You can easily see the time it take for you to fall asleep with your Zeo Sleep Journal online. Just log in, and navigate to the “Your sleep” tab. This tab shows your sleep graph, and underneath is displayed your total Z score as well as your sleep latency, labeled as “Time to Z.”  You can also use this graph to see what sleep stage you went into first after falling asleep.

For those using Zeo Mobile, you can see all of this information on your "individual night of sleep" screen.

The Importance of Sleep Latency

Sleep latency is the canary in the sleeping coalmine. Although the time to go to sleep may differ every night by a few minutes, major changes in sleep latency can be red flags for our health and happiness. If it regularly takes you longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep once you are in bed with the nights off, this could be a sign to review sleep stealers that may be easily phased out of your daily life.

Many sleep-stealing factors control for our sleep latency, including exercise and diet. Most people know that caffeine or alcohol in the evening takes its toll, but a high-fat snack before bed will also increase the time it takes to fall asleep and may also effect the quality of your sleep.

Exercising before bed may increase the time we lie awake at night: it’s best to keep your workouts constrained to at least 2-3 hours before going to bed. At least that’s the conventional wisdom.

A 2012 study found that exercise in healthy young men before bed actually improved sleep. To be sure, exercise during the day definitely improves the quality of sleep.

However, if you are suddenly spending more time trying to fall asleep without any changes to your diet and exercise, this could be a sign that anxiety or emotional stress is to blame.  In this case, maybe it’s time to ramp up your pre-bed relaxation methods. Many sleep doctors recommend giving yourself a full hour of relaxation before sleep, in which you dim the lights in the house, shut down all incoming information (TV, computers and mobile devices), and do some relaxing activities such as reading in bed or taking a hot bath. The practice of meditation during the day is also linked with ease of falling asleep and higher sleep quality at night.

On the other hand, falling asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed can be a sign that you are sleep deprived! Comparing the nights with this low value with your daily activities can help isolate the activities that are taxing so you can better prepare yourself to get better sleep that night and feel more rejuvenating during stressful times.