The Spanish Sleep Society recommends sleeping between 7 and 9 hours, but it is not always easy to achieve it.
After a day full of work, stress and haste, who doesn’t like to sleep soundly. But it is not always easy to fall asleep, sleep soundly or even sleep the necessary hours. The Spanish Sleep Society recommends sleeping between 9 and 10 hours for children, between 8 and 10 for adolescents, between 7 and 9 for adults and an average of between 7 and 8 hours for the elderly. But these recommendations are not always easy to follow due to the number of factors that affect our day-to-day lives, despite the fact that a good night’s sleep is essential to maintain an optimal level of health.
Aware of all this, various world associations that research how we sleep, celebrate World Sleep Day every year, which this year will be today, March 17. The event is meant to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues that it directly affects and that include medicine, education, driving and other social aspects.
If we can’t sleep well or our awakenings are too abrupt, there are certain mobile applications that can help us improve the situation somewhat, although it should be noted that they are mostly not scientifically based. As sleep research doctor Jordan Gainess states in the journal Psychology Today: “Mobile apps are certainly not the most accurate way to assess sleep, but they offer the advantage that they make people more and more attuned to their own circadian rhythms and the effect of sleep (or lack thereof) on their bodies.”
Apps for a good night’s sleep
Pzizz. It promises to improve the user’s lifestyle by increasing their ease of falling asleep through relaxation and with a more refreshing subsequent awakening. To do this, it uses a series of sounds that mix music, human voice and other acoustic effects that induce sleep. In total, there are about 100,000 million audio sequences with which to experience the calming effects. It is highly customizable in terms of volume, duration, or preferred 3D effects. In fact, every time we press the start button, the app takes care of starting with a different sequence than the ones used so as not to stimulate the brain always with the same thing.
SleepRate. In the same application we can have a monitoring of our sleep, an evaluation of it and a treatment to sleep better, in case we need it. SleepRate obtains information about the structure of sleep cycles and even calculates heart rate, if we connect it to a measuring device that has Bluetooth. They themselves market a measuring chest strap. On the other hand, the app records nighttime noises, such as snoring or ambient noises, which do not allow you to sleep well. With all this data, the application gives us an estimate of how we sleep and if we sleep enough and offers us a personalized sleep optimization plan.
SimplyNoise. The so-called white noise is a constant sound, coming, for example, from a machine, from the rain or the rattle of a train, which if we raise it one tone above the rest of the annoying environmental noises makes them disappear. On the other hand, its monotony makes our brain isolate it perfectly within the sound spectrum, stopping hearing it and forgetting it, giving us practically the same sensation as if we were silent. SimplyNoise is a website dedicated exclusively to white noise that also has mobile applications. It is very easy to use, you just have to select 3 types of noises, opt for an oscillation level and mark the time you want it to last. Noisli is another mobile option to emit white noise and that allows it to be mixed with other ambient sounds, natural or artificial, which induce relaxation or even concentration, since white noise is also recommended to increase productivity.
Sleep calculator. As the name suggests, it calculates our sleep cycle and helps us determine when is the best time to go to sleep or when to wake up to feel rested. The app offers us four sleep calculation scenarios ranging from: when to go to sleep to wake up at a certain time, when to wake up we go to sleep at a specific time, what is the best time to wake up if we went to sleep now and when we should wake up if we take a short nap at this time. From these options it offers us the optimal times to wake up and the alarm settings.
Atmosphere. There are several such apps for both iOS and Android. We have chosen this one in particular because it allows for a wide variety of combinations. It has various relaxing sounds that recreate different environments considered calm. You only have to choose between the sound of a stream, with the crackling of a bonfire and birdsong included; or the solitude of a beach, where in addition to the waves we can add the sound of a distant ship, a storm or even a guitar that sounds to lull our rest.
Applications to wake up well
Sleep Cycle. It is an application that monitors the entire sleep cycle by collecting data on our sleep behavior patterns and after analyzing it wakes us up right in the lightest phase of sleep, something that makes us feel more rested than with a normal alarm clock. Use the accelerometer of your mobile phone, in the case of iPhones, to measure the movements we make while we sleep from the bedside table. However, for Android devices it is necessary to put the mobile phone under the pillow, something not very reassuring for most because of the electromagnetic waves, although they recommend activating the airplane mode for this.
Sleep Better. Developed by the creators of Runtastic, this application collects data on our nighttime habits and offers statistics on the efficiency of our sleep. In this way, it can wake us up with pleasant sounds at the most propitious moment. Sleep Better is not limited to collecting sleep data, but we can also record in the app all those factors that can affect good sleep: whether we have drunk caffeine, the level of stress we have suffered, alcohol consumption or even the phases of the Moon, which can also affect rest.
WakenApp. It is the first video-based social application that serves as an alarm clock. Through it, users from all over the world will say good morning to us with a video where they will encourage us to wake up. Videos can be sent to a specific user or received randomly, thus becoming a way to contact new people with whom to share experiences. This also places this app in the niche of dating apps, which are currently in high demand.
Glimmer. For those who sleep in a totally dark room, this app will help you wake up by emulating daylight. To do this, it progressively increases the brightness of the phone’s screen 30 minutes before the time at which the alarm has been set. At the same time, sounds of birdsong will be incorporated to achieve a less abrupt awakening. Even so, one minute after the alarm time, a loud sound is played that ensures that we do not fall asleep.
Wave Alarm. It is an alarm clock app with a more classic and simple style. The alarm is programmed, one of its 10 soft sounds is chosen and when we wake up it will offer us the weather and the ambient temperature. Its distinctive touch is that it detects movement, so you just have to pass your hand over the phone to deactivate it.
Source: El País
