Comment by cadamsdotcom | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cadamsdotcom | Hacker News Reader

The article dismisses sleep duration and regularity as weak indicators of quality, and I’d say that’s true - for one night of sleep considered alone.

However so many don’t have a sleep routine at all, and can benefit from simple starting measures like gamifying sleep duration and timeliness. Hence the sleep trackers on the market cater to “sleep quality novices”.

Once you’re no longer a novice then for sure start tweaking, like the author seeks to do.

But so many are just start of the journey and the author - no doubt way further down the road - might’ve forgotten how hard it is to get a good night’s sleep when you block any hope of a routine with alcohol, late nights out, late night coding binges, and early morning starts for run club.

It’s horses for courses. Considering how few “advanced” sleep trackers exist for consumers it’s likely hard to get quality data and not a lot of people know they’re ready for the next level. May their product find its niche!

This is a good point, I am the author.

You're right that many people would benefit from a regular schedule, and I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago which talked about why it's important to focus on wake time instead of bed time - which is the common advice.

We're really trying to focus on changing the story of sleep. You say most people don't have a consistent bedtime, but people are creatures of habit, so you'd probably be surprised how many people have good hygiene but still don't feel their sleep is restorative enough.

Thanks for the comment on finding our niche specifically. We're not aiming to be for everyone (yet).

I've kept a sleep schedule for at least since high school. Always in bed with enough landing space at the end in case my body needed 7 hours instead of usual 6.

My body has long since gotten used to feeling sleep time arrive, and starts unwinding naturally. My brain also followed suit. No going to bed and waiting for the thoughts to run out. I'm usually asleep in less than a minute after hitting the bed.

I always set my alarm as a back up, but I was usually awake before it went off. Return to wakefulness and not groggy is also very fast; 5 minutes or so and I am ready to go.

My girlfriend suffered from pushing into late nights and getting in one more chapter of a book or what have you when we met. I got her onto a schedule and she's now like me. Body and mind tired at an early hour, mind clear of thoughts after lights out. Fast to fall asleep and stay there, deep sleeps every night.

There's a few other things I do to prepare for bed. No caffeine for a few hours prior, no alcohol. If I need a snack, then some vegetables instead of junk food. That slice of pizza might be tasty, but 100% it will interfere with my sleep in some way.

My bedroom is very dark. Almost no light leakage from the windows, no LED's, no tv set.

I always thought it was strange for people to active shaft themselves with poor sleeping habits, day after day for decades on end.

Try having kids, shift work, or just be older than 40.

Your sleep naturally declines as you age, and though sleep time declines, the more detrimental factor is the lack of slow-wave delta activity. Your brain literally gets worse at the restorative function that is vital to sleep.

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