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Not really an experiment, but I'm trying to measure the length of time between me entering bed, and me falling asleep.
The problem: How do I keep track of the moment I fall asleep? I don't want to have somebody stay up and record the time when i fall asleep.
I was thinking, have a stopwatch tick quietly every 10 minutes. The next morning, if I can only recall 2-3 ticks, that means I probably fell asleep 30-40 minutes.
Any ideas on how better to find when I fall asleep?
I was thinking video camera as well, but without lighting, it can't capture anything and I don't have a night vision camera.
edit: to the people saying iphone - I don't have an iphone 
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Got an iPhone by any chance?
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Have a machine measure your brain activity. Your brain waves differ when you go to sleep. 
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maybe try putting some music on, and then in the morning try to remember the last song you heard. you can look at the song lengths to figure out about how long it took to fall asleep. Just an idea ^_^
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I'll stay up and record the time.
Seriously: I like your idea. Just set an alarm for like 20 minutes, and if you fall asleep before than, then next time set it to ten. Eventually you'll get a rough estimate.
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Set up a web cam so strangers on the internet can watch you sleep! Make sure you put a mic close so we can hear your breathing too
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I used to listen to music for years while falling asleep, and trust me, it's not a good way to measure when you fall asleep. I tended to forget exactly at which point I fell asleep. I even remember thinking sometimes "I wonder if I'll remember listening to this when I wake up." The next morning I could remember thinking that, but couldn't remember the music. It's kind of weird, your brain might still be active, but the recording equipment will be off
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Set up a livestream of your webcam pointed at your bed. That way we can all watch you fall asleep.
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Hold a fork or something in your hand over the floor so when you fall asleep it will clatter on the floor and wake you. Of course then you'll have to go to sleep again so there's that downside, but it's no worse than the alarm clock and quicker results.
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ok, heres is something that could work, and is easier than finding a brain activity measuring device(WTF alou?!?!?)
Search for a sport chronometer, that has the option of pressing a button for counting, so, when you fall asleep you let go of the thing, ergo the time you were awake. You should add maybe a couple of seconds since youll let go right before falling sleep.....dunno, just making assumptions
edit: or fitbit could do it -__-
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there's a $2 iphone app that can do it.
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I don't have an iphone and i don't want to pay 100 bucks for fitbit lol
I was hoping for a makeshift solution.
I like the alarmclock idea / drop a fork, but i don't really want to have to wake up and go back to sleep...
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On June 17 2010 15:53 qrs wrote:
Hold a fork or something in your hand over the floor so when you fall asleep it will clatter on the floor and wake you. Of course then you'll have to go to sleep again so there's that downside, but it's no worse than the alarm clock and quicker results.
I think Da Vinci came up with this.
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There's a thing called Dead Man's Switch.
The idea is that you press a button or contact or something every few minutes, and as soon as your button pressing stops, the device will presume you dead (or sleeping for your purposes  ). Combine that with a clock and you're fine, I guess.
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On June 17 2010 17:29 ReTrooper wrote:
There's a thing called Dead Man's Switch.
Except instead of blowing everyone up, you drop a fork on the floor.
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Not really a very accurate way to do it with any make shift home devices. Though i suppose being aware you're trying to measure how long it takes also affects how long it takes
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If you're as light of a sleeper as I am, the beeps will actually wake you up
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Holding a fork or pressing a button every few minutes will prolong the time it takes you to fall asleep, since you'll be concentrating on performing that task.
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On June 17 2010 18:48 Zilver wrote:
Holding a fork or pressing a button every few minutes will prolong the time it takes you to fall asleep, since you'll be concentrating on performing that task.
yea, i think what i'm going to do is just put a microphone next to my mouth and hopefully a significant change in breathing noise occurs
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On June 17 2010 16:05 oo_xerox wrote:
ok, heres is something that could work, and is easier than finding a brain activity measuring device(WTF alou?!?!?)
Search for a sport chronometer, that has the option of pressing a button for counting, so, when you fall asleep you let go of the thing, ergo the time you were awake. You should add maybe a couple of seconds since youll let go right before falling sleep.....dunno, just making assumptions
edit: or fitbit could do it -__-
This one.
Make sure the thing has a 'lap' function, or something alike. Keep pressing the lap key every minute (doesn't have to be acurate). The last recorded lap is your nap.
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Have your mother monitor you.
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United States24784 Posts
Yeah most of these suggestions don't work and/or will affect how long you are awake for.
