Do you track your sleep with a Fitbit or similar?

[Goldenbrowntexturelikesun]

What does it show up?
Are you surprised by the readings or is it what you expect?

I am not sure if my readings are average or not?

I bought myself a Fitbit purely for the sleep tracker as I feel knackered every day (am
in perimenopause and very stressed so to be fair expected I suppose). I feel as though I sleep ok but it’s showing that I don’t go into deep sleep for long, I’m not sure if this is normal or not.

These are a few recent trackings, are they average?

I’m curious about this….

I have a Garmin and it gives a sleep score. I like it, and have been able to identify trends that make me sleep better. My deep sleep isn't usually much longer than an hour, but my stress level doesn't always go down enough. It's fascinating.

I've noticed that I feel more rested when I have more deep sleep. I don't get lots more than you but more like the 1hr21 reading than the 40 minute. Do you notice a difference? There are benchmark averages for your sex and age in the Fitbit app in case you haven't seen this yet.

Garmin user here.

My sleep score is consistently higher if I go to bed earlier (around 10pm vs. midnight) which makes me question if it is set up to value early in the night sleep vs. later sleep. I can have the same sleep duration and get markedly different scores.

Consuming caffeine late also affects my sleep score.

It also sometimes records that I'm asleep when I know I was actually awake reading in bed!

The one thing I've learnt is that I need more sleep than I thought I did and as I have to get up early for work I do try to go to bed earlier as I feel much better in all areas of my life if I'm not exhausted.

I've tried to look for articles about sleep architecture as I don't know what proportion of sleep should be REM/ deep/ light but haven't really found anything. Keep meaning to ask one of my sleep colleagues but haven't got round to it. In general I feel better if I'd more deep/REM sleep and my stress levels do seem to affect how much of this I get.

I need 8 hrs sleep and usually get around 90mins deep and 90 mins REM.

Also use a Garmin. What I notice is that I tend to have more deep sleep early ish in the night and REM later just before I wake up (this is why I’m not a fan of getting up before 7am as it looks like I’m in REM then.)

My sleep scores have improved by me cutting caffeine down to 2 cups of coffee. I always stop at 12 but it’s better if I have my last one at 10am! Stress levels seem ok but I sleep better when they are low.

There have been times it has said I’m asleep when I’ve been awake though so not 100% accurate.

So my Garmin says deep sleep should be 16-33% so quite a range.

I do (use it as alarm clock) and am often bemused when it congratulates me about my x hours of sleep when I've been awake most night listening to podcasts...

Yes but I don't find it particularly accurate. It often registers it as sleep if I'm just watching TV in the evening. And sometimes it gives me a low score but I actually feel really well rested and have lots of energy.

Click on the “benchmark” and it will tell you what is typical for someone of your gender and age.

I will have a look on the benchmark bit and compare.

Really not sure if I think these gadgets are accurate or not. I feel as though I’ve slept through the night but it often shows I’ve been awake, I don’t recall that at all. How does it actually pick up you’ve woken? Could it just be that I toss and turn at lot as I am a heavy dreamer and experience very weird dreams.

I’m going to try to go to bed half hour earlier each night this week and religiously listen to my Calm app before sleeping to see of that picks up any positive changes to the quality of my sleep.

of course they are not acurate.
they go by pulse and movement. to acurately track sleep measuring brain activities would be needed.

however, even 'just resting in bed is helping your body & brain revitalise for the next day.

I have a fitbit and mine looks pretty similar to yours. Also peri, stressed and always knackered. The few days I've had the recommended deep sleep, I have felt better, however my deep sleep is usually around 6%. It's not accurate, but I do see a difference in how I feel reflected in the readings.