How to Monitor Your Sleep: Estimating Sleep Quality from 0-5

Good sleep is crucial to your overall health, and tracking your sleep can help you make improvements in both quality and quantity. Whether you’re using a sleep-tracking device or relying on observational data, understanding how to assess your sleep is the first step to better rest.

Here’s how you can estimate your sleep quality from 0 to 5, whether you have data from a device or are just keeping an eye on your own sleep patterns.

Read our post on the best sleep tracking devices for 2024.

1. Using Device Data

Many fitness and health trackers provide detailed information about your sleep, such as total sleep time, deep sleep, and wakefulness during the night. Here’s how you can rate your sleep quality based on the data:

• 0-1: Very poor sleep. You slept less than 4 hours, woke up multiple times, and had minimal deep sleep. Anything under a 50 on a scale of 100 on your device.
• 2: Poor sleep. Less than 5 hours of total sleep, frequent waking, and less than 15% of your sleep in deep sleep stages. Scores from around 50 to 65 on your device.
• 3: Average sleep. You slept 6-7 hours but experienced some restlessness or interruptions. About 15-20% of sleep was deep sleep. A score of 65-75 would be average sleep on your device.
• 4: Good sleep. You had 7-8 hours of sleep with minimal interruptions, and around 20% of your sleep was deep or REM sleep. 75 to 90 would be good sleep on your device.
• 5: Excellent sleep. You slept 8+ hours with few interruptions and spent a significant portion of time in deep sleep (25% or more). Over 90 on your device would be considered excellent sleep.

2. Using Observational Data

If you don’t have a sleep tracker, you can still gauge the quality of your sleep by paying attention to how you feel and observing your sleep patterns. Rate your sleep based on the following:

• 0-1: You felt groggy or exhausted after waking, struggled to stay asleep, or had long periods of wakefulness.
• 2: You felt tired in the morning, woke up multiple times, and didn’t feel rested.
• 3: You had a decent night’s sleep, but maybe tossed and turned or woke up once or twice.
• 4: You slept through the night with only minor interruptions and woke up feeling refreshed.
• 5: You slept deeply all night, woke up feeling energized, and didn’t recall any restlessness.

Tips for Better Sleep

• Establish a routine: Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
• Create a sleep-friendly environment: Keep your room cool, quiet, and dark. The ideal sleeping temperature is between 65-69 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Avoid screens before bed: The blue light from devices can interfere with your ability to fall asleep. At a minimum wear blue light blocking glasses when viewing screens after 6pm.
• Limit caffeine and heavy meals: These can disrupt your sleep if consumed too close to bedtime.

By monitoring your sleep and assessing its quality from 0 to 5, you’ll have a better understanding of how well-rested you are and where you can make improvements. Sleep better, feel better, and keep moving forward with Fit Forward!