I’m trying to find a better way to track sleep than self reporting but isn’t crazy expensive and allows me to easily integrate my data with the rest of my tracked data in google sheets.
My issue is more oversleeping and napping, and I suspect it correlates to mood/interest and overall quality of life. So I’m not worried about wakeups but would like accurate data on awake/sleeping.
I still want to be able to have my sleep data in Google Sheets, but a downloadable CSV would be acceptable as well. Ideally something I would be able to have live updates sent to my massive spreadsheet where I do all my analysis and reflection.
Does anyone have any suggestions or strategies+tools that work for them?
Fitbit and Google devices that track sleep allow you to export your data to a format that is either CSV, or readily converts to CSV. You may have to do data exports from a web browser to get the files, but its doable.
There are some projects around for open source sleep trackers, see
for a list. THere might be open source hardware too. However, I have not tried a single one of them being satisfied with my UltraHuman Ring Air that I purchased primarily for better tracking of my VO2Max than my Apple Watch 9 can do when using my Nordic Walking Poles. (AW9 does not collect VO2Max data in that configuration.) As a result sleep tracking came free as it is a feature of the ring and it is helping me to achieve better sleep even without a data download.
I use the Fitbit Charge 5 (un der $100) and have done quite a bit of sleep tracking. I find it trustworthy with the following limits:
Small “awake” measurements (under 5 minute) are meaningless. Maybe there is something there, but it doesn’t match any phenomenon I can detect and doesn’t match other sleep trackers when I’ve tried them.
Longer “awake” measurements match the general timing of my wakeups well, but I don’t trust the exact lengths (They are often followed by awake/light periods that do reflect dozing, which happens to me sometimes after 4 am. So, again, they are picking up something, but I wouldn’t assume they’ve got it with any precision.)
Generally, I trust measurements of more than about 5 minutes. I don’t currently have any use for high resolution sleep data, so this doesn’t matter to me.
I’m interested in shifts in amount and timing of my REM sleep. I often wake up from dreams, and Fitbit times show this.
In my experience most health bands do a decent job of detecting sleep awake. this includes weakly branded devices on amazon for as little as 30$ but I can not guarantee that they will have export and sometimes the devices bought on amazon are complete rubbish.
Yes, my experience matches this. The biggest problem with buying cheap devices on Amazon is that you really do not know what you’re getting. Brands are often fake and there is zero accountability or support. I’ve had some really absurd experiences, and the reviews are not trustworthy either. While Amazon will provide refunds, it’s hardly worth the hassle to try to find an under $50 off brand tracker given how often the search fails.
Do not be tempted by used Fitbits either. Fitbit quality of production is not flawless, but if you buy them new, and there is a failure, you can get it replaced.