Sleep Score: Unlocking Better Sleep and Well-Being

What is Sonar’s Sleep Score?

Sonar’s Sleep Score is a comprehensive assessment of the quality and efficiency of your sleep, and whether you’re meeting your sleep needs. By focusing on your Sleep Score, you can make smarter decisions to improve the duration and depth of your sleep, establish greater consistency, and ultimately enhance your recovery, energy levels, and overall health.

Each morning, Sonar condenses the details of your sleep into a single, easy-to-understand number on a scale from 0 to 100%, with higher scores indicating better sleep performance as seen below:

Good (80-100%): You’re getting restorative sleep that likely includes sufficient deep and REM stages. This is the range where you’ll wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. Consistently hitting this range can contribute to improved mood, cognitive function, and overall well-being.

Fair (60-79%): While your sleep quality is adequate, there’s room for improvement. You might have experienced minor disruptions or a suboptimal distribution of sleep stages. This range suggests your body is recovering, but not as effectively as it could.

Poor (0-59%): A poor score typically reflects insufficient or low-quality sleep, leaving your body under-recovered. This range may result from frequent disruptions, inconsistent sleep patterns, or stress. Over time, chronically low sleep scores can contribute to exhaustion, decreased mental clarity, and a host of health issues. If you’re consistently seeing poor scores, addressing the root cause is essential to avoid compounding fatigue over time.

Just as important as the score itself are the trends over time. A consistent downward trend in your Sleep Score can highlight the need for adjustments, such as addressing disruptions, improving sleep hygiene, or reevaluating your routine. By paying attention to these patterns, you can make informed changes to improve the quality of your sleep.

How is your Sleep Score calculated?

Sonar’s Sleep algorithm analyzes your sleep duration, sleep stages, quality, and consistency, comparing them to your personal baselines and recommended benchmarks for your age. Key contributors include:

• Time Asleep: The amount of time you spend asleep significantly impacts your Sleep Score. Since individual sleep needs vary, Sonar analyses your sleep need based on factors like your age and activity levels.

• Sleep Stages: You cycle between various sleep stages while asleep, including light sleep, deep sleep, and REM. Sonar evaluates the balance and duration of these stages to assess the restorative quality of your sleep.

• Biometrics: Your heart rate during sleep plays a crucial role in assessing sleep quality, particularly during the deeper, more restorative stages. A significant heart rate dip overnight often signals better recovery and contributes to a higher Sleep Score. Similarly, an elevated heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep can indicate that your body has reached a deeper level of recovery.

• Sleep Efficiency: this reflects the percentage of time you spent in bed actually asleep. While brief periods of wakefulness during the night are completely normal — and often go unremembered —maximizing your sleep efficiency means minimizing avoidable disruptions and creating a consistent bedtime routine. The higher your sleep efficiency, the more restful and uninterrupted your night was.

• Consistency: Going to bed and waking up at the same times daily helps regulate your internal clock. Inconsistent sleep patterns can disrupt your circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep and wake up refreshed. Sonar rewards a consistent sleep schedule with a higher Sleep Score because it aligns your body with its natural biological rhythms.

How to improve your sleep

Improving your sleep doesn’t require a complete overhaul — small changes can make a big difference. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Create a wind-down routine: relax before bed with activities like reading, meditation, or light stretching. Avoid screens and bright lights that can interfere with melatonin production.

• Optimize your sleep environment: keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. Consider blackout curtains, a white noise machine, or earplugs if needed.

• Stick to a schedule: go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Consistency reinforces your circadian rhythm.

• Limit caffeine and alcohol: avoid caffeine in the afternoon and minimize alcohol, which can disrupt deep and REM sleep.

• Stay active: regular exercise promotes better sleep, but avoid vigorous workouts close to bedtime.

What hurts your sleep

Understanding what disrupts your sleep can help you avoid common pitfalls:

• Stress and overthinking: elevated stress levels make it harder to fall and stay asleep. Mindfulness techniques can help manage pre-sleep anxiety.

• Poor sleep hygiene: bright lights, noisy environments, and uncomfortable temperatures all hinder sleep quality.

• Irregular schedules: erratic bedtimes and wake-up times can confuse your internal clock.

• Late-night screen time: the blue light from screens suppresses melatonin, delaying sleep onset.

• Heavy meals or alcohol: eating large meals or drinking alcohol late in the evening can interfere with restorative sleep stages.

• Health conditions: Chronic pain, sleep apnea, and other medical issues can significantly disrupt your sleep. If you’re experiencing ongoing challenges, it may be helpful to consult with your doctor.

Balancing data with self-awareness

While Sonar’s Sleep Score is a powerful tool for understanding and improving your sleep, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. It’s not about achieving a perfect score every night, but instead identifying opportunities for improvement. Listen to your body, trust your instincts, and balance the data with your own experience. By using the Sleep Score as a guide, you can develop healthier habits, optimize your recovery, and create a sustainable routine that enhances both your immediate well-being and long-term health.