“I am struggling to fall asleep”

If you think you are struggling to fall asleep at night and want to use a wearable to confirm this, the variable of interest is sleep onset latency (i.e., time between attempting to sleep and falling asleep).

Most wearables automatically detect sleep (i.e., you do not have to input bed and wake times). However, wearables are automatically likely detecting the start of sleep – not the time taken to fall asleep. So, to gain a more accurate estimation of sleep onset latency you should either:

1. Manually “start” a sleep activity in the associated smart phone app when you are attempting to sleep (i.e., when you close your eyes, not when you get into bed).
2. Note the time in which you are attempting to sleep and manually adjust the sleep times within the associated smart phone application after the sleep period.

This will provide a start time, or “anchor”, for when you begin attempting to sleep, providing a more accurate estimate of sleep onset latency.