“What I Learned After Tracking My Sleep for a Month”
For the past month, I’ve been wearing my Apple Watch to track my sleep. I wanted to see if my exhaustion, headaches, and grogginess in the mornings matched what the data would reveal. The results? Eye-opening.
My Monthly Sleep Averages
Average Time Asleep: 7 hrs 10 min
Average Awake: 32 min
Average REM: 1 hr 4 min
Average Core: 5 hrs 25 min
Average Deep: 42 min
At first glance, 7 hours sounds great. But my REM and deep sleep—two critical stages for memory, emotional balance, and physical recovery—were much lower than recommended.
Quality vs. Quantity
This month reinforced that sleeping longer doesn’t always mean waking up refreshed. Some nights I slept 9–10 hours and still woke up groggy, while other nights I barely hit 6.5 hours and felt just as depleted. It’s proof that quality and quantity are often in competition with each other.
What I Tried This Month
To support my sleep, I experimented with:
Magnesium glycinate (400 mg at night)
Herbal teas (rose mint, ashwagandha, jasmine)
Evening stretches and meditations
Limiting caffeine after 12:30 p.m.
Sleep stories and meditations on the Calm app
Some of these helped me wind down, but the data shows I still have work to do in reaching consistent REM and deep sleep.
Reflections
This tracking has been informative and humbling. It’s shown me what works (like magnesium and calming tea) and what doesn’t (like late meals or a too-warm room). More than anything, it’s reminded me that sleep is personal—it takes patience to figure out.
This is the first of many monthly reflections. My hope is that by sharing this journey, it encourages others to not just chase more sleep, but better sleep.
