The day has only just begun and you’re already thinking about sneaking off to the bathroom and taking a five-minute nap slumped on the toilet. Sure, it’s not ideal, but at least your professor or boss won’t find you with your head buried into your desk again. Frustrated, you ask yourself the same recurring question you’ve been struggling to answer for years: Why am I so tired all the time? You wonder if you’re getting enough sleep at night but can’t remember what times you’ve been falling asleep. You’re struggling at the gym, meetings and in class and the other day you overheard someone compare you to a zombie. Maybe it’s time to start tracking your sleep. Here are the five best sleep trackers to help you get to the bottom of your sleep problems:
1. WHOOP
If you’re an athlete, then WHOOP is definitely for you. The strap goes snug around your wrist and measures how your body is strained by your sleep, workouts and overall lifestyle. The device uses your natural circadian rhythm when calculating the amount of sleep you need each night to perform at your best. It not only tells you how long you slept but also the time it took for you to fall asleep, the number of times you awoke throughout the night, and even how much time you spent in each stage of sleep. The data from the wearable then syncs with its app to generate a sleep score, personalized and based on how much sleep you need as an individual in comparison to the burden your daily activities place on your body. To provide accurate bedtime and wake-time recommendations, the app needs at least three days of data.
2. Fitbit
Fitbit is a wristband that helps users track physical activity and sleeping patterns. Depending on the particular model, you will either see a record of the sleep stages you cycle through at night or your sleep pattern which shows your time spent awake, restless, and asleep. The data are imported into the Fitbit app each morning, allowing you to assess last night's sleep stats. You can also view your entire sleep history, create sleep goals, and create bedtime and wake up reminders with the app. Lastly, the app provides personalized guidance on how to improve your sleep for better overall health. The longer you use the device and the more data it collects, the better insights you’ll receive.
3. Withings Sleep
If you hate the idea of wearing a wristband or strap 24/7, then Withings Sleep may be a good alternative. It’s a mat that slips underneath your mattress and tracks your breathing, movement and heart rate while you sleep. The mat can even detect light, snoring, and REM sleep cycles. The data is then synced with an app so you can easily view your sleep stats. The app also features an 8-week Sleep Smarter program, which gives you personalized tips on how to improve the quality of your sleep.
4. Zeeq Smart Pillow
Zeeq Smart Pillow is a memory foam pillow that can wirelessly stream music, detect and monitor snoring, set alarms, and track your sleep cycle. The pillow has multiple sleep tracker sensors that detect snoring volume, sleep duration, sleep movements, and more. Users are provided a detailed daily report that includes an analysis of sleep cycles, sleep duration, snoring, and restfulness, while sleep habits are cataloged for a long-term view of how their activity impacts sleep quality. All the information can be found and viewed in the Zeeq Smart Pillow app.
5. Thim
Thim is a ring designed to help track users sleep and only needs to be worn while you sleep. The ring works by retraining you to fall asleep, as the ring gently wakes you up three minutes after you fall asleep for about an hour. After the hour, the user falls into a deeper sleep than usual. This sounds counterintuitive, however, clinical studies have found sleep retraining beneficial and found that users do achieve improved sleep quality. Thim also tracks your sleeping patterns and claims to do so better than wrist trackers, as monitoring sleep from your finger is more accurate.
So, finally, you can get to the root of your sleep issues. Maybe you’re tired all the time because you snore or it’s taking you an hour to fall asleep every night. Whatever it is, sleep trackers can help you identify the problem and reach informed solution. You don’t have to feel like a zombie any longer. Come back to life and wake up every day feeling energized. And if you’re struggling to fall asleep, consider incorporating a supplement like Som Sleep into your routine.