can't recommend this book highly enough. I downloaded it after seeing it cited in a recent article in the New York Times. The concepts in the book seemed instantly familiar because they are very similar to a 12-week program I undertook recently called "Sleep Reset," which consists of an app, a sleep coach, and a prescriptive program. This book read like a playbook to the Sleep Reset program. The difference is that the book goes into much more detail on the activities, underlying knowledge, and guidance provided in the Sleep Reset program. Some of the most important observations in the book:1. What we do during the day is at least as important (maybe more) than some of the sleep hygiene tactics we all know.2. Our bodies are designed to sleep and we often get in the way of our bodies natural desires and capabilities toward a good night's sleep by our behaviors, both at night and during the day.3. Sleep architecture (going through the sleep stages) is more important than the number of hours of sleep - we need to reach states of deep sleep to be rested (note: as a former taker of Ambien, I quit Ambien because I failed to reach the restful states of sleep I craved while on that med)4. Maybe the most important observation: staying in the bed too long and staying in bed *trying* fruitlessly to get to sleep or get back to sleep is one of the worst things we can do (and was something that I literally did for 20 years before learning this program)The book includes the science behind the cognitive behavioral therapy approach to getting better sleep, which is based on a program of sleep restriction, based on individualized 'sleep efficiency' ratings taken from a sleep diary that we are instructed to take (the author clearly explains how this works and it's very easy and not time consuming).The book is chock full of interesting and insightful anecdotes, based on the author's years as a sleep clinician. He also includes very helpful analogies. My favorite is the one that compares our bodies' desire for sleep to a balloon that builds pressure over the day. Nap if you wish, but you're letting air out of your sleep balloon that won't be there when you need it tonight! Another interesting observation of the author's is that blue light from our devices may not be the sleep bugaboo that it's made out to be, rather, it's the engagement that arouses our brains from reading the content on our devices, such as social media and stressful news reports that keeps us awake. Ditto for his observation around the role of not being able to shut our brains off from rehashing ruminating thoughts being one of the most important drivers of poor sleep. These causes are identified, along with tactical suggestions (ways to visualize to dismiss unwanted thoughts) and lifestyle suggestions (consider meditation and activity during the daytime)Lastly, I love that he sets our expectations. We are pretty much guaranteed to substantially improve our sleep by following his program, however, it's unrealistic to believe that we will have perfect sleep every night. If you read the book and follow this program, you WILL be rewarded by better sleep, although you will need to commit to lifestyle modifications and trade-offs to make this happen. It may feel that the changes result in your entire lifestyle shifting to get a better night's sleep, but the trade-off of having more energy, being able to concentrate, and just feeling more relaxed and happy are so worth it.