World Sleep Day 2020: Tips to Improve Your Sleep

13 March 2020 is World Sleep Day

With our modern lives getting busier, we struggle to make the most out of our 24 hours. In the process of maximising our day, we end up sacrificing our beauty-rest as we stay awake for hours trying to get everything done. 

We often overlook the fact that sleep affects every part of life, as a lot happens during sleep – the body is recharged, growth hormones are released, bodily tissues and muscles are repaired, immunity is bolstered, stress hormone levels are reduced, and more. Therefore, if you want to make the most of your day, it starts by improving your night.

In celebration of World Sleep Day on March 13, here are some tips on how to get a good night’s sleep: 

1. Turn all lights and screens off.

Switch off all sources of light – not only your main lighting. But all electronics that emit any form of light, such as mobile phones, laptops, or tablets. Gadgets could keep your mind awake, and your body right along with it. Set a curfew for you to do a hard stop at checking messages, other smartphone activity. Keep these devices away from arm’s reach before bed so you can train your mind and body to focus on sleeping for the night. 

2. Cut back on caffeine and alcohol.

Limit your caffeine intake to just your morning cup of coffee, as caffeine could affect your rest for hours after drinking. Studies have shown that drinking alcohol before bed may help you fall asleep faster. However, it will also cause you to toss, turn, or wake up throughout the night, thus bringing down your overall sleeping quality.

3. Set a Sleeping Schedule.

A consistent bedtime can greatly improve your sleeping habits. Your body naturally craves regularity and keeping your circadian clock dialled in is crucial in upholding sleeping quality. As your body adjusts to getting enough rest, you should be waking up naturally at the optimal time each morning.

4. Start tracking your sleep to gain a better understanding of your Sleep Stages with Fitbit 

As a leader in tracked sleep, Fitbit’s can not only help you better understand your sleeping pattern but improve it.

●  Sleep Stages: Each night, the body cycles through different sleep stages – light sleep, deep sleep, and REM. Using the power of PurePulse heart rate and sensitive motion detectors, Fitbit trackers can measure your time spent in each stage. It also tracks your time awake, so you can better understand your sleeping quality.

○ Singaporean users rank the lowest globally in average light sleep (53%) – this is an important stage during which our body and metabolism regulates itself as we process memories and emotions.

○ Singaporean users only get 80 minutes of REM sleep on average (one of the lowest globally behind Japan and India) – this is crucial for emotion regulation, memory and also the peak stage of protein synthesis at the cellular level, which keeps many processes in the body working properly.1

●  Sleep Score: Receive a nightly score in the Fitbit app for better insight into your sleep quality. Your score is based on heart rate (sleeping and resting), restlessness, time awake and stages. For more insights and analysis behind your Sleep Score, upgrade to Fitbit Premium.

●  Sleep Mode: Simultaneously disable your screen display and silence notifications for a night free of disturbances. Sleep Mode can also be used anytime you don’t want to be interrupted.

●  Estimated Oxygen Graph: Find out about the changes in your blood oxygen saturation while you sleep as Fitbit utilises the red and infrared sensors on the back of the device to estimate the variability. In general, variations should be low and seeing frequent, rather than big variations. This could be a sign that you may be experience breathing disturbances.

Over a decade ago, Fitbit pioneered Sleep-Tracking. It made information that was once only available from a medical professional now widely accessible on the wrist. Since then, it has collected more than 10.5 billion nights of data to innovate in this critical area of health. Based on Fitbit data from users in Singapore between 2018-2019, it was learned that Singaporeans were the latest sleepers (12:11AM on average). Singaporeans spend almost an hour awake each night.

This World Sleep Day, make a commitment to yourself to get the best possible sleep every night. Join Fitbit’s first-of-its-kind healthy population initiative, Live Healthy SG, powered by Fitbit and Fitbit premium. Fitbit aims to help users gain guidance and customised insights in the areas of physical activity, sleep, nutrition and emotional wellbeing.

Interested participants can get a FREE Fitbit2 today when you enroll the in the Live Healthy SG initiative. For more information on Live Healthy SG, please visit: https://www.livehealthysg.com/about

1 These datapoints are based on aggregated and anonymized global Fitbit user data collected across 18 countries between August 1, 2018 – July 31, 2019.

2 Participants can get a free Fitbit Inspire HR when they enroll in the Live Healthy SG initiative and sign up for Fitbit premium at $9.99/month (with a minimum commitment of 12 months)