Daily "Mental Alertness" Quiz?
May 25, 2015 10:17 AM Subscribe
Is there a short quiz or activity whose results I can plot over time to gauge how "alert" I am?
I have trouble quitting what I'm doing and going to sleep, and hence I probably don't get enough sleep. I lost weight when I discovered a "scientific" way to watch my progress, it just really clicked for me, and I would like to do something similar for sleep. Something where I note the previous night's bedtime and then the results of some sort of "first thing of the day" activity, in the hopes I can get my motivation from that.
I know the benefits of sleeping enough but a tool like this would provide me the motivation to actually turn off and go to bed.
I have trouble quitting what I'm doing and going to sleep, and hence I probably don't get enough sleep. I lost weight when I discovered a "scientific" way to watch my progress, it just really clicked for me, and I would like to do something similar for sleep. Something where I note the previous night's bedtime and then the results of some sort of "first thing of the day" activity, in the hopes I can get my motivation from that.
I know the benefits of sleeping enough but a tool like this would provide me the motivation to actually turn off and go to bed.
Try the daily suduku - in PEN - over time might give a decent metric. Count the empty boxes after the first error you catch.
posted by sammyo at 10:51 AM on May 25, 2015
posted by sammyo at 10:51 AM on May 25, 2015
This may be over the top and not what you are after at all, but a cohort of sleep specialists (Shapiro et al) have developed scales with brief set of questions that can be used to assess alertness, notably, the Toronto Hospital Alertness Test (THAT) and the ZOGIM-A.
As a heads up (additional FYI to evaluate if this is the parameter that you want to assess), alertness, fatigue, and sleepiness have their own scales and are not directly related. There are also scales to assess sleepiness, such as the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), just in case this is the parameter you want to measure.
I did download the paper, and it includes sleep research studies, research on the various scales, and copies of THAT and ZOGIM-A, so you could use it for yourself. If you think that this is of interest to you and it is what you are after, feel free to memail me and I can find a way to get the paper to you. If you don't have access to a university library think you are looking for the ESS, let me know, and I can try to find that.
posted by Wolfster at 12:44 PM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
As a heads up (additional FYI to evaluate if this is the parameter that you want to assess), alertness, fatigue, and sleepiness have their own scales and are not directly related. There are also scales to assess sleepiness, such as the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), just in case this is the parameter you want to measure.
I did download the paper, and it includes sleep research studies, research on the various scales, and copies of THAT and ZOGIM-A, so you could use it for yourself. If you think that this is of interest to you and it is what you are after, feel free to memail me and I can find a way to get the paper to you. If you don't have access to a university library think you are looking for the ESS, let me know, and I can try to find that.
posted by Wolfster at 12:44 PM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Maybe dump a bunch of flashcards into Anki, and then do the reviews every morning. Anki keeps performance statistics like failed cards, time taken to answer, etc.
It's not really a day-to-day directly comparable numbers thing, since the cards will be different every day and you will learn them over time, but in the aggregate you can see how 'alert' you seem to be.
Plus, learn a language or something. Bonus!
posted by ctmf at 1:37 PM on May 25, 2015
It's not really a day-to-day directly comparable numbers thing, since the cards will be different every day and you will learn them over time, but in the aggregate you can see how 'alert' you seem to be.
Plus, learn a language or something. Bonus!
posted by ctmf at 1:37 PM on May 25, 2015
Quantified Mind may be what you're looking for, especially the N-back and color/word tasks.
posted by katya.lysander at 10:33 PM on May 25, 2015
posted by katya.lysander at 10:33 PM on May 25, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
- A sleep app ie Sleep as A Droid
Turn on bedtime notification and track overall sleep deficit / general mood on wake up. I think there's an add on for longer charts? Test all the apps and invest the 5$ in the best.
- A alarm app ie Alarm Clock Xtreme
Do math / general annoying quiz to turn it off. Stop if this gets too annoying. Only really useful for the mornings that you're dead asleep and need to be kicked out of bed.
- Lumosity or a language learning app AND time to practice
Just track the Lumosity index thingy, I THINK they have a chart of this. If not some sort of basic language learning app like Duolingo which will track progress could be used. Anki which is spaced repetition flashcards may work, but you'll have to import your own data. Also make sure you book time to do this.
posted by Liger at 10:38 AM on May 25, 2015