I'd recommend the book "The Promise of Sleep" [0] for anyone that's interested in learning more about sleep. The author basically pioneered the sleep medicine field and was at the University of Chicago in 1951 when R.E.M. sleep was discovered.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Hap...

It depends on what you understand under "self-help books".

The generic, feel-good ones, sure, those are trash that usually doesn't work (they still might work given the specific situation).

The well researched, written by scientists and psychologists - I found a few that I love. In fact I'm going to buy ten pieces of one book for this Christmas because I have found it crucial.

These are the three well researched books I've read in the past 18 months that turned my life around for the better and that I heartily recommend:

[1] The Promise of Sleep

[2] Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development

[3] Learned Optimism (that's the one I'm buying ten times for this year's Christmas)

The one recommended in the article, 59 Seconds, is waiting on a pile of books (not exclusively from the self-help category, with The Algorithm Design Manual, Street Smarts, Architecture of Open Source Applications, Learn You a Haskell etc.) to be read soon.

Let's read, think and become better people.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Happ...

[2] http://www.amazon.com/Self-theories-Motivation-Personality-D...

[3] http://www.amazon.com/Learned-Optimism-Change-Your-Mind/dp/1...

We are the last generation (or one of the last) that doesn't understand our own brains.

We have electricity, light bulbs and flickering TV and computers screens but we don't understand our sleep cycle and the circadian rhythm. We are a sleep-deprived civilization.[1]

Our scientists already know how learning works (semantic encoding and repetition are the key), but we still cram kids in Austro-Hungarian like classrooms.[2]

We are the last generation to waste drinking water. Water is already today a precious resource. In the future this will be even more pronounced.

Great article, got me thinking.

If you're interested, I recommend

[1] The Promise of Sleep: http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Happ...

[2] Brain Rules: http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Principles-Surviving-Thriv...

This is true, but quite simplified. I always recommend a great book by the pioneer of sleep science William C. Dement "The Promise Of Sleep" http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Happ... It explains this and many other aspects of sleep that you need to know to manage it effectively.

If anyone is really interested in how sleep works and how to manage your sleep, you should really read William C. Dement's conclusive work "The Promise Of Sleep". He's a pioneer of sleep science from Stanford with a great experience and thousands of helped patients. His book is as exciting as it is useful and full of research data, analytics and explanations. A real pleasure to read. After this book, all articles would seem a drop in the ocean.

http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Happ...

This book about sleep has pretty good reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Happ..., I'm going to buy it.

If anyone is interested in this topic, check out the book "The Promise of Sleep". It's the story of one of the earliest sleep researcher (before we knew about REM) and his journey into understanding sleep.

It some interesting insights into sleep, for example why it's better to be a little tired than overslept.

http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sleep-Medicine-Connection-Happ...