A decade ago, high achievers would boast of how little sleep they got as if it were a sign of courage and stamina. That flipped on its head in recent years, with length and quality of sleep the new badge of honor.
Now, the most restful pastime humans can enjoy is starting to look like a competitive sport. According to the burgeoning sleep-tech industry, if you want to win — and apparently you do want to win — you need a sleep coach and high-end gadgets.
To prove just how good you are at closing your eyes and nodding off, a metric is required. A nice, simple number that can proclaim whether you’ve been nailing or failing, and there are plenty of commercial and nonprofit enterprises available to grade you. The Washington-based National Sleep Foundation has even trademarked its Sleep Health Index so that you can be your Best Slept Self (also trademarked).