Plenty of us have wearable tech and/or apps that we use to try and help us be healthier. For many people tracking everything from exercise to sleep is just part of every day life now.
However, new research has suggested that using sleep-tracking apps could actually be disrupting sleep or causing 'orthosomnia' - a word made up of 'ortho' meaning correct and 'somnia' meaning sleep.
According to the study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, some people using apps are at risk of monitoring and obsessing over their sleep, which can cause worry and stress, which then has a negative impact on their sleep.
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"The use of wearable sleep tracking devices is rapidly expanding and provides an opportunity to engage individuals in monitoring of their sleep patterns", reads the report.
"However, there are a growing number of patients who are seeking treatment for self-diagnosed sleep disturbances such as insufficient sleep duration and insomnia due to periods of light or restless sleep observed on their sleep tracker data".
Speaking to the Huffington Post, Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep expert says that although 'orthosomnia' might be a 'silly word' it can be a real problem.
He told the news outlet that if people are worried about sleep then they will struggle to drift off. As most of the apps and trackers usually gives users a score or rating or their sleep, it's natural that people will want to improve that score, particularly if it's low, causing them to begin to over-think their sleeping habits.
Dr Stanley told the Huffington Post: "People should trust themselves a lot more rather than technology. Apps and wearables are not particularly accurate anyway, so you may be worrying about completely inaccurate data.
"Really it's all about relying on how you're feeling: are you sleepy during the day? Yes or no. If yes, you probably have a problem with sleep. If no, then you don't."
Sounds like simple advice.
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If you are worried about not being to sleep, the NHS recommends that you should try and go to sleep and wake up around the same time - the average person needs between six and nine hours sleep each night, so set a bedtime and time to wake up that fits.
The NHS goes on to suggest that you make time to 'wind down' before you go bed, by getting a warm bath, listening to relaxation CDs and reading a book.
It's also important to make sure your bedroom is 'sleep-friendly'; this means dark, quiet tidy and, ideally, at a temperature between 18C and 24C.
If all else fails, the NHS also says that sex can help, because 'unlike most vigorous physical activity, sex makes us sleepy. This has evolved in humans over thousands of years.' Fair enough.
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Sources: Huffington Post; NHS; Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
Featured Image Credit: The Simpsons/FoxTopics: World News, Interesting, Sleep