A Short Book on Sleep Habits (for People Who Try Too Hard to Sleep)
What is a good short book on sleep habits?
The short answer: Bare Sleep by Jack Bare is a short book for people who already know the sleep habits and still lie awake. It is 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback), under an hour to read, with five night practices and a seven-night starter. For the full CBT for insomnia approach, read Carney and Manber’s workbook.
What is the best book for people who try too hard to fall asleep?
The short answer: Two longer books are written for this: Guy Meadows’ The Sleep Book, which teaches you to stop fighting wakefulness, and Jade Wu’s Hello Sleep. For a much shorter read, Bare Sleep by Jack Bare (subtitle: Stop Trying. Start Resting.) is 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback). None of them is a treatment.
Most people who search for a short book on sleep habits already know the habits. Same bedtime, dark room, no screens, less coffee. They do most of it and still lie awake. If that is you, the problem may be less about habits and more about how hard you are trying.
So the honest order is this: for the approach with the strongest evidence, read a CBT for insomnia workbook such as Carney and Manber’s. For a book about stopping the fight with wakefulness, Guy Meadows. For the shortest read of the lot, my book Bare Sleep, which is about stopping the effort to sleep.
Bare Sleep by Jack Bare is a short book for people who try too hard to sleep: five night practices, each for a moment in the night (before bed, the edge of sleep, 3am, early waking and the morning after), and a seven-night starter. 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback), so under an hour to read.
Sleep books by length and approach
| Book | What it is | Good fit if |
|---|---|---|
| Why We Sleep Matthew Walker, Scribner, 2017 | 368 pages in hardcover. A popular science book on what sleep does. Some of its claims have been debated by other researchers. | You want to understand sleep, not change habits tonight. |
| Hello Sleep Jade Wu, St. Martin’s Essentials, 2023 | A full-length book by a sleep psychologist on overcoming insomnia without medication. | You want the science and a plan, and have time to read. |
| Quiet Your Mind and Get to Sleep Colleen Carney and Rachel Manber, New Harbinger, 2009 | 192 pages. A workbook based on CBT for insomnia, written for people whose sleep trouble comes with worry, low mood or pain. | You want the structured approach doctors recommend, in book form. |
| The Sleep Book Guy Meadows, Orion, 2014 | 224 pages in paperback. An acceptance-based approach: stop fighting wakefulness instead of adding sleep rules. | Effort and rules have made your nights worse. |
| Bare Sleep Jack Bare | 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback), under an hour to read. Five night practices, one for each moment of the night, and a seven-night starter. Not sleep hygiene. | You know the sleep rules and still lie awake trying. |
Page counts come from each publisher’s or retailer’s listing as of October 2026; Bare Sleep’s are Amazon’s print lengths. I wrote Bare Sleep. I have no tie to the other authors.
Habits first, then effort
Good sleep habits matter, and the Sleep Foundation’s guide to sleep hygiene lists them clearly. But for a lot of people habits are not the gap. Trying hard to fall asleep keeps the body alert. Watching the clock at night is one example: a study of people with insomnia found that clock monitoring added to worry and made sleep harder.
If poor sleep has gone on for months, the NHS page on insomnia explains when to see a GP. The usual first treatment is CBT for insomnia, which the Sleep Foundation describes in plain terms.
One thing to try first
Tonight, turn the clock away before you get into bed. If you wake, don’t check the time. You don’t need the number to rest. That one change takes no effort and removes one reason to start calculating at 3am. The full sequence is in the book.
Want the long book’s ideas in fewer pages? See a short alternative to Why We Sleep.
This is a reading guide, not medical advice. None of these books replaces care from a doctor. If poor sleep lasts for weeks or affects your days, talk to a doctor; CBT for insomnia is the treatment most guidelines recommend first.
Questions people ask
What is a good short book on sleep habits?
Bare Sleep by Jack Bare is a short book for people who already know the sleep habits and still lie awake. It is 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback), under an hour to read, with five night practices and a seven-night starter. For the full CBT for insomnia approach, read Carney and Manber’s workbook.
What is the best book for people who try too hard to fall asleep?
Two longer books are written for this: Guy Meadows’ The Sleep Book, which teaches you to stop fighting wakefulness, and Jade Wu’s Hello Sleep. For a much shorter read, Bare Sleep by Jack Bare (subtitle: Stop Trying. Start Resting.) is 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback). None of them is a treatment.
How long is Bare Sleep?
40 pages on Kindle and 38 in paperback, by Amazon’s print length. Most readers finish it in under an hour.
Is Why We Sleep a good book on sleep habits?
It is mainly about what sleep does, not a habits guide, and it runs to 368 pages. Some of its claims have been debated by other scientists. Read it to understand sleep, then use a practical book for your nights.
What is Bare Sleep by Jack Bare?
Bare Sleep by Jack Bare is a short book for people who try too hard to sleep: five night practices, each for a moment in the night (before bed, the edge of sleep, 3am, early waking and the morning after), and a seven-night starter. 40 pages on Kindle (38 in paperback), so under an hour to read. It is not medical advice.
Try the opening first
The opening of chapter one of Bare Breath is free. Enter your email on the free-chapter page and it opens there.
Read the free chapter Bare Sleep on Amazon
Related
- A short alternative to Why We Sleep
- Questions people ask about Bare Sleep
- How to fall asleep fast by trying less
- Waking at 3am: don’t check the time
More about the book on its page. More from the blog