Sleep is essential in our lives, just like water or air, and we should be dedicating a third of our lives to sleeping, roughly 8 hours per day throughout our existence. With today’s fast-paced and increasingly stressful lifestyle, we tend to devote less time than ever before to sleep, and most importantly, we sacrifice the quality of our sleep. Surprisingly, technology, which is often blamed for keeping us awake at night, can come to our rescue should we choose to let it help us develop some healthy sleeping habits.
There are many sleep tracking apps out there, some free, some not. You need to analyze what you need from such an app and select one that suits those specific needs, irrespective of how unpretentious or complicated they are. Remember that is as important to track your sleep, go to bed at the same time, and wake up at the same time, as it is to prepare yourself for bedtime, i.e. forget the book you want to finish, the social media notifications, or that exciting movie you wanted to watch tonight.
Here are 5 top rated apps found from TopMattress.com to keep track of your sleep, wake you up at the optimal moment, and help you achieve a good night’s sleep every night:
- Sleep Cycle. Sleep Cycle is a free app in the App Store that has proven to be very useful for those of us who are looking to improve the quality of their sleep. Sleep Cycle wakes you up in at the perfect time, works just as well with two people in bed, and has a new feature that can track your snoring habits (excellent for those of us who pretend they never snore). The fact that it can detect the lightest sleep phase when you are well rested and relax to wake you up is what makes Sleep Cycle one of the best sleep tracking apps!
- Sleep Better. Sleep Better is also a free app that analyzes everything you do throughout the day, including sleep, alcohol consumption, or caffeine intake. It examines your sleep cycle and how your daily habits affect the quality and duration of your sleep. Sleep Better provides long-term stats that can help you make the right changes in your lifestyle to get enough quality shut-eye.
- Calm. Calm is an application that is free, just like Sleep Cycle and Sleep better. It transforms your phone into a sleep tracker and alarm clock with additional features such as guided meditation sessions designed to meet specific needs, such as induce deep sleep, calm anxiety, or work on your forgiveness and non-judgment abilities. Calm is more than a sleep tracking app; it was created for people who are looking to drift off easier into dreamland by achieving inner peace by developing mindfulness and life-changing meditation skills.
- Sleep Pillow Sounds. Another free app, Sleep Pillow Sounds is an application that helps you sleep great with ambient sounds and mixes. It’s not an app that works for everyone, but it’s great for those who appreciate high quality sounds in the background. With more than 300,000 combinations of sound mixes, addressing all tastes and preferences, this app allows relaxation to set in before you fall asleep.
- To Bed. To Bed is a free app as well and although it has lost its shine compared to other newer apps, it remains an effective tool to prepare you for bedtime and ensure you wake up on time. If you want an easy-to-use, unsophisticated sleep tracking app, To Bed is the app that you are looking for to attain that goal.
This article was submitted by Edie through GeeksULTD’s Contributor Account.
