Last Thursday, November 6, I discovered a phone app I’ve been using since I downloaded it on Thursday afternoon:
Runtastic Sleep Better
Sleep Better gives you stats on your sleep patterns in a clear and concise interface. The app provides you with an alarm that wakes you when you’re in the lightest sleep pattern within a half hour range. In other words if you want to wake at 7 then set the alarm for 7 and Sleep Better will wake within the half hour range from 630 to 7. The presiding data now available in sleep theory suggests that if you wake during your lightest sleep pattern, or even better if you wake naturally you’ll be more refreshed throughout the day. I haven’t tested that yet as I’ve been on vacation this week and I haven’t had to get up a specific time. However that seems to make sense. I like that the alarm has different sounds to wake you. I can tell you without reservation that I REALLY find it distressing when I wake to my shrill alarm on my bedside clock. Another feature about the alarm on Sleep Better that I like is the sound you choose begins at a low sound and gently increases until you turn it off. So that also impresses me.
Not waking all at once to a shrill alarm.
And waking during my lightest sleep pattern.
Those features alone make owning this app a homerun.
One of the things I found completely fascinating is that because I work one night a week until 9pm I’ve been under the impression that I sleep poorly on these nights, typically Tuesday nights. Last week I worked Thursday night and I used Sleep Better for the first time on Thursday. My sleep stats for that night impressed me:
I slept for 7 hours and 33 minutes.
Light Sleep:
1 hour and 57 minutes
26%
Deep Sleep:
4 hours and 14 minutes
56%
According to the New York Times, a night of normal sleep should consist of about 25 percent slow-wave sleep. Even though last Thursday, I only experienced slightly over 4 hours of deep sleep It was still over double the average I need according to The New York Times. This is another useful feature in this app; the fact that Sleep Better will track the amount of deep sleep one gets a night. Here’s a caveat to this feature however. I paid for the FULL version. At $1.99, that price certainly didn’t break my bank. I’m not sure if the free version will track your deep sleep. I recommend paying for the full version. No ads will appear and you get more features, and as I said above the price won’t put you in the poor house.
After a few nights of using Sleep Better I discovered that it also works in airplane mode on the iPhone. I read SOMEWHERE online that putting your phone in airplane mode, may reduce the amount of radiation. The article I read said something like:
If you are worried about radiation by having the phone that close to you, you can place the phone in airplane mode and the app will continue to work.
Since last Sunday night I do so. I also turn off all sound and vibrations so I won’t be disturbed when I receive notifications. The alarm still operates even though the “sound notifications are muted.”
Understanding how well we sleep is important to our well being, both our physical and our emotional well being. This sleep app does an amazing job as far as I can see after using it for a week and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending using the paid version.
Be Happy! Be Well! Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
—
Chris
Once you realize that life is eternal,
That our souls our eternal,
That we return to light and physical over and over;
We then lose all our distress
We then lose all our fear of dying. For there truly is no end.
