Asinine default error
I can not understand why this APP refuses to let me list the time I “try to goto bed” that is a few hours BEFORE I actually “got in bed.” It’s absolutely asinine! My goal is be in bed by midnight yet I finally get in bed at 2:30 and this APP gives a pop panel that says,”the time you indicated tried to sleep is earlier than the time you indicated as you got in bed.” I seriously do not think the language editing was done with honesty or actual thinking!
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Simply Answer: It worked for me!
I'm a 64yrs old male and suddenly my sleep got in a terrible pattern. I was waking up many time a night and taking a long time to get back to sleep. I have never had this issue .. and I'm lucky that at my age I don't need to get up to go to the bathroom at all except rarely.
The key of the approach is pretty simple.
1) Train your brain that bed is for 2 things (and one of them is sleep)
2) Figure out how many hrs you are sleeping in fragments.
3) Consolidate that sleep-time into a single chunk
4) Once that chunk is stable .. start growing the time.
I'm now back to sleeping for >6-1/4 hrs a night reliably (which is just my old normal of 6-3/4). I'm hoping to slowly increase more over time.
The app is free so costs nothing. It can be hard a first to stay awake to reset your clock... but stick with it.
The key of the approach is pretty simple.
1) Train your brain that bed is for 2 things (and one of them is sleep)
2) Figure out how many hrs you are sleeping in fragments.
3) Consolidate that sleep-time into a single chunk
4) Once that chunk is stable .. start growing the time.
I'm now back to sleeping for >6-1/4 hrs a night reliably (which is just my old normal of 6-3/4). I'm hoping to slowly increase more over time.
The app is free so costs nothing. It can be hard a first to stay awake to reset your clock... but stick with it.
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Very helpful but Flawed.
Great app to track core features of sleep in general, review with sleep coach, do CBI-I (for insomnia) - which is tough but worth it, and gradually improve many things about your sleep health. There is a well rounded resource and education section that is helpful for many people.
However, it is very aggressive about forcing you to update your bedtime and wake up time every 1-2 weeks, such that even if you mark that as “do later” and glance at another app and go back to enter more in your sleep log, it forces this reminder back in your face again every time! When you do update your bedtime & wake up times it locks any days you haven’t entered a sleep log for and you can never go back and fix them, and there’s no warning ahead of time it will do this. I still recommend this app, but would love to see these issues addressed.
However, it is very aggressive about forcing you to update your bedtime and wake up time every 1-2 weeks, such that even if you mark that as “do later” and glance at another app and go back to enter more in your sleep log, it forces this reminder back in your face again every time! When you do update your bedtime & wake up times it locks any days you haven’t entered a sleep log for and you can never go back and fix them, and there’s no warning ahead of time it will do this. I still recommend this app, but would love to see these issues addressed.
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Has helped my sleep
Overall, I’ve benefited from using this app. What I learned was that I was going to bed too early, which is why I was waking in the night for sometimes 1-2 hours of just lying awake, so learning that was helpful, however, despite putting in information about sleeping well with fewer and shorter wake-ups, it kept pushing my bedtime until it was past 11 pm, cutting my sleep down to less than 7 hours, when I kept telling the app I’m feeling good at just under 8 hours or about 7h30m (this is down from attempting to get 9+ a night but waking up in the night). If I go to bed before the prescribed bedtime because I’m tired and I fall asleep quickly, the app chastises me for going to bed too early as it disrupts my sleep drive, but if I’ve fallen asleep in 5 minutes or less, that shows high sleep drive and sleep hygiene will ding you for the short time it takes to fall asleep, too, so I wish it would accept that if I went to bed 15 minutes early and also fell asleep quickly, maybe that’s what I needed. You can edit the bedtime it gives you, but it chastises you for editing that, too. When I’ve gone to bed 15 minutes early and fallen asleep quickly, I would think it would edit my bedtime to earlier, not later and later and later. Despite my frustrations with some of the advice, I have recommended it to friends and patients who are having trouble sleeping as I do think I learned some things.
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Not so good for shift workers
This app is great for those who work regular days or even swing shifts but it won’t work for those working midnight shifts. Entering sleep times for those individuals results in an error code. This used to not happen but it has been a problem for a few months now.
Doesn’t account for shift work
I sleep at 3pm and wake up at 9pm but it says “error” when trying to input that information; this app doesn’t account for irregular sleep hours which is kind of counter productive and renders the app useless.
Lots of struggling to stay awake. Nothing to improve and lengthen nightly sleep.
Spent 6 weeks struggling to stay up until 11pm and then waking up at 4:30am. Expected to start weaning off only 5.5 hours of sleep and start going to bed earlier. Instead I got “Congratulations you have finished.” That’s it. Nothing more.
This needs to be better.
Like put in actual sensible writing.
I literally have to write my issues in the comments. Because according to the app going to bed at 10pm not being able to sleep till like 4am conflicts in their app.
Also I don’t care about the sleeping habits of bats. I care about actually getting quality sleep.
I literally have to write my issues in the comments. Because according to the app going to bed at 10pm not being able to sleep till like 4am conflicts in their app.
Also I don’t care about the sleeping habits of bats. I care about actually getting quality sleep.
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Helpful
Easy to use, helpful explanations about why following the recommended actions can sharpen awareness and foster better choices for improving sleep habits.
Unable to change entries if an error was made
Unhappy no contact with app support.
