#65 - 😴 The newsletter that will help you sleep better

Hello,

This week a somewhat special program. In fact, I wanted to talk in detail about an application that I have been testing for a few weeks and which has already had a huge impact on my life.

An application like no other because it will help you sleep better, have more energy and be more efficient in your different activities.

😴 Rise sleep: the app that will make you sleep better

A few years ago I bought an activity tracker.
It had a function that seemed very practical to me because it allowed me to measure my sleep.
Basically telling me if I was sleeping good or not...

Except that after a few weeks I stopped using it completely and it ended up in a drawer.

The reason? Apart from telling me that I had slept 8 hours, that didn't give me any information.

So it's been years since I I didn't measure my sleep and it suited me very well.

Yet sleep plays an essential role in many more areas than we imagine:

Mental performance (attention span, reactivity, analysis)
Health (impact on the immune system, metabolism, etc.)
Emotional (anxiety, empathy, etc.)

Aware of the importance of the latter I just activated on my iPhone the program that reminds me to go to bed at set times (the option is in the “Health” application in the sleep section) and it did the job.

That was before I came across this video by Leo Duff who talks about the applications that changed his life and that I discover Rise Sleep.

And if it's too early to say that it has changed my life, it has the potential to do so. And that's already more than enough for me to talk to you about it here.

Why is Rise's approach so relevant?

Well, where my first tracker didn't provide me with any information, Rise used my sleep data to make me aware of 2 essential concepts:

The sleep debt and the circadian rhythm.

What is sleep debt?

By having bad nights, you will lack sleep and accumulate a debt. This debt can be counted in hours and the higher it is, the more tired you will be even after a long night.

It's as if your phone charged all night but when you left the house the battery was only at 70% instead of 100. Result: you have to save your energy and risk ending the day flat.

Well, your body is like your phone. And Rise helps you identify your debt and, above all, reduce it by telling you when to rest.

And besides, it's not just a matter of time, the quality of your sleep has a direct impact on your debt.

Basically if you pay off your debt, you will have the maximum amount of energy available to get through your day and do your different activities: work, sport, etc.

The other essential concept is the cycle circadian.

What is the circadian cycle for?

It's your internal clock, the one that tells you when you're feeling tired and why you have that slump after your lunch break.

Basically your day takes the shape of a curve with generally two peaks and a trough. This rhythm changes from person to person and has a direct impact on your performance. It is based on several parameters such as your age and... your amount of sleep.

Do you see the link coming?

Knowing this rhythm means knowing when you are going to be the most dynamic and therefore planning the activities that require the most energy or concentration. Conversely, there's no need to plan your sports session when you're down.

The idea of Rise is to provide you with your cycle every day so that you can plan your activities when your body and brain will be best able to process them.

The advantage of linking this to your calendar is that you can plan certain activities at the best time.

Example that I want to do 30 minutes of sport or writing tomorrow, it is not necessarily at the same time that I would be most effective for these activities (one using my brain more than my muscles). And Rise, by knowing my cycle each day (because it changes daily) will plan each activity as best as possible.

I now know what times I absolutely must avoid being in meetings.

At the end of the day you receive your dose of melatonin which corresponds to the best window for going to bed (and especially falling asleep).

The application is very educational and full of information and good advice. They also have a very complete guide available on their site. And the icing on the cake, it is available on iOS and Android.

Rise still has 2 disadvantages which could put more than one off:

It is only available in English
It is chargeable (allow 38€ for the annual subscription)

You will have understood, I was more than convinced after the free trial period I heated up the CB directly as the application gave me so much amazed and I quickly noticed its concrete effects even though I don't consider myself to have any major problems sleeping.

So I'll let you imagine the good it could do you if you constantly feel like you're exhausted?

Okay, I'll leave you to it, I just got a notification telling me that it was a good time to go to bed 😅.

If you have any questions about Rise, don't hesitate to send me an email.

🎙Podcast: Spotify in turmoil

In the last episode of Encore Un Podcast Tech we look back at the recent setbacks of Spotify due to certain shows by Joe Rogan who can be considered the #1 podcaster in the world (in income or in audience).

What is Spotify doing in podcasts?
Why is this strategic direction vital for the streaming platform?
Who is Joe Rogan and what's the problem?
What does Spotify's reaction tell us about its future as a platform?

In short, so many questions which go well beyond the bad buzz and which we return to in this episode.