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A sleep diary is a simple and a structured daily log where you record details about your sleep and wake times, sleep quality, and daily habits which affects your sleep. It is typically maintained over 1–2 weeks and provides your doctor or sleep specialist with a clear picture of your real life sleep pattern.
It helps to assess problems like insomnia, hypersomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, and helps monitor response to treatment or lifestyle changes.
Each day, you should note the following:
| Sleep Diary Entry | What to Record |
|---|---|
| Date | The day you’re recording |
| Time you went to bed | When you tried to fall asleep |
| Time you fell asleep | If known or estimated |
| Wake-up time | When you finally got up |
| Total sleep time | How many hours you think you slept |
| Number of awakenings | How many times you woke up at night |
| Awake time during night | Total time you were awake in bed |
| Naps (if any) | Time and duration of naps |
| Sleep quality | Rate 1–5 or poor/fair/good |
| Medication taken | Any sleep meds, caffeine, alcohol |
| Exercise or stress levels | Anything that affected sleep |
No, just estimate as best you can. You’re not expected to know the exact time you fell asleep or woke up during the night—but approximate entries still help a lot.
While helpful, wearables don’t always reflect subjective sleep experiences (like how rested you felt). A sleep diary captures your perception, which is equally important in evaluating sleep quality.
Yes, the diary helps correlate your subjective sleep experience with objective data from actigraphy or sleep studies, improving diagnostic accuracy.
That’s okay. Just fill in what you remember or leave it blank for that day. After that try to be consistent going forward.