You have unhealthy sleep habits and want to change that? Me too. We recently stumbled across an app called SleepTown by SeekrTech, and they want to motivate you to change your sleeping behavior for the better.
You just install the SleepTown app on your Android or iOS smartphone and configure it quickly to match your target sleep time and wake time. Now all you have to do is to go to sleep by the time you entered in the app and confirm that you’re in bed ready to sleep, with a single button tap.
How can you improve your sleeping behavior?
If you manage to do that in time, the construction of the first building in your SleepTown will commence. From this moment on, you cannot do anything else on your smartphone or the construction will be aborted and at least for this night, your progress is stopped. No new building for you.
In case you manage not to use your smartphone after your sleep time has started, you will need to wake up in time to confirm the complete construction of the new building in your SleepTown. You just need to complete a quick shake-your-phone challenge, to prove that you’re actually up and not only snoozing away again.
That pressure is so …
Believe it or not, there can be quite an emotional pressure to this, which will motivate you to be punctual for your sleep time and not use your phone after you started the construction of a new building. After even only a short time, you want your town to grow, and you want to get rare buildings by not breaking the rules for a couple of consecutive nights.
I guess the only worse way of tapping into emotions as a motivation would be if the town was inhabited by little people and if you don’t sleep – they die, one by one. Maybe in a future hardcore mode that I wouldn’t want to use.
Will the free features be enough?
The primary functions of SleepTown are available for free, but some premium options will require you to pay for them. These are nice-to-have but not really needed to use the app properly to improve your sleeping habits and get healthier as your SleepTown grows with you.
The same company has also developed the Forest app, which lets you grow a beautiful forest, tree by tree if you keep working concentrated. A similar gamification mechanic but more focused on driving productivity.
I have managed to get 4 buildings over a period of 6 days, so there is some room for improvement but I’m proud of my tiny SleepTown. Check the app out today and let us know what you think below in the comments. Sleep tight!
Further reading
Interested in sleep as a subject? Read more about it here:
- 40 Companies That (Want to) Disrupt the Sleep Market
- Arianna Huffington on Tech Addiction and Sleeping Habits [Video]
- Jeff Iliff Has a Good Reason Why You Should Sleep Properly [Video]
YouTube: SleepTown App Review
Photo credit: José Carlos Cortizo Pérez / SeekrTech
