{"id":6058,"date":"2020-05-19T07:42:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T11:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2020-05-19T15:26:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T19:26:51","slug":"track-your-zzzzs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2020\/05\/track-your-zzzzs\/","title":{"rendered":"Track Your Zzzzs"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have joined the <\/span>17 percent of American adults over 50<\/span><\/a> who wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker to monitor their health. This purchase brought an eye roll and a snicker from my young-adult daughters, who know how much I hate to exercise. I don\u2019t own a pair of yoga pants or a sports bra. Not a sneaker in sight. So, what would possess me to join the movement? (Pardon the pun.) I\u2019m using my FitBit to track my sleep. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the last few years, I\u2019ve noticed a change in my brainpower. Not only do I enter a room only to ask myself why I\u2019m there, or lose the name of someone who was just introduced to me, I no longer seem to hold multiple thoughts in my head simultaneously. For instance, I regularly leave the house without everything I need. I\u2019ll thoroughly prepare for a meeting, then honor my inner Girl Scout by bringing tissues, cough drops, extra pens and a safety pin\u2014but leave my meeting notes on the counter. I sometimes find myself a few beats behind in a conversation and need to have something repeated, not because I don\u2019t hear well but because it didn\u2019t register. And most days by 5 pm, I really want a nap.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a contributor to the Silver Century Foundation, I read a great deal about the aging brain. Our brains don\u2019t lose the ability to make new cells as we get older, so I don\u2019t have to take memory lapses lying down. Or, in my case, I should take them lying down because not getting the proper amount of rest is often a reason for lack of focus. Enter my new wrist accessory, which monitors sleep and costs about the same as a visit to my doctor.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a week of wear, I had a good idea of my baseline sleep time, which was about 80 percent of my goal of eight hours a night. Not only am I sleeping fewer hours than I would like but I am also getting less deep sleep than is optimal.<\/span><\/p>\n

To get more (and better) sleep, I need to make some changes. I freelance and usually start my workday late. In the three years since my younger child went off to college, my default alarm has been my dog, but several mornings a month I need to rise and shine for a meeting or a breakfast date. I have to find a way that an earlier wake time won\u2019t leave me feeling sleep deprived. My FitBit has alarms that can remind me to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. A regular routine like that can improve sleep. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m also aware that environment plays a big role in whether we enjoy quality sleep, so I put my phone away 30 minutes before bed and read paper books. There\u2019s no TV in my room, my bed is an oasis of cloud-like comfort and I keep the thermostat very low.<\/span><\/p>\n

My FitBit offers more health benefits than sleep tracking, and I\u2019ll share them in future posts. First, I plan to share my sleep log with my doctor, but if she suggests I sleep without the dog, I\u2019ll switch doctors. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have joined the 17 percent of American adults over 50 who wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker to monitor their health. This purchase brought an eye roll and a snicker from my young-adult daughters, who know how much I…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Track Your Zzzzs<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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