What's the Best Time to Sleep and Wake Up

The sun starts to set. There’s a little voice in the back of your mind that whispers (nags), “it’s time to start getting ready for bed…”

But, there’s still half of an unfinished to-do list you need to complete before you call it quits, and you want to finish those last two episodes of that hot, new streaming series your friend was telling you about.

Next thing you know, it’s midnight, and you need to wake up at 6:30AM.

This scenario is all too common and underlines one of the biggest problems modern society faces -- poor sleep.

Sleep is absolutely essential to healthy living; there’s no two ways about it.

In adequate sleep is known to lead to numerous adverse outcomes[1,2], including:

• Feelings of low energy/motivation
• Disrupted hormone production
• Poor mood
• Increased feelings of irritation
• Decreased athletic performance
• Elevated cortisol levels
• Reduced muscle growth and recovery
• Increased protein breakdown
• Repetitive negative thinking

Essentially, not getting enough sleep makes life exceedingly more difficult than it should be.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

The amount of sleep an individual needs depends on a variety of factors, including age, genetics, and physical activity levels (among other things). The Sleep Foundation recommends the following:

What’s the Best Time to Sleep?

Generally speaking, it’s better to go to bed earlier (<10:30PM) and wake up earlier.[3,4,5]

Researchers have found that maintaining a consistent bedtime leads to increased sleep quality and duration as well as other health improvements, including better cardiovascular health.[4]

Going to sleep earlier also naturally aligns with our ancestors who weren’t bombarded by all manner of computers, tablets, smartphones, and other artificial light sources. When the sun set, and it got dark outside, they got ready for bed. When the sun rose, so did they.

The particular time you go to sleep each night will naturally shift as you grow from childhood to adulthood, but for the vast majority of cases, going to bed around 10 PM at night sets the stage for better quality sleep. With better quality sleep comes:

• Increased recovery
• Greater natural energy and focus
• Improved performance (both mentally & physically)
• Better mental, physical, and emotional health

One way for you to personally figure out what is the best bedtime is to know what time you want to wake up and then back out your bedtime from there.

For example, you need to wake at 7 AM, and you know that you need 7-8 hours to feel well-rested and naturally energized. This means that you should be winding down around 10-10:30 PM and be asleep by 11PM.

More than anything, try to be consistent with your bedtime (as well as your wake time). Maintaining a set schedule (even on weekends as much as possible) helps program your body to start getting tired in the evening, which will make falling asleep that much easier.

What’s the Best Time to Wake Up?

This will depend a good bit on what time your job and other family commitments begin each day. If you need to be at work by 8AM, have an hour-long commute to work, and need to fix breakfast for you and your family, then you’ll probably need to wake up at least two hours (maybe even three, if you want to hit the gym) before work starts.

As we said when discussing the best time to go to bed, being consistent with your wake up time is important. This helps to “program” your body and give it the proper signals it needs to ramp up (or ramp down) the appropriate biological processes involved with sleep and wakefulness.

Tips for Getting Better Sleep Each Night

In addition to establishing a consistent bedtime, here are some other helpful tips to improve your night’s sleep:

• Regular (daily) exercise
• Restrict/avoid caffeine intake after 3PM -- caffeine is a CNS stimulant with a half-life of 5-6 hours. This means if you have an energy drink with 200mg caffeine at 3PM, you still have 100mg of caffeine in your body at 9pm
• Avoiding blue light at least 2 hours before bed -- blue light is emitted from LEDs, tablets, computers, TVs, smartphones and lightbulbs. It suppresses melatonin -- the hormone that dictates your circadian rhythm
• Limiting/avoiding alcohol before bed -- alcohol is a depressant that may help you feel sleepy (and can make you fall asleep), but it actually impairs deep sleep
• Make your room cool and dark -- a cool, dark room creates the optimal environment for deep, restorative sleep. As such, invest in some high-quality sheets, blackout curtains, and keep non-essential electronics out of the bedroom.
• Establish a bedtime ritual -- certain habits before bedtime can foster a more favorable environment (mentally & physically), enabling you to fall asleep at your preferred bedtime. Some examples include taking a warm bath/hot shower, journaling, meditating/praying, stretching, light yoga, reading, and listening to relaxing music
• Avoid acute stressors before bed -- sources of stress include work emails, text messages, social media, etc. These can raise stress hormones, which make it more difficult to fall asleep. Limiting your exposure to any of these sources (as much as possible) in the hours immediately preceding bedtime will make it easier to fall asleep.

Takeaway

The best time to go to sleep and wake up will vary (slightly) from one individual to another. Generally speaking, though, you should aim to fall asleep earlier in the evening (~10-10:30PM) and wake up within the first few hours of sunlight (this will vary depending on your geographic location), if possible.

Use the aforementioned lifestyle habits to foster faster sleep onset and better quality sleep. And, if you’re looking for extra help relaxing at night and getting deeper sleep, consider best-selling natural sleep aids -- Beauty Dream PM & Recharge PM which contain a hand-picked blend of the best research-backed ingredients to encourage sleep onset and promote greater rest & recovery.

References

1. Sakamoto N, Nanri A, Kochi T, Tsuruoka H, Pham NM, Kabe I, Matsuda S, Mizoue T. Bedtime and sleep duration in relation to depressive symptoms among Japanese workers. J Occup Health. 2013;55(6):479-86. doi: 10.1539/joh.13-0074-oa. Epub 2013 Oct 26. PMID: 24162148.
2. Nota, J. A., & Coles, M. E. (2015). Duration and Timing of Sleep are Associated with Repetitive Negative Thinking. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 39(2), 253–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9651-7
3. Hvidt JEM, Knudsen UB, Zachariae R, Ingerslev HJ, Philipsen MT, Frederiksen Y. Associations of bedtime, sleep duration, and sleep quality with semen quality in males seeking fertility treatment: a preliminary study. Basic Clin Androl. 2020 Apr 23;30:5. doi: 10.1186/s12610-020-00103-7. PMID: 32341784; PMCID: PMC7181488.
4. Shahram Nikbakhtian and others, Accelerometer-derived sleep onset timing and cardiovascular disease incidence: a UK Biobank cohort study, European Heart Journal - Digital Health, Volume 2, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 658–666, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztab088
5. Bauducco, S. V., Gardner, L. A., Champion, K., Newton, N., & Gradisar, M. (2023). It's past your bedtime, but does it matter anymore? How longitudinal changes in bedtime rules relate to adolescents’ sleep. Journal of Sleep Research, e13940. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13940