As much as I wish I was disciplined enough to meet my sleep goals without help, Apple’s sleep schedule and sleep focus features are what’s kept me not just accountable, but competitive with myself for more sleep. Here’s how you can use the sleep features to turn your Apple Watch 8 into a sleep booster.
How to set up a sleep schedule
Contrary to popular belief, technology can make following a sleep schedule easier – at least with this Apple ecosystem feature.
How to turn on Sleep Focus: 2 ways
We’ve all heard it – put your phone away an hour before bed if you want to sleep better, but that’s easier said than done. Toggling on the Sleep Focus option makes that daunting task much easier. Note that you can edit your sleep schedule any time. What is Sleep Focus and how does it work? Glad you asked. Sleep Focus silences your notifications and reduces your lock screen to only show the clock an hour before the designated bedtime you scheduled. For example, my bedtime starts at 11:00 PM, so at 10:00 PM I receive a notification on my iPhone reminding me that I have an hour to unwind. Here are two ways to do it, starting with the simplest way.
How to customize and get the most out of your sleep
How to check and take advantage of sleep data
Now, it’s up to you. When the clock strikes your bedtime, make sure your watch is on your wrist and your distractions are put away for the evening. From here, select the “Sleep” Focus mode. To do this, click on the Sleep Focus option, and select the “People” or “Apps” tabs under the “Allow notifications” heading. Once you click on a respective tab, you’ll be promoted to add people or apps. From there, scroll through your contacts and app list and select who and what can notify you as you wind down. Once you turn off your alarm on either your phone or your watch, Bedtime and Sleep focus are lifted and whatever notifications were silenced will be on your lock screen display. At the top of the graph, the feature will also differentiate how long you spent asleep versus how long you were in bed. When I looked at this data, I realized that before I started using my Apple Watch to track sleep, I was building my “time in bed” into my total hours asleep. Perhaps you are, too, and want to be more vigilant about winding down to increase your hours spent asleep.
