If counting sheep just isn’t doing it for you anymore, your smartphone might hold the key via a huge range of apps to help you sleep and get some shut eye.
Along with a good diet and exercise, sleep is one of the key ingredients that we need in order for our bodies to properly function. However, it’s been proven that we are sleeping less than we used to, and the quality of our sleep is also decreasing. When we drift off, our body gets a chance to reset itself and hovers in a reduced state of consciousness. Without it, our natural healing mechanisms are depleted.
A “good night’s sleep” is usually defined as seven to nine hours for adults, and significantly more for teenagers and children. This is a non-negotiable for our bodies, as sleep allows us to:
However, access to a good night’s sleep is getting harder to come by, particularly as distractions via technology creep further and further into our bedrooms – but what if we could harness that technology for good?
While it might seem somewhat counterintuitive, our smartphones might actually be the answer to improving the quality of our sleep, how much sleep we’re getting, getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Whether you want to meditate before bed, track your sleep cycle, or drift off to scientifically proven sounds that help to calm and relax your mind, there are a wide variety of sleep friendly apps out there that can help you to catch all forty winks.
Headspace – Listen to a wind down that guides you through falling back asleep, deep breathing exercises, or sleep music instead. If listening to tunes isn’t your thing, Headspace have even created sleep packages that include “sleep casts” which are around forty five minutes per story, and can range between tales about cats at a marina, to descriptions of a stormy night.
Pillow – One of the best iPhone apps to help you sleep that monitors your overall nightly rest – simply set up next to your bed and head off to dreamland. In the morning, users get a full report on how long they slept, along with a breakdown of time in each sleep phase. You can also track the impacts of different pre-sleep activities, such as reading or eating before bed.
Calm – The free version of Calm will give users access to a number of soundscapes, timed meditation options, and certain sleep stories. Meditation is a solid way to destress before bed so you can actually sleep through the night, making Calm a great means to avoid taking any anxiety with you to bed and to improve your overall sleep patterns.
SnoreLab – Snoring, whether it’s you or your significant other, can be a major factor when it comes to getting subpar sleep. SnoreLab records snoring during the night, and gives you a detailed report in the morning. You can link this data to different factors like alcohol or certain foods, and track different remedies so you can find what works for you as a solution.
Sleep Cycle – Oddly enough, this sleep app is all about waking up. The concept behind Sleep Cycle is that instead of setting an alarm every day, the app monitors your sleep with sound analysis, and gently wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase, or when you’ll wake feeling most rested. Users can still set an approximate time though, so there’s no being late for work.
If we don’t get enough sleep – the night before or gradually over time – unfortunately, it does have repercussions. Not only is your body missing out on the key benefits above, but it’s also exposed to a range of other dangers that can stem from sleep deprivation.
If you’re really struggling to regulate your sleep, it may be time to speak to a doctor to find out if there’s any underlying issues, but if you’re just curious or would like to experiment with new techniques, then apps to help you sleep might just be worth a try.
SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remained the same: people and phones.
Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone might just be easier and cheaper than you think. It’s also a great way to upcycle and keep electronics out of Australian landfills.
Here at SOS Phone Repairs, we offer a lifetime warranty on iPhone screens, a no fix – no fee policy, we dry water damaged phones for free, and offer unlimited advice for any of your phone repair needs.
If you have any questions, come in and see the team and we can help you out!