subject: Purpose Of A Sleep Diary [print this page] Purpose Of A Sleep Diary Purpose Of A Sleep Diary
Throughout our lifetimes, at various times, the majority of us will occasionally contend with too little sleep. Typically, these periods of sleeping disorder can be explained by influences like temporary stress, illness, excitement, or other temporary reasons.
But, if you are waking up tired or are experiencing periods of sleepiness during the day and still sleeping through the night, then these may be indications of a sleep disorder of some type. But just what is the easiest way to determine if there is a sleep problem? It's very difficult to tell because, in fact, you're asleep!
I believe that the easiest way to decide if you have some form of disorder will be to keep a "sleep diary" every night for a period of time. record in this diary faithfully and keep track of all that you eat, drink, medications used, whether or not you workout, the time you get to bed, just how long it takes to go to sleep, the time you get out of bed, how frequently you woke up throughout the night, how many hours of sleep you got, and how sleepy (or not) you felt the next day.
There are plenty of places on the web which have sleep diary templates you can download for nothing. Simply do a quick search for "sleep diary" or "sleep diary template" and take your pick. Which one you use is not nearly as important as being accurate with your documentation.
This record should really be kept for at the very least two weeks to establish your individual patterns and habits. One pattern you should think about is the relationship between the number of hours spent sleeping, how often you woke up during the night, and how tired you felt the next day. Exploring these relationships, you're going to get a much better understanding of exactly how much uninterrupted sleep you personally need to avert being sleepy the following day. When you have recorded everything accurately the diary will even help you see other practices and patterns of behavior that could be preventing an uninterrupted, restful night's sleep.
If your diary indicates patterns like you always take more than a half an hour to fall asleep, or maybe you wake up several times every night for long stretches you might have a sleep disorder. Other indications include a practice of taking frequent naps throughout the day or feeling so sleepy throughout the day that you just go to sleep inadvertently at inappropriate times.
If these symptoms exist, they could well indicate a critical sleep problem and you ought to consult with a medical expert at the earliest opportunity.
