How many hours of sleep are you getting in a day? Are you constantly worried about not getting enough shut-eye and thus, depending on a fitness tracker or a sleep device to correct your sleep deficiency? Think again! The same sleep gadget you think is helping you get good sleep is leading to sleep disturbance or even risking insomnia.

Considering how gadget-friendly our lifestyle is, we are all dependent on one or the other gadget to correct our daily habits and that includes sleep. Even if it is a simple app installed on your phone or a wearable watch, they are advertised as a device to measure your sleep patterns and analyze the same. Sometimes, they also work as a reminder to keep the phone away and actually sleep.

However, as experts have observed, these small sleep gadgets are working against the purpose and making us more addicted to them. This way, out of stress, it might also be triggering your insomnia.

This is why

The primary reason this happens is that with all its reminders, sleep gadgets tend to make you more anxious and worry about not sleeping well and thereby, make it even harder to get good sleep. Once you get into the habit of tracking your sleep, it can also make you obsessed with your sleep cycle, which is a real problem called ‘orthosomnia’.

People suffering from this problem constantly worry about not sleeping well and in the lack of it, suffer from anxiety and may make you a victim of insomnia.

The same was observed by a group of scientists at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine. Amongst the people observed, while sleep trackers did end up correcting their bad habits, the participants tended to rely on the data too much. Even if they were sleeping well, the devices forced them to think they weren’t.

Several studies conducted over the year have also suggested that the number of hours sleeping differ for everyone. The conventional 8 hours does not do the job for all. Even 6-7 hours spent in bed were fine.

There was also another side effect the study observed. Being obsessed with their sleeping patterns sometimes made people lay in bed for longer, just to clock in more hours and correct the number on the device.

What to do instead:

Instead of relying on sleep devices, at the end of the day, you should really be depending on your body’s signals. When you are tired, your body has a way of telling you the same.

Also, as a rule, disconnect from any devices and screens a good 30-45 minutes before you go to bed. This will detox you and ensure you get good, trouble-free sleep.

TNN/timesofindia.indiatimes.com