With so many of us now owning wearables like the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, or Garmin Forerunner 265, using these devices to track sleep has become common. However, making sense of the data and using it to improve sleep can be tricky. To help, I spoke with sleep expert Dr. Sophie Bostock.
Why Track Your Sleep?
Using a smartwatch to track sleep can reveal what’s affecting your rest and guide you to make better sleep decisions. Dr. Bostock points out that many adults don’t get the recommended seven hours of sleep, often due to busy schedules or lifestyle choices.
This lack of sleep can greatly impact daily life and decision-making. Dr. Bostock shares a personal story to highlight that knowing about sleep isn’t enough; you need to take action to improve it.
Decoding Sleep Data
Wearables usually break down sleep into light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep, and note any times you wake up. While professional studies identify four stages of sleep, wearables often combine the first two stages into light sleep, which is normal.
Light sleep helps refresh the hippocampus, aiding memory transfer to the cortex. Deep sleep is important for balancing hormones, insulin sensitivity, and reducing anxiety. REM sleep, which occurs later in the night, is crucial for processing emotions and problem-solving.
Reliability of Wearables
Brands like Apple, Oura, and Whoop are over 90% accurate in detecting whether you’re asleep or awake, but their accuracy drops to 60-70% for identifying sleep stages compared to the gold standard of Polysomnography. Despite this, Dr. Bostock believes the data is still valuable for spotting trends and disruptions over time.
Maximizing Your Sleep Data
To get the most from your sleep data, wear your smartwatch consistently to observe patterns and influences on your sleep. If you notice disruptions, consider potential causes like snoring, sleep apnea, caffeine intake, alcohol, stress, large meals, or late-night exercise.
Gradually adjusting these factors can improve your sleep quality. Dr. Bostock also mentions that wearables might overestimate sleep duration, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
If the sleep data stresses you out or affects your sleep, Dr. Bostock suggests taking a break from tracking. The most important indicator of good sleep is how you feel during the day.
Duration of Tracking
Dr. Bostock recommends tracking your sleep for at least a week, but ideally longer, to notice any changes. Lifestyle changes, like cutting down on caffeine or getting more natural daylight, might take at least two weeks to show in your sleep data.
Enhancing Sleep with Technology
Sound aids like white noise, audiobooks, or rain sounds can help some people sleep better. However, the effect of blue light from screens is minimal compared to the alertness caused by dopamine hits from addictive apps.
Limiting screen time before bed can prevent sleep disruption. Simple solutions like eye masks and earplugs can also help by blocking out light and noise.
By tracking your habits without stressing over the data, you can work towards better sleep and enjoy the benefits of being well-rested.