I am always on the hunt for the next best thing in the world of sleep – not just for myself, but for y’all as well. Since I’ve started up this blog I have learned much more than I anticipated when it comes to sleep and how it can affect the mind and body. When you think about it, it seems rather silly learning about sleep, right? Like… its sleep, why does it need to be complicated. Lay your head down on your pillow, close your eyes, and eventually lull off to sleep. While I agree with you there, there are certain things that we can do to enhance or negate our sleep process.

As of recent, I have been interested in tracking what goes on while I’m asleep (leave it to me to try to do the impossible). Of course, while asleep your subconscious takes over and your auto pilot is in control, so you pretty much have no idea what’s going on. Half the time you don’t remember if/what you might have dreamt. Luckily, we live in an age where technology has taken over lives (literally), so… there’s an app for that.

The ‘Sleep Better: Sleep Cycle App’ claims that by using their app you will “wake up feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the day.” The free version on the app comes with numerous features that come in handy for tracking what goes on while you’re on auto pilot. The app allows you to “track your sleep duration, cycles and efficiency; develop a better understanding of your light sleep, deep sleep, and time spent awake in bed (while falling asleep or waking up in the morning); enter daily habits and variables, such as caffeine consumption, exercise information, alcohol consumption, and stress level, to determine the effects of these variables in your sleep; monitors moon phases to see if that has any impact on how you sleep.”

I tried this app for about a week’s time and here are my results:

Each night when I get into bed, I set the alarm on the app and hit start, then place my phone next to my pillow. As you can see in the right hand corner, under the sleep efficiency line, the app tracks how long it takes for me to fall asleep. It also keeps track of what time I start this process and when I end it, and calculates the length of time between the two. During the hours of the night, the app also tracks the phases of sleep that you enter – light sleep, deep sleep (this is where you get the most rest), and if you are awake. As you can see, a typical night for me consists of light sleep, deep sleep, and then awake before I lull back to sleep again. Beneath that graph, you have the option to select any activities that you participated in throughout the day – working out, caffeine, late dinner, etc. 

I did purchase the full version of the app, for $1.99, and I actually am pretty happy with it. There are no ad’s, I am able to track how the moon phases affect my sleep, and am able to customize the sound of my alarm. Even if that is something that you are not interested in, I would recommend checking this app out! It has only been a week and I feel like a whole new person!

I’m going to go ahead and rate this app 5 out of 5 stars!

App review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleep-better-sleep-cycle-app/id922541792?mt=8