It has been a week since I started tracking my sleep on my Apple Watch. Instead, in the first few days in bed with the watchOS 7 public beta software on my wrist, I realized that it was actually possible to train myself to adhere to a sleep schedule.

This is ridiculous.

As I'm sure readers can relate, spending most of my time at home over the past few months has interfered with my sleep schedule in ways I never thought possible. And as I test out my fitness tracker, I am acutely aware of how much sleep I have lost.

But Apple Watch sleep tracking has brought me the tangible relief I needed. When Apple first announced the addition of this long-sought feature to its catalog of Health tools, I was skeptical that this feature and the Apple Watch could compete with even the best Fitbit in terms of providing actionable sleep data. [But after trying it out on my Apple Watch Series 5 with watchOS 7, I am convinced that it is the perfect sleep tracking system for people like me who just want to know if I got enough rest and want a simple tool to help me get enough zzz's.

Because, just like closing the Apple Activity Ring, measuring sleep on the Apple Watch is the goal. It's not as easy as starting fitness tracking for running or cycling, but keeping a bedtime schedule can remind you to start sleeping for the night if you intend to get the amount of sleep you set yourself.

Once I installed the iOS 14 beta on my iPhone and the watchOS 7 beta on my Apple Watch, getting started with sleep tracking was easy. The native Health app has a new sleep tab with the option to create a schedule or multiple schedules depending on what time you want to go to bed and wake up.

I created two schedules: one from 11:30 PM to 7:30 AM on weekdays and one from 12:30 AM to 9 AM on weekends.

Other setting features include an automatic sleep mode that turns on Do Not Disturb during the desired sleep time, and Track Time in Bed with iPhone, which reflects the time you pick up and use your iPhone at night in your daily sleep data. It also enables a simple iPhone and Apple Watch interface. This would be appreciated as a visual cue that you should be getting some sleep instead of looking at TikToks.

Finally, I assigned a 30-minute "Wind Down" window. This means that at 11 pm or 12 am, the Apple Watch and iPhone will give me a little nudge to start getting ready for sleep. This is also the time when the Watch prompts you to recharge the battery when the battery level drops below 30%.

Wind-down is an essential benefit of Apple Watch sleep tracking; for the odd time between finishing an episode of Ozark and (hopefully) remembering to take care of my skin at night, I didn't know what to do.

My iPhone makes that half hour a little more intentional by initiating a series of pre-selected shortcuts during the Wind Down window: fire up Spotify, put on some relaxing music (since I only listen to Hamilton these days), and then go back to my iPhone to listen to my favorite music, I can open my calendar and figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow to end the day; I've added an Amazon Alexa shortcut so I can adjust the lighting on my Philips Hue before I go to bed; I've even added an Amazon Alexa shortcut so I can adjust the lighting in the Philips Hue before I go to bed.

I could skip this element of Apple Watch sleep tracking altogether, but I found that it dovetails nicely with the concept of routine that Apple is trying to achieve.

Most fitness trackers, including Fitbit, Garmin, and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, provide very detailed data on REM sleep, light sleep, and time spent lounging in bed. I myself do not care about stages of sleep or deep sleep.

The Galaxy Watch 3 and other fitness trackers I have tested provide more practical insights. For me, going to bed at the same time each night was enough of an adjustment to adjust my rest time. For others, something like the Fitbit Premium, which provides personalized guidance on how to sleep better and have more energy, may be a better choice.

My colleague Henry T. Casey has been using AutoSleep, one of the best Apple Watch sleep tracking apps from a third-party developer, for several months. One night he ran it alongside Apple's native sleep tracking and discovered that Apple was recording almost a full extra hour of sleep that he felt he was not getting.

When Henry reported his experience on Twitter, an AutoSleep representative wrote back, stating that the program is "more accurate because it can be calibrated, has 24-hour tracking (naps), gives insight into sleep, and has a smart alarm." Apple's sleep software, on the other hand, is "better suited for people on a strict schedule who want to simply track their sleep time."

During my first week of Apple Watch sleep tracking, I also slept with a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. This was because my black Labrador Retriever wanted to eat breakfast early and because a thunderstorm woke us both up.

I think Apple's reading of the data they claim to track - how many hours I sleep and how many hours I spend in bed - is spot on. I plan to use it longer and compare it to competing fitness trackers to see if my experience holds up.

Another thing that Samsung and Fitbit's alternative wearables have over the Apple Watch when it comes to sleep tracking is battery life. Until recently, I used to charge my Apple Watch all night every night, just like I do with my iPhone. This week, I've adjusted to charging it a little before bed and again in the morning when the new "good morning" interface informs me of the watch's battery status.

However, seeing as the Galaxy Watch 3 lasts two days and some fitness trackers last a week, I think the Apple Watch needs more battery life than ever.

If the Apple Watch 6 rumors and leaks prove true, the next generation of watches should get this upgrade, which IMHO would make sleep tracking on the Apple Watch more attractive. My competitive nature sells me on the routines required to achieve my sleep goals, so it's a terrible thing to ask for hardware that can match that.

My Apple Watch sleep tracking software is still in beta and Apple may change it before the official release of watchOS 7. As it stands, I am more impressed than I thought I would be.

What I like most is not the sleep tracking data itself, but the guidance Apple provides to prepare for sleep. No more scrolling to doom. Furthermore, Apple's gamification of sleep has motivated me to achieve my bedtime goal in the same way that I do with activity: half an hour of exercise each day. Maybe that's what I need to do to keep my sleep schedule on track.