Health - Wellness
Why You Should Be Tracking Your Sleep
By BETH BRADFORD
Some factors, such as scrolling through our phones, vitamin D deficiency, or late afternoon coffee can affect the quality of our sleep. Losing an hour or two of sleep for a few nights might sound harmless, but the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) says this can be just as bad as a single night of no sleep.
The NHLBI also says a lack of sleep can affect your focus and memory. While sleeping, your mind develops the capacity to learn new things the next day, which helps with your creativity and ability to make important decisions.
Although we might intend to go to bed at a certain time each night, sleep trackers can help us be a little more mindful of how much time we spend on the pillow. These wearable technologies monitor various metrics, such as how often you toss and turn, using accelerometers or heart rate monitors.
Sleep trackers can help you monitor various patterns in your sleep, such as the times that make you feel more restful. Even if you get a consistent eight hours of sleep per night, you might notice that you feel more tired if those hours fall between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. versus 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.