Most importantly, why are you trying to do this? This seems like the wrong way to go about trying to work with sleeping problems, if that's your motivation. Worrying about how long it takes to fall asleep generally triggers wakefullness. When I improved my own sleeping habits I realized there's absolutely no benefit to worrying how long I was lying there. If I ever happen to notice I'm having trouble falling asleep (like I suddenly realize I've been lying there for over half an hour) then I immediately switch gears to something else and come back to my bed a bit later.
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On June 17 2010 19:31 micronesia wrote:
Yeah most of these suggestions don't work and/or will affect how long you are awake for.
Most importantly, why are you trying to do this? This seems like the wrong way to go about trying to work with sleeping problems, if that's your motivation. Worrying about how long it takes to fall asleep generally triggers wakefullness. When I improved my own sleeping habits I realized there's absolutely no benefit to worrying how long I was lying there. If I ever happen to notice I'm having trouble falling asleep (like I suddenly realize I've been lying there for over half an hour) then I immediately switch gears to something else and come back to my bed a bit later.
Although it is 4 AM, I don't have insomnia / sleeping problems. I'm just curious how long it takes me to fall asleep.
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Here's the thing-- nothing that involves *you* will give accurate results. It's gotta be some external tool that does the observing for you-- and it has to monitor something subtle like your breathing or brain waves, since it's tough to tell if someone's asleep or just trying to fall asleep with a picture 
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On June 17 2010 15:21 zOula... wrote:
maybe try putting some music on, and then in the morning try to remember the last song you heard. you can look at the song lengths to figure out about how long it took to fall asleep. Just an idea ^_^
yea, I do this... well I'm not trying to figure out how long it takes me to fall asleep, but I'll notice this when I wake up.
On June 17 2010 15:46 Lexpar wrote:
Set up a livestream of your webcam pointed at your bed. That way we can all watch you fall asleep.
LOL. I think that would be boring after awhile though. Assuming he sleeps soundly.
On June 17 2010 20:14 kdog3683 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 17 2010 19:31 micronesia wrote:
Yeah most of these suggestions don't work and/or will affect how long you are awake for.
Most importantly, why are you trying to do this? This seems like the wrong way to go about trying to work with sleeping problems, if that's your motivation. Worrying about how long it takes to fall asleep generally triggers wakefullness. When I improved my own sleeping habits I realized there's absolutely no benefit to worrying how long I was lying there. If I ever happen to notice I'm having trouble falling asleep (like I suddenly realize I've been lying there for over half an hour) then I immediately switch gears to something else and come back to my bed a bit later. Although it is 4 AM, I don't have insomnia / sleeping problems. I'm just curious how long it takes me to fall asleep.
I mean, in theory, how long it takes you to fall asleep will depend on what you did that day/how you're going to sleep. Too many variables for this to be an actual, accurate "experiment." But like, after a physically demanding activity like sports, chances are you can fall asleep pretty quickly (shower first! =P). Or like, reading a dense book before bed is often something that puts me to sleep. So technically, transition time is like <1 minute for that long.
How precise are you trying to be? Within a minute? Within ten minutes? Within an hour?
It also depends on what kind of sleeper you are. Setting an alarm is a terrible idea because, unless its a really quiet and unobtrusive alarm (the exact opposite of most alarms?), it'll wake you up and ruin your sleep.
If you're got a normal cell phone, or even a digital clock/alarm clock that you can see in the dark, you can check that from time to time. It'll be less useful if you fall asleep fairly quickly, but if you're up for half an hour before you fall asleep, chances are you can glance over at your phone or clock every once in awhile.
In general though, just think about it ^^. Did you have trouble sleeping that night or no? Do you remember being awake as you were in bed, trying to fall asleep? No trouble = less than 30 minutes. I like the music idea too.
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On June 17 2010 15:46 Lexpar wrote:
Set up a livestream of your webcam pointed at your bed. That way we can all watch you fall asleep.
haha, this made me lol
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im pretty sure you can get a nightvision webcam for pretty cheap on ebay. i used to see them back in the day when i was buying mine, when webcams were expensive.
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On June 17 2010 15:46 Lexpar wrote:
Set up a livestream of your webcam pointed at your bed. That way we can all watch you fall asleep.
And live report it.
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Play a movie that you've seen more than a few times. Strangely, in the morning, you should be able to remember how much of the movie you have heard.
Music doesn't work for me, but that's because I'm a big movie fan and not a big music fan.
Also, if it is a movie I have never seen, I won't sleep until it's over.
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EPT
