Sleep tracking technology has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, with wrist-worn devices and smart rings now offering detailed breakdowns of sleep stages and assigning numerical “sleep scores” to users. However, medical professionals are raising concerns about the psychological effects of this trend, which some term “sleepmaxxing” when taken to extremes.
Dr. Alanna Hare, a sleep medicine consultant at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, contends that sleep scores themselves are not grounded in established sleep science but rather are constructs created by device manufacturers. She has observed that patients increasingly arrive at appointments anxious about data from their trackers, despite having received reassuring medical test results. The fixation on tracking and optimizing sleep appears to be contributing to worse sleep outcomes rather than improvements.
Research underscores this paradox. A study from the University of Oxford found that when participants received randomized sleep scores unrelated to their actual sleep, those told they slept poorly subsequently reported greater fatigue and reduced mental alertness the following day. The false information alone affected their perceived functioning. Similarly, one user described becoming dependent on her tracker’s assessment of her sleep quality, only to discover years later that the device was inaccurate, having reported excellent sleep during a night when she was actually awake for four consecutive hours.
Dr. Neil Stanley, a sleep expert, argues that assigning numerical values to sleep creates problematic targets and worry cycles. He notes that wrist-worn trackers measure movement rather than actual brain activity, making them fundamentally limited instruments despite modern refinements. A proposed lawsuit filed in San Francisco alleges that certain sleep rings rely on AI estimates with questionable accuracy, though the manufacturer maintains confidence in its research.
Medical professionals recommend a simpler approach: maintaining a cool, dark, and reasonably quiet bedroom; obtaining bright light exposure in the morning to regulate circadian rhythms; exercising lightly; and following a healthy diet. Dr. Hare emphasizes that beyond these basics, additional interventions are unnecessary.
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