One trick pony
This app is helpful to a modest degree, but the emphasis is all on keeping bedtime and wake time consistent. If you’ve got that down and your problem is waking up in the night, then this app will not help you (other than to remind you ad nauseam to get up if you’ve been lying in bed awake more than 15 minutes). There are no tips here for how to avoid waking up and lying awake in the night. For me the advice that I should power through for days on end with inadequate sleep (no naps!) flies in the face of the science.
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Made my insomnia worse
It’s interesting that the purveyors of CBTI (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) give themselves outstanding grades as to their rates of success, but in this app, after one night reporting four and a half hours of sleep, their advice was to “see a professional.” So my sleep problem is great that you’re giving up on me?
At first I thought all that mindfulness and record keeping was helpful, but it soon turned into making me MORE nervous about bedtime and the prospect of not sleeping. At one point the app suggested I go to bed at 1:30, as if by making myself so resoundingly exhausted, I’d immediately sleep. No, it just meant that my sleep would begin, maybe, at 2:00 or later.
A big aspect of CBTI is to train your brain that your bed is only for sleeping (or sex, ha) so after 15 minutes of trying, you’re supposed to get up and do something else. Some nights I’d leave my warm bed and wander around the cool house two or three times, each time eating up about an hour of potential sleep time. I finally decided that if I was not going to sleep, I’d be better off staying in a comfortable place, at least resting, perhaps meditating.
As a fellow sufferer, I don’t want to discourage anybody from seeking help with their insomnia. CBTI might work for you. It’s worth a try, and if you’re to do so, this app is probably as good as you’ll get. It’s designed by the Department of Veteran Affairs (or at least it has some veteran connection). It’s user-friendly. And, as I said, at first it helped. I just want to share that if it makes you feel you have to “perform” or else, you have my permission to relax, take half an Ambien (without feeling guilty), and go back to bed.
At first I thought all that mindfulness and record keeping was helpful, but it soon turned into making me MORE nervous about bedtime and the prospect of not sleeping. At one point the app suggested I go to bed at 1:30, as if by making myself so resoundingly exhausted, I’d immediately sleep. No, it just meant that my sleep would begin, maybe, at 2:00 or later.
A big aspect of CBTI is to train your brain that your bed is only for sleeping (or sex, ha) so after 15 minutes of trying, you’re supposed to get up and do something else. Some nights I’d leave my warm bed and wander around the cool house two or three times, each time eating up about an hour of potential sleep time. I finally decided that if I was not going to sleep, I’d be better off staying in a comfortable place, at least resting, perhaps meditating.
As a fellow sufferer, I don’t want to discourage anybody from seeking help with their insomnia. CBTI might work for you. It’s worth a try, and if you’re to do so, this app is probably as good as you’ll get. It’s designed by the Department of Veteran Affairs (or at least it has some veteran connection). It’s user-friendly. And, as I said, at first it helped. I just want to share that if it makes you feel you have to “perform” or else, you have my permission to relax, take half an Ambien (without feeling guilty), and go back to bed.
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Too much
Way too detailed for me to answer. Trying to comply, I fear, would only make my sleep worse by hyperfocusing on it. But I can see the value for others. Thanks for creating a helpful tool.
Excellent App! 5 Stars
Thank you, Dept of Veteran Affairs. Insomnia Coach is very helpful, and one of the best apps on my phone. With diligent use, the CBT-i exercises and procedures are very effective. I’m learning to sleep better without fear.
Fantastic Free Tool
This has been a life changing app for me. The first 2 weeks are not easy, but the long term payoffs are huge. I’ve been sleeping pill free for a year now and maybe 95% of the time sleeping through the night and waking up feeling refreshed.
Needs work
The bright white background and the inability to listen with the screen off is a no go.
Stuck
I used to get 6-7 hours a night, and after following this program for 8 weeks I’m having heart palpitations in the middle of the night making me wake up after only 4-5. My body is very tired and I fight myself for hours to not fall asleep until my instructed sleep time, but then I wake up after about 4 hours and struggle to get sleepy again. It is taking me about an hour and a half to come down from my heart palpitations (and now sometimes panic attacks), and then I try to go back to sleep with very little success.
My sleep was poor before but now it’s worse, and I fear that I’m stuck now because I’m incredibly anxious about losing sleep and I think that’s why my heart palpitations are happening in the early morning. I did not have these before I started the program.
It’s nice to see this app has worked for others, but it’s not working for me and now I feel like I’m stuck with this worsened sleep.
My sleep was poor before but now it’s worse, and I fear that I’m stuck now because I’m incredibly anxious about losing sleep and I think that’s why my heart palpitations are happening in the early morning. I did not have these before I started the program.
It’s nice to see this app has worked for others, but it’s not working for me and now I feel like I’m stuck with this worsened sleep.
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So tired!
I’m on the 5th week of the program and I understand that it wants me to stay up late to get tired enough so I can sleep better. However, it doesn't let me sleep more than 6-6.5 hours and I’m very tired as a result. Is this part of the program? When will it allow me to sleep more? Thank you.
Something is wrong.
In the sleep diary I recorded the time falling asleep as 11:10pm and awakening at 4:00am. It calculates that I was asleep for 1hr50mn and not 4hr50mn. The app seems to have some good advice but there is something wrong with the basic functionality.
Some issues
I’ve just started using this and note a couple problems. The “Progress” tab doesnt accurately reflect the data I entered, it shows fewer “time asleep” hours that I entered in my diary. I got my first recommendation, which was to go to sleep at 1AM in order to wake up at 5:30, which would give me 4.5 hours of sleep, about 1.5 hours less than the average sleep I had recorded in my diary.
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