The Centers for Disease Control has deemed insufficient sleep is a public health problem [1]. Despite the recommended 7-8 hours per night, CDC data reports that 30% US adults exist on 6 hours or less. In conjunction with the CDC, Healthgrove compiled a list of the most sleep-deprived states in the US. [2] The top 20 are:
1 West Virginia
2 Kentucky
3 Tennessee
4 Oklahoma
5 Missouri
6 Alabama
7 Mississippi
8 Delaware
9 Ohio
10 Indiana
11 Florida
12 Pennsylvania
13 Louisiana
14 Utah
15 North Carolina
16 New York
17 Arkansas
18 Maryland
19 Georgia
20 Nevada
Good sleep is absolutely vital to your health and well being. If you aren’t getting enough or the quality is poor, these sleep help and sleep tracking apps will surely aid changing that.
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1. SleepTime+
This is a sleep analysis app that helps you fall asleep and then wake up feeling refreshed without the associated grogginess that comes with waking up while in a very deep sleep. It wakes you when you are in a lighter phase of your sleep cycle, which makes waking up a lot easier.
2. Yoga for Insomnia
itunes.apple.com
play.google.com
As the title suggests, this is an app for people that have insomnia and would like to try yoga to get themselves to sleep. The aim of the app is to help you get to sleep and help improve your sleep patterns so that you may get more sleep on a consistent basis. It is not a very popular app, but then maybe that is because there are not many insomniacs in the world that feel like doing yoga in the night.
Frequently asked questions
3. The Sleep Smart Alarm Clock
itunes.apple.com
play.google.com
The Android and iOS apps are a little different, but they do very similar things. They analyze how well you sleep, and they help wake you at the most optimum time that will cause you the least amount of discomfort. You need to set the period of time in which you would like to wake up, and it wakes you when you are in the lightest phase of sleep so you wake up feeling fresher.
4. Rain Rain
itunes.apple.com
play.google.com
This is an app that plays rain noises to help you sleep. It is relaxing if your speakers are good enough to pull off the dimensional effect. If you put it on your windowsill behind your curtains, then you can convince yourself it is raining. The only problem is that some of the sounds do not sound genuine; they sound like sound effects. You get a choice of different sounds, so you may find the one that you find the most relaxing. If you allow it to trick you into thinking the sounds are being authentically generated, then it is a nice sound to fall asleep to.
5. Pzizz
itunes.apple.com
play.google.com
This is an app that creates a series of sounds that it strings into a song to try and help you sleep. The songs do not give you anything to think about, as spoken-word songs may, it is just a collection of sounds strung together in a way that makes a song. Because each song (series of sounds) is different, it is supposed to help you sleep a little better.
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6. Sleepbot
itunes.apple.com
play.google.com
If you love data, this app will satisfy your need for understanding what is going on when you sleep. Sleepbot has three major functions: a motion-tracker, a sound-recorder and a smart alarm and you can choose to activate one, all or any combination. It tracks your movements and sounds and produces trend graphs going back 6 months that include your sleep times, wake times, sleep length and sleep patterns.
7. Pillow
The Pillow app is simply a collection of different alarm sounds. When your alarm wakes you up, over time you begin to dislike the sound. After all, it is the same sound that keeps waking you up, so of course you are going to start disliking it. The sounds are softer and vary depending on how well and how easily you wake up. The sounds become more and more loud and unlikable as you ignore them more and more.
8. Awoken
This is an app that was built to help people have lucid dreams. A lucid dream is one where you are aware you are dreaming. Ignoring the paid reviews, this app has mixed reviews. For some people it will not work, and for others it is too much work. It does take a rather large investment if you want to lucid dream.
9. Sleep Cycle
itunes.apple.com
play.google.com
This app which is easy to navigate and personalize features a customizable smart alarm and a library of soothing music to wake up to (or choose something from your own library). For tracking it detects motion and produces graphs and there’s a heart rate monitor and a section to record notes on sleep quality and your mood when you wake up.
Do you live in one of the most sleep-deprived states? Do you get enough sleep?
Resources
[1] cdc.gov
[2] business2community.com
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