Day 27: Importance Of Tracking Your Sleep

By now, you’re probably thinking that there’s a lot of tracking going on. Well there is. And do you know why?

Because you can’t change what you don’t know needs changing. One or two bad nights does not necessarily mean you have insomnia. But you might be SO distressed that you’re convinced you have insomnia and you’re not sleeping. That thinking might be fear-driven. Not data driven. Tracking gives you data.

When you’re trying to change something, it requires that you know what it is at the beginning, whether it is changing as you apply strategies, and what it is at the end. Tracking basically tells you where you are, how you’re doing and, when you get to your destination.

And tracking is powerful! Research has consistently shown that when we apply tracking to our plans to change our habits, our success dramatically increases. Why? Because we are more aware of what we’re doing and can see real time effects of our actions. Basically, It gives you feedback, and that’s very motivating.

Your sleep is no exception. Sleep is something that you can improve by implementing sleep hygiene strategies. You can also make it worse when you do things that disturb your sleep. But if you don’t keep track of what you’re doing, how would you know? We’re not very good at monitoring our own behaviors in our heads. We do something called over-estimation and think what we’re doing is working when it’s not, or we think we’re doing better than we really are. And who’s around to give you feedback?

Tracking sleep can help you to see patterns in your sleep. You can use your Daily Log to track how mild or severe your insomnia or night sweats are. You can also track how and when you use your positive strategies, like meditation, and see how they are impacting each other in your Insights. The key to successfully tracking anything is being clear about what you’re tracking and then doing it consistently! Tracking once a week or now and then won’t really tell you anything more than your sleep data for those days. What about all of the other nights? Consistency is your friend when you’re trying to change outcomes.