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You probably wake up 8-11 times a night — plus 21 other discoveries from sleep-tracking apps

Julie Bort

2015-09-22T22:34:00Z

woman sleeping bed insomnia

Why is it that you can go to be on time and wake up feeling exhausted?

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Perhaps you are waking up more than you think you are.

For most of us, getting enough sleep is a problem.

But thanks to fitness trackers like Fitbit, Jawbone UP, and sleeping-aid apps like Sleepio, we now have all sorts of data on how we sleep and how to improve our rest.

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Just because you fall asleep doesn't mean you stay asleep. Fitbit users tend to wake up 8-11 times per night, which averages out to everyone waking up 9.3 times per night!

morning bedroom girl waking up

Source: Fitbit

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Women are slightly more (about 10%) likely to report sleep issues and to rate poorer-quality sleep than men.

tired woman

Source Sleepio.

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However, women tend to get, on average, 20 more minutes of sleep than men. Women get 7-7.6 hours per night; men get 6.8-7.4 hours

woman sleeping

Source: Fitbit

The idea that women wake up more than men is a myth, too. Men under 50 tend to wake up slightly more, once more per night, than women of the same age.

bed sleep bedroom

Source: Fitbit

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Too little sleep is terrible for a man's sex drive. If a guy only gets 5 hours a night for a week, he'll likely experience 'significantly lower levels of testosterone,' which kills sex drive and cause other health issues, researchers say.

sleep, nap, tired

Source: University of Chicago school of medicine

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Too little sleep can also contribute to weight gain. Women who slept 5 hours or less a night were far more likely to snack on junk and gain 30 pounds or more than women who slept 7 hours per night.

eating cookie

Source: Fitbit

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While individual's sleep needs vary, after an exhaustive 2-year study, the National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get between 7-9 hours of sleep every night. People over 65 can get by with 7-8 hours a night, and kids need more than 8.

sleeping NFL fans

Source: National Sleep Foundation

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Here's another reason to get more sleep: more sleep = a happier person. People who sleep between eight and 9.5 hours during the night tend to wake up happier.

Smiling

Source: Jawbone.

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On the other hand, people who don't get enough sleep tend to suffer from low mood. (77% of poor sleepers report low mood, compared to 27% of good sleepers).

depressed woman

Source: Sleepio

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Poor sleepers also tend to have more relationship problems. 77% of poor sleepers report relationship problems, compared to 35% of good sleepers.

Stock photo couple arguing bed cheating

Source: Sleepio.

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Poor sleep can also lead to feelings of loneliness. 53% of poor sleepers report feeling "alone" compared to 10% of good sleepers.

solitude alone lonely thinking blue mountain

Source: Sleepio

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Almost nobody regularly sleeps over eight hours a night. Most of the nation sleeps less than 7.5 hours a night.

A man sleeps on a conveyer belt under an American Airlines logo at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York Thomson Reuters

Source: Jawbone.

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City dwellers are among the most sleep-deprived people in the nation. New Yorkers get, on average, 6.85 hours of sleep a night.

tired sleep

Source: Jawbone.

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In San Francisco, people average 6.9 hours ...

San Francisco

Source: Jawbone.

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In the burbs, bedtime is more like 11 p.m.

Suburbs — Scaffolding is seen at the construction site of a new home in California September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Source: Jawbone.

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In LA they average 6.75 hours.

los angeles

Source: Jawbone.

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In Chicago, it's 6.84 hours. Basically, if you live in a city — whether that city is on the coast, in the Midwest, or in the West — you typically sleep less than seven hours a night.

taxis new york city manhattan traffic jam

Source: Jawbone.

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Short-term events don't affect your sleep as much as they seem. For instance, the switch to daylight savings may make you feel tired, but it only causes Americans to lose 13 minutes of sleep that night.

yawning girl screenshot

Source: Jawbone.

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Sleep quality degrades as we age. Forty-nine percent more people in their 60s report long-term sleep problems than people in their 20s.

grandparents with baby

Source: Jawbone.

There are scientific tricks for getting a better night's sleep. For instance, sleeping on our backs can make us prone to snoring, which can keep us from sleeping deeply. So try sleeping with fewer pillows or in different positions.

Train sleeping

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Avoiding bright light in the evening, and exposing yourself to sunlight in the morning will also help you fall asleep easier and wake up easier.

Poor lighting/lamp

Source: National Sleep Foundation

Your alarm clock shouldn't really wake you up. Most deep sleep occurs in the first couple of hours of the night. If you go to sleep and wake on a regular schedule, and that schedule includes a reasonable amount of sleep, you would wake up around when the alarm was set anyway.

wake,sleep,morning

Sleep Fitbit

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