Is the search for a perfect night’s sleep keeping you awake?

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"Activity trackers have been around for about a decade, in which time their functionality has expanded to include tracking sleep. 

The majority of these come in the form of wristbands or watches; others are apps, meaning you have to share your bed with a smartphone. Most trackers rely on movement as a proxy marker of wake and sleep, utilising sensors called accelerometers to measure motion. Recent studies have shown that while many trackers are reasonably accurate at measuring time in bed, they are less good at determining total sleep time, especially if you wake in the middle of the night. As for determining the stages of sleep, from light to deep to REM, as most trackers promise — some are only just better than the flip of a coin. But there is a more fundamental problem raised by the notion of tracking your sleep. Sleep is not like other areas of our health. You might say that it is the quantum physics of our lives: the simple act of measurement alters what it is we are measuring.

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And what do I say to you? If you have no difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep but wake up unrefreshed, you are probably sleep deprived. If it takes you a long time to fall asleep or you spend long periods awake at night, you probably have insomnia. And if you remain unrefreshed despite extending your sleep opportunity to eight hours or more, then you may have a sleep disorder, and you should see a doctor. But do I think that you should invest in a sleep tracker? The answer is a resounding no."

Finantial Times Wellness 2020

Guy Leschziner