Pokemon has gripped the world and changed the way we do things on so many occasions during its 25 years on top, so it should really come as no surprise that the latest project from The Pokemon Company to take everyone by storm is an app that gamifies sleep. Pokemon Sleep is a tracker that turns your Zs into Pokemon interactions, and even though no one involved with its creation wants to suggest it's a health app, because it most definitely is not, Pokemon Sleep has actually been helping me sleep.
When TheGamer's Eric Switzer had the chance to try Pokemom Sleep before everyone else and speak with its creators, the app's product marketing manager Yuri Horie was quick to point out that despite working with a top sleep researcher in Japan, Sleep should not be used in place of medical advice. That's not what I'm doing (I promise) but in my first week with Pokemon Sleep, I've noticed how the game has helped improve some of my nighttime habits.
I think helping improve my habits rather than claiming the app is making me sleep better is an important distinction to make. As much as I'm enjoying Pokemon Sleep, no app is going to stop my three-year-old from wandering in during the night and gradually pushing me out of bed. The nighttime elements I can control, however, have been aided by the app.
Top of the list is something about Pokemon Sleep that really annoyed me at first: the inability to listen to anything other than some soothing in-game music or complete and utter silence while you nod off. I've listened to podcasts to help me get to sleep for longer than I can remember. It had become such a crutch that I didn't realize it was something I relied upon until Pokemon Sleep demanded I stop. In hindsight, the podcasts were actually keeping me awake and I've been falling asleep far quicker without them. Yes, I'm sure there's a way to bypass this, but please don't get in touch to let me know how.
Next on the list is something I didn't realize I need as an adult: a bedtime. One of the first things Pokemon Sleep asks you to do is set yourself a time to get to bed. Not a strict deadline, but a guideline on when exactly you should be turning in. It's still late, but the key for me has been consistency. Since using Sleep, I have been going to bed at roughly the same time every night, and even though I will likely never get that elusive 8.5 hours of sleep Pokemon recommends, I feel a lot better after seven straight days of going to bed at the same time every night.
Last but certainly not least is something directly connected to that bedtime consistency: how I feel when I wake up. I'm no stranger to sleep-tracking apps, and the last one I used prior to Pokemon Sleep would ask me to rate how I feel when waking up. A choice of three faces, each representing a different mood, and every morning, without fail, I'd hit the middle one. Pokemon Sleep doesn't have that feature, but if it did, its happy face return would be far greater. If you've been playing Pokemon games for as long as I have, it's hard not to be excited about what awaits you when you flip your phone over.
Apologies if this currently sounds like one long ad for Pokemon Sleep, but between the fun I've been having with the app and it actually contributing to how I feel, I'm pretty taken with it. If it helps, I'm just as skeptical about The Pokemon Company wanting to listen to me sleep as the rest of you. I will also be treating Sleep the same way as I continue to treat Pokemon GO in that I refuse to spend a single penny on the extras it has to offer. I do have to give it to Pokemon for figuring out how to monetize sleeping, though. It has now come up with ways to get people spending on its products every single hour of the day.
I'm also not all that happy about having my phone plugged in, unlocked, and lying face down a few inches from my head. That sounds a little bit like a recipe for a house fire starting right under my pillow, but hey, how else am I supposed to feed my Snorlax? Pokemon watching me sleep and a red hot phone slipping under my face aside, Sleep has already ever-so-slightly improved my day-to-day habits to improve my life for the better.