5 Apps That Will Help You Fall Asleep Faster (and Stay Asleep Longer)
By Mansurat Zakari
Just like productivity apps optimize our efficiency, so do sleep apps optimize our sleep. We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping and the quality of rejuvenation our body gets during this time determines how we show up in other aspects of our daily life.
Sleep apps can be used on our mobile devices, and they come with a range of features like sleep tracking and guided meditations. In this article, we would look at some of the best sleep apps and how you can integrate them into your routine for a more fulfilling sleep experience.
Article Outline:
1. Introduction
2. Understanding Sleep Cycles and The Place of Sleep Apps in Optimizing Sleep
- Stage 1 (NREM 1)
- Stage 2 (NREM 2)
- Stage 3 (NREM 3)
- Stage 4 (REM Sleep)
- How Sleep Apps Can Assist in Optimizing Your Sleep Cycles
Sleep Tracking
Relaxation Techniques
Smart Alarm Clocks
3. App 1: Sleep Cycle
- Features
- Benefits
- Things To Consider
4. App 2: Headspace
- Features
- Benefits
- Things To Consider
5. App 3: Calm
- Features
- Benefits
- Things To Consider
6. App 4: White Noise Lite
- Features
- Benefits
- Things To Consider
7. App 5: Sleep Time
- Features
- Benefits
- Things To Consider
8. Conclusion
Understanding Sleep Cycles and The Place of Sleep Apps in Optimizing Sleep
Typically, a sleep cycle lasts about 90-120 minutes, and the specific time varies from person to person. There are about four stages of sleep in every sleep cycle and cycling through them repeatedly throughout the night is necessary for optimum sleep. Let’s look at these four stages of sleep briefly.
Stage 1 (NREM 1)
Stage 1 or the non-rapid eye movement stage 1 is the light sleep stage. In this stage, your brain waves slow down moving away from a state of wakefulness and your muscles start to relax. This is the phase of transition between being awake and being asleep. It only lasts for a short period, about 4-7% of the total sleep time.
Stage 2 (NREM 2)
The brain waves continue to slow down in this stage and muscle activity decreases. This is the phase where you spend most of your sleep time, about 45-55% of the total sleep time. It is the preparatory stage that moves the body into a state of deeper sleep.
Stage 3 (NREM 3)
This is the deepest stage of sleep. The brain waves become very slow at this point with very minimal muscle activity. This is the phase where important functions like tissue repair, tissue growth, and memory consolidation occur. It takes about 20-40% of the total sleep time. When your sleep is disrupted and you don't spend enough time in this stage, you may struggle with daytime fatigue, impaired cognitive function, and even decreased immunity.
Stage 4 (REM Sleep)
This is the sleep stage of rapid eye movement. In this phase, the brain waves become more active, similar to a state of wakefulness and the muscles become paralyzed. This is the time when dreaming typically occurs. The rapid eye movement sleep stage also plays important roles beneficial for learning like memory consolidation and emotional processing.
This stage takes up about 20-25% of total sleep time. When you do not get enough REM sleep, you may have trouble regulating your mood and have to deal with cognitive impairment as well as emotional stress.
How Sleep Apps Can Assist in Optimizing Your Sleep Cycles
Sleep Tracking
Many sleep apps can be used to monitor your sleep patterns including your total sleep time, sleep stages based on estimations using your body movement, and wake-up times. These apps can provide you with all these data to help you identify areas for improvement as well as progress you make over time. However, it should be noted that sleep tracking through apps is not always accurate and may not be a direct reflection of your sleep stages.
Relaxation Techniques
Sleep apps can offer guided meditations, calming sounds, and even guides for breathing exercises which can help you relax before bed and promote sleep onset.
Smart Alarm Clocks
Some sleep apps can help you analyze your sleep patterns and wake you up during your lighter sleep stage which is close to the rapid eye movement sleep stage. This would allow you to feel more refreshed and relaxed when you wake up.
App 1: Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is a popular sleep app that can help you gain insights into your sleep patterns to optimize your sleep and help you wake up feeling more refreshed.
It is compatible with mobile devices and uses the device’s microphone to analyze your sleep stages and how long you last in each stage. This is estimated based on your body sounds and movements. Even though it is not a clinical means of measuring sleep stages, it can still provide you with invaluable information about your sleep quality.
The app also has an alarm. It functions by analyzing your sleep patterns throughout the night and it wakes you up during your lighter sleep stage. However, you still get to have control over this by setting your preferred wake window. Its advantage over traditional alarm clocks is that it allows for a more natural wake up style.
Sleep Cycle enables you to keep track of your data over time so you can pinpoint patterns and trends. You get to see how factors like stress, exercise, or caffeine may be affecting your sleep quality with suggestions on how to make improvements.
The calming sounds offered as well as the breathing exercises can be integrated into your bedtime routine to help you wind down and fall asleep faster. With features for customization, you can select the types of sounds you prefer and input other settings for a personalized experience.
