Do you count on your smartwatch to tell you if you had a good night’s sleep? Lots of us do, but it turns out, how you feel about your sleep has a bigger impact on your well-being than what your sleep tracker says about sleep quality, according to a new study. It finds that just thinking you had a good night’s sleep improves mood and well-being more than actually getting a good night’s sleep.
Researchers from the University of Warwick in the U.K. wanted to know how changes to your sleep pattern and sleep quality correlate to mood and life satisfaction the next day.
- For two weeks, they had participants keep a sleep journal about what time they went to bed, the time they got ready to fall asleep, how long it took to fall asleep, wake time and how satisfied they were with their sleep
- The 100 participants also wore trackers on their wrists to monitor their sleep patterns and cycles.
- They were asked to rate their positive and negative emotions, as well as how satisfied they were with their lives, five times throughout the next day.
- The study finds that simply feeling like you slept restfully improves mood and well-being more than paying attention to sleep trackers and sleep goals.
“Our results found that how young people evaluated their own sleep was consistently linked with how they felt about their well-being and life satisfaction,” explains lead study author Dr. Anita Lenneis.
“Even though a sleep tracking device might say that you slept poorly last night, your own perception of your sleep quality may be quite positive. And if you think that you slept well, it may help better your mood the next day.”
Source: NY Post