How to keep a sleep diary for insomnia: what to record, and paper vs. app

A sleep diary is a short record you fill in each morning about the night before. In CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia), it is the starting point: it shows your actual sleep pattern, which often differs from how a bad night feels.

What to record each morning

These items follow the Consensus Sleep Diary, a standard format used by sleep researchers and clinicians.

Item	Example
Time you got into bed	23:00
Time you tried to fall asleep	23:15
How long it took to fall asleep	about 45 minutes
How many times you woke up, and for how long in total	2 times, about 30 minutes
Time of final awakening	6:30
Time you got out of bed	7:00
How you rate the night	1–5

Rough estimates are fine. Don't check the clock during the night to make the diary precise; that can make it harder to fall back asleep.

How long to keep it

Keep it daily for at least one to two weeks before drawing conclusions. A single night says little; the pattern over weeks is what matters. From the diary you can also calculate your sleep efficiency.

Paper or app?

	Paper	App
Cost	Free	Varies
Daily entry	Writing by hand	Tapping times
Calculations	By hand	Automatic
Reviewing trends	Flipping pages	Charts
Sharing with a clinician	Hand over the sheet	Export or show the screen

Either works if you keep it up. Choose the one you are more likely to fill in every morning.

Using Nyxtune as a sleep diary

Nyxtune is an iPhone app for keeping this diary. You log bedtime, wake time, time to fall asleep, and night awakenings each morning, and review charts of your sleep time and time to fall asleep. It needs no wearable and does not record sound. The screen is dark, so it is easy on the eyes at night.