One of my goals for the New Year is to focus on sleep. To be honest, this wasn’t an issue I had ever considered before. I’ve gone through coffee-obsessed periods and months when the alarm was the absolute worst sound in the world. But I never thought about tracking my sleep, keeping track of the amount of hours I got. But then I got the Jawbone UP24 and my eyes were opened.

This little, fairly discreet wrist band is really designed to track the amount of steps you take in a given day and syncs seamlessly with a phone app. It’s a pretty nifty little addition to any fitness plan. And while I wouldn’t say it is designed for the hardcore athlete or even the very serious gym-goer, it is a helpful tool when looking at your overall day and your activity level. In addition to steps taken, it tells you the amount of calories you’ve burned, it reminds you to get moving after sitting for too long, it tracks your sleep patterns and wakes you at the optimal time for your REM cycle. You can also track the meals you eat by inputting them (although I hate the time that takes so I skip that portion.)

While the band has not changed in any way the workouts I do at the gym, it has made me think of various ways I can fit in more steps in my average day. Can I take the longer path to refill my water bottle in school? Can I do a lap around the building in between classes? Can I walk to the grocery store instead of driving (ok I was doing that already, but you get the idea.) It’s a challenge to hit 10,000 steps every day, or 15,000 on the days when I have a run planned into my workout.

But even better, at least for me, than the step-count, is the sleep information. The app tracks the number of hours you slept, how long it took you to fall asleep, how many times you woke up in the night, etc… With 8 hours being the goal I am FAR FAR from that number nearly every night of the week. The app gives extra hints for optimal sleep and will even let you know what time you need to hit the hay that night in order to make up for previous loss. It’s pretty awesome.

Buzz… buzz… To wake you up in the morning you can set an alarm through the app. The wristband will wake you at the optimal time, up to 30 minutes before the alarm time, by buzzing gently on your wrist. I have to admit I was skeptical of that kind of wake-up but I find I much prefer the gentle buzz than an annoying sound. And by waking at the optimal time each morning, I do feel less tired when the buzzing begins, no matter the amount of sleep I’ve gotten.

Jawbone will email you weekly with a progress report. It allows you to see the entire week at a glance as well as give you new goals to shoot for. My favorite is the total number of miles walked through the combination of steps taken over the week.

Cons:

Syncing the band and the app is sometimes tricky. I’ve had to restart my phone a couple times because it doesn’t read the band. That is a bummer when changing my alarm each day.

My second con is more a personal thing than necessarily anything wrong with the device. I wish I was able to press the little side button and see the time pop up. It would make it completely unnecessary to wear a watch, which would be nice.