Benefits
You will gain insights about your sleep quality and see areas for improvement.
The smart alarm allows for a more natural wake up.
The sleep trends from the data collected can help you see your lifestyle choices that may be affecting your sleep.
The relaxation aids will help you fall asleep faster.
Things To Consider
Sleep tracking using a microphone is not the clinically standard method of sleep tracking used in sleep studies though it's an effective approach for easy home use.
You will need to keep your phone near your bed while sleeping and this may lead to potential sleep disruptions but muting your notifications can be helpful.
You would need a paid subscription to access your full data and all of the app’s functionalities.
App 2: Headspace
Headspace is a mindfulness and sleep app that can help you reduce stress, improve your sleep, and enhance your overall wellbeing. The app has a wide library of guided meditations led by founder Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk. These meditations are aimed at stress management, anxiety relief, focus improvement, sleep preparation, and more. The length of the meditations varies, with shorter sessions for beginners and longer programs for people seeking a deeper dive.
There are also relaxing soundscapes and music to help you unwind before bed and sleep better. These sounds include nature sounds, white noise, and calming melodies.
Headspace provides structured courses on different mindfulness topics that take learners through a step-by-step journey where they learn to practice mindfulness techniques for daily life. It also incorporates gentle movement exercises like yoga and mindful stretching routines that help reduce stress, improve flexibility, and promote relaxation.
Benefits
Reduced stress and anxiety
Improved sleep quality
Increased focus and concentration
Enhanced emotional wellbeing
Increased self-awareness and compassion
Things To Consider
You would need a paid subscription to access all the features and content.
Mindfulness and meditation require patience and consistency to see results.
App 3: Calm
Calm is another popular mindfulness and sleep app. Similar to Headspace, it has a large library of guided meditations led by experienced mindfulness teachers. The meditations target issues that affect sleep quality like stress, inability to fall asleep, as well as things like gratitude cultivation and focus improvement which promote wellbeing.
There are short meditations for everyday practice as well as longer multi-part sessions for those looking to dive deeper into meditation and its benefits. The app also has a Sleep Stories feature that offers soothing bedtime stories narrated by calming voices. The stories are meant to lull you to sleep and can be a sustainable alternative to traditional sleep aids.
In addition to these, it offers cool soundscapes and music, ranging from nature sounds to ambient music, and calming white noise which can help you drift off to sleep easily. There are also breathing exercises to help manage stress and anxiety that could be affecting your ability to fall asleep.
Benefits
Improved sleep quality
Reduced stress and anxiety
Increased focus and concentration
Improved emotional wellness
Better emotional regulation
Things To Consider
Requires a paid subscription after the free trial with limited content.
You would need to be consistent with the mindfulness practices to experience benefits.
App 4: White Noise Lite
White Noise Lite is a free and easy to use app designed to help you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper. It does this by masking unwanted sounds from the environment and replacing it with calming sounds. The app has a vast library of white noise sounds like ocean waves and rain sounds.
It creates room for a personalized experience with customization features that allow users to create custom mixes by combining different white noise options. The sounds can also be set for a specific duration depending on when you feel you may fall asleep, and it could play continuously throughout the night.
Benefits
Masks disturbing noise to create a more peaceful and sleep-inducing environment.
Promotes relaxation enabling you to fall asleep faster.
It can improve your overall sleep quality.
Things To Consider
The app’s features are limited, and it solely focuses on white noise lacking features like guided meditations or sleep tracking.
The free version of the app includes ads which may disrupt the sounds, but the paid version is free from ads and offers additional features.
App 5: Sleep Time
Sleep Time is a sleep app that can help you understand your sleep patterns, improve your sleep quality, and wake up feeling refreshed. It takes a more holistic approach to sleep improvement.
You can use any of the different sleep tracking methods it offers to track your sleep. This can be using your phone’s microphone to analyze sounds and movement patterns or using the wearable sleep trackers.
It uses the data it collects to provide insights into your sleep quality and offers suggestions on areas for improvement. It also uses your sleep data to set an optimal wake window which it follows to wake you up. The calming sounds and music can also help you fall asleep fast.
The comprehensive sleep reports and visualizations display your sleep trends over a period of time allowing you to track your sleep progress and the role your lifestyle plays.
Benefits
You will gain detailed insights into your sleep quality and sleep cycle patterns.
The smart alarm would help you wake up in a more natural way.
Track sleep trends and factors affecting your sleep.
The sleep sounds and music would help you fall asleep faster.
Promotes the cultivation of better sleep hygiene habits.
Things To Consider
The data gotten from tracking your sleep may vary depending on the tracking method used.
The free version of the app offers limited features, and you would need a paid plan to access all of the app’s functionalities.
Conclusion
The right sleep app can be your perfect companion on this journey to achieving optimal sleep health. The different apps though with similarities have a varying focus so you can carefully assess the features and benefits of each sleep app before making a choice. Factors to consider when trying to reach a decision include your current sleep needs as well as things that affect your ability to sleep well.
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