How to Not Have One of *Those* Days

Did you feel a bit groggy after your alarm clock awoke you this morning? Did you roll over and say "Can't do it..", than snooze through 3 ten minute cycles causing you to have to rush out the door? That was how one of my mornings went last week, and the reason that happened is because I forgot to turn on sleep-tracking on my phone before I went to bed. There is this ingenious app called Sleep as Android, in case you have not heard of it, that utilizes your phones accelerometer to track your sleep patterns.

Don't follow? Sleep cycles are directly correlated with movement. Accelerometers are sensors that detect motion, and they're quite sensitive. So, if you put the phone on your mattress when you go to bed, the accelerometer can track movement, hence tracking sleep cycles. I read somewhere that this is almost as accurate as what the doctors use when conducting a sleep study, although I can't confirm that. However, I can confirm that when the app wakes me up, rather than a sleep-cycle naive alarm clock, I feel much more refreshed. I also got used to waking up feeling that way, and it really sucked waking up during deep sleep the other day.

I am groggy all day if I am awoken at the wrong time... This app has enabled me to function while adjusting from getting up at 3 PM to 6:40 AM over the last couple months. It's totally worth a try. It's also interesting to analyse your sleep patters, as the app nicely graphs it all out. You can also record noises to figure out what's waking you up, or detect snoring, etc.

This is the quantum age, and incredible technological advances are also improving quality of life. Smart phones are just computers with lots and lots of sensors, consequently they can be used for obscure purposes. I wonder what my phone will do next year? They used to say the sky is the limit. But we're way past the sky, as the space age started over 50 years ago. There are no more limits. Don't let an old fashioned alarm clock slow you down, try Sleep as Android. No, I was not paid to write this, I just think you ought to know.