As a busy professional, a wife, a mom of a toddler, a youth group leader, and a small business start-up collaborator, I find it easy to slip into the class of “the perpetually sleep deprived”.
Why is sleep so important? 6 Reasons to Get Enough Sleep according to Harvard Women’s Health Watch: learning and memory, safety, metabolism, mood, cardiovascular health, and disease.
Knowing the endless benefits of good sleep (which we will cover in another post, consider this part 1 of our sleep series), and the first hand difference I experience in my attitude and productivity when I do get enough Zzz’s, lead me to look for ways to track and monitor my own sleep habits….
Sleep Cycle app via the iTunes App Store and Googleplay for Android
I came across the Sleep Cycle App a few years ago in the iTunes App Store. At the time, it had only a few positive reviews. Today, the reviews have reached the thousands, and for good reason…
MAIN FEATURES:
- Monitors ALL phases of your sleep cycle and presents your results in an easy-to-read graph.
- Wakes you during your lightest phase of sleep so that you arise more easily and refreshed.
- Customizable wake-up sounds with 15 default alarm melodies, included.
- Long term sleep statistics and graphs that allow you to track and improve sleep habits.
- Optional sleep aid sounds that turn off when it detects you are asleep.
- Measures resting heart rate.
As pictured (left), all you do is set your desired alarm time and place your phone face down on the edge of your mattress and let the app do the work. It keeps track of how long you are in REM sleep (deep sleep) by monitoring your body movements. Then, it detects if you are in the lightest phase of sleep and softly begins to start the alarm within a half-hour of the actual alarm time.
The result: you awaken refreshed and ready for the day rather than being abruptly awoken by a traditional alarm clock.
For other FAQ, see the Sleep Cycle website- here.
If you are perpetually sleep deprived, give this app a try as one of your TinySteps. You may surprise yourself! It’s fun, it’s easy, and it’s very motivating to improve your sleep routine!
Have you used this app before? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below…
Sweet dreams!
(This is not a sponsored post. Just a happy customer getting the word out in order to help her fellow sleep-deprived busy bees.)
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