Fitness Trackers and sleep data

sheldonklein

I don't understand how you use sleep data. It would be interesting, but how do you use the data to sleep better?

WalkingAlong

It was never much use to me because I sleep fine. But I guess if you don't get enough sleep this helps you track how much you do get and how disrupted it is. Then you can make changes and see if they helped. Maybe make your room darker or cooler or quieter or turn in earlier or put pets elsewhere... lots of things you can change.

sparkleiya

If you get mysterious symptoms, you could use the sleep data as another piece of the puzzle. Lots of people get headaches and migraines for what seems like no reason. Or if you're feeling crappy one day, you can look at the sleep data and maybe know why. Oh, it's because you woke up 17 times last night! And if you notice patterns like waking up too often during the night, you can tell your doctor. Before I got my Fitbit, when doctors asked how I slept the answer was always something like "I guess my sleep is ok, I don't really know. I feel tired in the morning, but doesn't everyone?"

I plan to get a new foam pillow sometime soonish, and the sleep data is definitely going to be useful for real comparisons in my sleep quality. I don't have to guess or make assumptions based on how I think I feel. I also used it for comparing sleep quality in a hotel bed vs my own bed once. I'm not going to buy a new mattress just because I slept better at a hotel, but it's nice to look at.

In terms of actual actions I've taken to improve sleep quality - I found out that with waking up and time to fall asleep, I'm getting 30 minutes to 1 hour less sleep than the time I spend in bed. So I don't cut my bedtime as close at night anymore. 7 hours spent in bed means only 6 hours of sleep!