Don’t lose sleep over losing sleep!!
Do these following questions get under your skin?
How well did you sleep? How many hours did you sleep? Did you get any REM sleep? What’s your HRV this morning?
It is okay if you are tired of people asking you about your sleep. It is especially understandable if you tracked track your sleep regularly and are simply over it.
Why? Because all of this thinking about your sleep is likely making your sleep worse!
Researchers call this condition Orthosomnia. The term means “correct sleep.” It describes the condition in which someone has trouble sleeping because they are worried about how well they are sleeping. “There are a growing number of patients who are seeking treatment for self-diagnosed sleep disturbances such as insufficient sleep duration and insomnia due to periods of light or restless sleep observed on their sleep tracker data. The patients’ inferred correlation between sleep tracker data and daytime fatigue may become a perfectionistic quest for the ideal sleep.”1
In other words many of us are thinking too much about our sleep and overanalyzing it. By trying to have the best possible sleep you can inhibit your own ability to relax and fall asleep. Health trackers have many benefits, but we cannot rely on them for everything. Not only will they make you overthink the healthy things your are doing, but many trackers are simply inaccurate to begin with.
Don’t put too much of your faith into your watch’s analysis of your sleep. Instead, follow basic rules for good sleep like no screens or caffeine just before bed and having a dark room. Then just hop in bed when you are tired and let the rest happen naturally.
