I Tracked My Sleep for 108 Days: Here's What I Learned
"Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together."
—Thomas Dekker
As someone who’s constantly looking for ways to improve my health and performance, I decided to dive into the world of sleep tracking. My goal was simple: optimize my sleep to enhance both my physical recovery and mental clarity. By meticulously recording my sleep stages (deep, light, and REM sleep) alongside my daily habits—like exercise, caffeine intake, alcohol consumption, supplements, and other factors—I began to uncover patterns and insights that have completely transformed my approach to rest and recovery.
Tracking my sleep was more than just monitoring how long I stayed in bed; it was about understanding what habits and lifestyle choices directly contributed to higher-quality sleep. Here’s what I learned from months of tracking my sleep and performance.
A snapshot of the sheet I used to track my sleep.
What I Track: A Holistic Approach to Sleep and Recovery
I didn’t just track the total hours I spent asleep. I broke it down by deep sleep, light sleep, and REM sleep—three distinct stages that each serve different recovery functions. I relied on my Fitbit as well as my own 1-10 ranking of how I felt I slept (before looking at my watch). Additionally, I logged key factors like exercise (cardio and lifting), alcohol consumption, caffeine intake, supplements (creatine, GABA, melatonin), sauna sessions, blue light blockers (BLB), and even dinner size. The goal was to connect specific habits with how my sleep quality, recovery, and energy levels shifted over time.
What Impacted Deep Sleep?
The most surprising discovery was how much my exercise routines impacted my deep sleep. After lifting weights or doing cardio, I consistently saw a significant increase in deep sleep, which is the stage where the body does most of its recovery. On workout days, I typically hit deep sleep durations between 50–80 minutes, while on rest days, it dropped down to 20–40 minutes.
On nights when I followed up a solid lifting session with a sauna, I experienced even more recovery, with deep sleep durations reaching up to 70 minutes—a marked improvement from my baseline. The combination of exercise and sauna sessions seemed to help my body relax and recover faster, setting me up for better quality rest.
Interestingly, on nights when I didn’t exercise or used heavy alcohol (5 or more drinks), I saw my deep sleep significantly decrease, often down to 20 minutes. What I didn’t track was how far away my last drink was from the time my head hit the pillow. Anecdotally, I feel better when there’s about one hour for every beer drank between the last sip and sleep onset.
This reinforced the idea that exercise—especially in the earlier part of the day—was a game-changer for maximizing recovery during the night.
What Impacted REM Sleep?
REM sleep is critical for cognitive recovery and memory consolidation, and I found that certain habits directly impacted my ability to get quality REM rest. On nights when I used blue light blockers (BLB) or incorporated relaxation techniques like GABA, I saw my REM sleep durations increase by 50–70 minutes compared to nights when I didn’t use those methods.
For example, on nights when I wore blue light blockers before bed, I consistently had higher REM sleep, often hitting around 150–200 minutes. In contrast, on nights when I didn’t implement these habits, my REM sleep ranged around 130–160 minutes—still good, but not as optimized.
GABA also played a role in improving REM sleep, but I did experience some grogginess in the morning, which meant I had to fine-tune the dosage.
What Impacted Light Sleep?
While light sleep is important for staying alert and monitoring your environment, I noticed that poor sleep hygiene often led to increased light sleep at the cost of REM and deep sleep. For instance, after screen time or alcohol consumption in the evening, I saw an uptick in light sleep that interfered with my ability to enter the deeper stages of rest.
On nights where I had a heavy meal before bed, my light sleep increased as well, making it harder for me to reach the deep sleep and REM sleep stages. This told me that heavy meals, especially those high in fat or sugar, were sabotaging my recovery.
Key Sleep Enhancers: What Really Worked for Me
After months of experimentation and tracking, I identified a few game-changing habits that had a significant impact on my sleep quality:
1. Exercise (Cardio + Lifting)
It became clear that exercise—both cardio and lifting—was foundational for optimal sleep. On days when I exercised, I consistently saw higher levels of deep sleep and REM sleep. I even noticed that the more consistent I was with my workout schedule, the better my overall sleep rating (from 4-5 to 7-8).
2. Sauna Sessions
The sauna was a surprising but highly effective addition to my routine. It significantly improved my deep sleep—especially when used in the evening after a workout. Regular sauna sessions helped me achieve better muscle relaxation, leading to more restorative sleep. I’ve come to learn that sanas have an incredible impact on health well beyond sleep which is why I ended up buying a sauna blanket for the house.
3. Blue Light Blockers (BLB)
Using blue light blockers an hour before bed became one of my top sleep hacks. My REM sleep improved notably, with durations consistently higher than the nights when I didn’t use them. In fact, I saw up to a 40-minute increase in REM sleep when using blue light blockers before bed. Additionally, I found that using them helped me fall asleep faster, which made them an essential part of my nighttime routine.I use a few different kids including Essential Living or Spectra479, and Felix Grey.
4. Caffeine & Alcohol: Moderation Is Key
Caffeine didn’t seem to have a huge impact on my sleep as long as I limited it to early in the day, (I tend to take my last sip around noon) however, alcohol was a sleep killer—even moderate consumption reduced my deep sleep and REM sleep significantly. On nights when I avoided alcohol altogether, my sleep was far more restorative.
Takeaway
Tracking my sleep was a game-changer for me. It allowed me to identify which habits were truly optimizing my sleep and which ones were holding me back. By incorporating regular exercise, sauna sessions, and blue light blockers, I was able to significantly improve my deep sleep and REM sleep, both of which contributed to better performance, recovery, and overall health.
If you’re serious about taking your health to the next level, I highly recommend tracking your sleep and experimenting with different habits to see what works best for you. Whether it’s through consistent exercise, better sleep hygiene, or smarter supplementation, you can learning powerful insights about your body that will help you find how toachieve the best sleep possible.
The key is in the details—optimize the little things, and the big results will follow. Start tracking, make adjustments, and watch your recovery, performance, and overall quality of life soar.
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