Often, the inability to sleep well is directly linked to external factors (noise, light, vibrations, etc.), but it also has internal causes related to individual psychology and the events of daily life. Business matters, projects, ideas, relationships, expectations, and challenges generate energy and tension—a tension from which we don’t always manage to break free. Critical and problematic situations arising in the workplace, emotions that suddenly come to the surface in our daily lives. By reading this article, you’ll learn how you’re doing in bed when it comes to sleep. You can do this with the help of a tool: by keeping a daily sleep diary.
He is this stranger
Let’s start from the beginning: what is sleep? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is a natural, periodic, and easily reversible state of rest shared by many living beings. A state characterized by certain fundamental aspects: Let’s start from the beginning: what is sleep? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is a natural, periodic, and easily reversible state of rest shared by many living beings. A state characterized by certain fundamental aspects:
* absence of wakefulness
* loss of awareness of the surrounding environment
* partial or total suspension of consciousness and volition
* typical body posture: lying down with eyes closed
* changes in brain activity and physiological functioning
* occurrence of dreams
* 4–6 sleep cycles of 60–90 minutes each per night
* In each cycle, there is a transition from non-REM sleep to REM sleep
What is meant by poor sleep quality?
We often hear people talk about sleep quality, but what exactly does this term mean? To start with, let’s look at some signs that indicate poor sleep quality:
* It takes you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep after getting into bed.
* You regularly wake up more than once a night.
* You stay awake for more than 20 minutes when you wake up in the middle of the night.
* You spend less than 85% of your time in bed sleeping.
Poor Sleep: When Sleep Is Disrupted
Before discussing sleep quality and keeping a sleep diary, let’s continue our exploration of the symptoms reported by people who sleep poorly. Generally, those who get little or poor-quality sleep report:
* Not feeling sufficiently rested.
* Not being satisfied with one’s sleep.
* Having experienced interruptions that woke you up.
* Having a reduced ability to activate vital functions.
There are many external factors that can be the direct cause or a contributing factor to poor sleep.
A lack of privacy, a very noisy bed partner or roommate, or outside noise that continues late into the night. But also unpleasant odors, too much light, and improper room temperature and humidity levels.
The Stages of Sleep
The cyclical structure of sleep
Sleep follows a cyclical pattern: each night consists of 4–6 cycles, each lasting about 60–90 minutes. Each cycle begins with a phase of slow-wave sleep, known as the NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) phase, followed by a phase of deep sleep, or “paradoxical sleep,” the REM phase, which is essential for the restoration and recovery of psychophysical functions.
The non-REM sleep phase consists of four stages:
1. The phase between being awake and falling asleep.
2. The light sleep phase – heart rate and breathing slow down, body temperature drops.
3. The onset of deep sleep – slowed metabolism and production of brain waves (Theta and Delta).
4. Deep sleep – deep relaxation, unconscious activity, restoration of energy and metabolic reserves.
Are there objective criteria for measuring and assessing sleep quality?
Yes, we can identify certain objective measures for analyzing sleep in adults, but these measures change with age. It is therefore possible to assess sleep quality within specific age groups. According to the National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in Washington in 1990, most adults between the ages of 18 and 65 should sleep between 7 and 9 hours per night; for seniors over 65, the range is narrower, between 7 and 8 hours.
Sleep Efficiency
Here is a key metric for understanding how to sleep well and wake up feeling rested. Sleep efficiency is measured by dividing the number of hours slept by the time spent in bed. This metric decreases with age—confirming that, as we get older, sleep disturbances become more common. Thoughts, worries, and stimuli from the brain and prostate keep us awake or wake us up in the middle of the night. Sleep efficiency is a value that can be calculated in several ways; let’s look at a few:
* Through a comprehensive sleep study (polysomnographic recordings) to determine an individual Sleep Score. The study is conducted using proprietary equipment and methodology provided and installed by a certified sleep specialist.
* By using one of the specialized smartphone apps, which are available for free or for a fee.
* With pen and paper, by keeping a sleep diary that records sleep quality on a weekly basis.
Apps and software for measuring sleep quality
According to medical science that studies sleep, we should be sleeping at least 85% of the time we spend in bed. But how can we measure this?
There are several apps on the market that can monitor sleep quality and provide a personalized score. Laboratory tests that analyze sleep are based on tracking brain activity, using polysomnography tests and physical sensors, such as heart rate monitors and oscillometers.
Sleep quality tracking apps work in a similar way. By connecting to fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other wearable devices like the Apple Watch or Fitbit, they monitor your heart rate. This allows them to determine when you’re asleep or awake, tracking the different stages of sleep. To be clear, no app can tell you how to sleep well and wake up feeling rested. Generally, most apps provide a sleep score, a score determined by tracking a series of parameters such as:
* Sleep latency—the time it takes to fall asleep
* Total hours of sleep
* Sleep efficiency
* Resting heart rate
* Body temperature
* Body movements during the night
* Time spent in each sleep stage
What is a sleep diary?
Sleep Diary: Track Your Sleep
A sleep diary is a logbook that tracks your sleep. In practice, it’s a form you fill out day by day, to be reviewed on a weekly and monthly basis. Why is a sleep diary useful? If you have trouble sleeping, keeping track of your habits can help doctors make a diagnosis. The sleep diary is therefore a helpful guide that allows you, first and foremost, to learn more about your specific sleep disorder.
How does the sleep diary work?
This is a template, usually in A4 format; you can download one for free online. It generally includes a section to fill out in the morning and one in the evening. If you’ve already contacted your primary care physician or spoken with a sleep specialist, you may have already heard about it. The sleep diary is an essential tool for figuring out what’s wrong. How long do you need to keep it? To obtain meaningful data, you should keep a sleep diary for at least two weeks.
What should be included in a sleep diary?
In a nutshell, a sleep log is a table with rows and columns.
Fields to be filled out day by day include:
* How much caffeine did you consume today?
* How much alcohol did you consume today?
* What did you eat and drink?
* What medications and/or supplements did you take?
* How much time did you spend exercising?
* What activities did you do within an hour of going to bed?
* What time did you go to bed?
* How tense did you feel?
* The time it took you to fall asleep
* How many times did you wake up during the night
* How long did it take you to fall back asleep
* What time did you get out of bed in the morning
* How long did you sleep
* Did you sleep well
* How restful and restorative was your sleep
* What might have disturbed your sleep (breathing problems, movements, negative thoughts, insomnia, etc.)
A TEAM ALWAYS AT YOUR SERVICE
If you have any questions or requests, you can contact Kipli via live chat, email, or phone.
We hope this short guide has given you some ideas on how to improve the quality of your sleep.
See you soon,
The Kipli Team