Tracking your sleep can be helpful, but obsessing over achieving perfect metrics or scores creates counterproductive pressure that detracts from your sleep quality.

noli's read

The idea that sleep tracking can generate anxiety is grounded in real scientific evidence, a phenomenon dubbed "orthosomnia." This concept was proposed in 2017 by researcher Kelly Baron in a case study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, showing that the pursuit of a perfect score sabotages rest. Since then, a 2024 cross-sectional observational study of 523 adults quantified this phenomenon, estimating that 3% to 14% of tracker users suffer from this numbers-related anxiety, which coincides with significant difficulties falling asleep. A systematic review conducted by the Robbins team also confirms that the relative inaccuracy of consumer devices and the focus on scores can exacerbate performance anxiety. Finally, it is scientifically established that stress activates the body's alert system, blocking the natural transition to restful sleep. Only the observation regarding the obsessive comparison of scores within families stems from field observation rather than a rigorously quantified statistical fact.

the sources

No named source held this one up — that absence is part of the verdict.