3 apps to help you fall asleep and wake up feeling refreshed
Reading Time: 4 minutes Having trouble sleeping? Download one of these three apps to help relax your mind before bed so you can wake up refreshed and ready to start your day.
Reading Time: 4 minutes Having trouble sleeping? Download one of these three apps to help relax your mind before bed so you can wake up refreshed and ready to start your day.
Reading Time: 8 minutes How to reestablish a healthy post-break sleep schedule.
Reading Time: 3 minutes A doctor discusses how to get to sleep when youâre feeling anxious.
âThe idea of getting adequate and restful sleep is somewhat laughable for college students. Between all-nighter study sessions, binge-watching favorite shows, and trying to maintain some kind of social life, I often find myself smothering my phone with a pillow when my alarm(s) go off in the morning. So I was pretty intrigued by the concept behind Sleep Cycle alarm clock, an app that analyzes your sleep patterns to determine the best moment to wake you up. Iâm all for trying anything that keeps me from doing that Iâm-almost-late mad dash to class. Also, extra time for Starbucks? Um, yes! How it works: The app uses your phoneâs mic to determine when youâre in the lightest stage of sleep (by listening for snoring among other things). You choose a half-hour window in which you want to wake up, set the alarm, and the app goes to work.â
USEFUL?
Did this app have me springing out of bed when the alarm went off? Sadly, no. However, after a few days of using it, I didnât feel the need to hit snooze several times and actually felt more alert during my morning routine, as opposed to doing everything with my eyes half open. The app even calculated my sleep quality percentage. It was terrible, btw. Shocker!Â
FUN?
Anything acting as an alarm isnât likely to be fun for night owls like myself, but the nerd in me got a kick out of checking and comparing my sleep trend graphs every day. (Yes, liking statistics is actually a thing.)
EFFECTIVE?
I was able to shrug off the initial heavy sleepiness more easily in the morning, I felt more perky, and I got some useful information about the quality of (or lack thereof) my sleep. Iâd call that a win.