A good bedtime routine for adults is a consistent 60-minute wind-down: a warm shower, dim lights, screens off, a few minutes to clear your head, then something calm like reading until you're sleepy. Do it in roughly the same order every night and your brain starts treating the first step as the signal that sleep is coming.
Free toolSleep CalculatorBest bedtime or wake-up time, based on 90-minute sleep cycles.The 60-minute routine at a glance
This example is built for a 7:00 AM alarm. The sleep calculator puts bedtime at 11:15 PM for 5 full sleep cycles, including 15 minutes to fall asleep. Swap in your own times.
| Time | Minutes before bed | Step |
|---|---|---|
| 10:15 PM | 60 | Warm shower or bath (about 10 minutes) |
| 10:30 PM | 45 | Lights low, screens away, tomorrow's prep done |
| 10:45 PM | 30 | Brain dump: write down tomorrow's to-dos and worries |
| 11:00 PM | 15 | Into bed with a paper book or quiet audio |
| 11:15 PM | 0 | Lights out |
The exact order matters less than doing it the same way most nights.
Step 1: Warm shower or bath (60 minutes out)
A warm shower sounds like it would wake you up, but the useful part happens afterward. Warm water draws heat to your skin, and as you cool down your core temperature drops, which is part of the body's natural slide into sleep.
A 2019 review of 17 studies found that a warm shower or bath of about 104 to 108.5°F (40 to 42.5°C), taken 1 to 2 hours before bed, was linked to falling asleep faster and better self-rated sleep. Even about 10 minutes was enough to help. So this is the one step worth doing early rather than right before you get into bed.
Step 2: Dim the lights and put screens away (45 minutes out)
Light is the strongest signal your body clock gets. Bright light late in the evening tells it that it's still daytime.
In a Harvard study, people who read on a light-emitting tablet before bed took longer to fall asleep, released less melatonin, had a later body clock and felt less alert the next morning than when they read a printed book.
At this point:
- Switch to lamps instead of overhead lights.
- Plug your phone in outside arm's reach, ideally in another room.
- Do tomorrow's small chores now: lay out clothes, pack your bag, set the coffee maker. It's one less thing to think about in bed.
If you have to use a screen, turn the brightness right down and keep it short.
Step 3: Brain dump (30 minutes out)
Racing thoughts are one of the most common reasons adults lie awake. Spend five minutes writing down:
- Tomorrow's to-do list
- Anything you're worried about, plus one next step for each
The goal isn't to solve anything. It's to get it out of your head and onto paper so it doesn't loop at 11:30 PM. Then do something quiet: stretch gently, tidy up, or sit with a cup of caffeine-free tea.
Step 4: Into bed with something calm (15 minutes out)
Read a paper book, listen to quiet audio at low volume, or do some slow breathing. Keep it pleasant and a little boring. Thrillers and work email don't count.
If you're not sleepy by lights out, that's fine. Most people take 10 to 20 minutes to drift off. If it's regularly much longer, see how long it should take to fall asleep.
What to cut from your evening
| Habit | Why it hurts | Better swap |
|---|---|---|
| Afternoon or evening coffee | Caffeine lingers for hours | Stop earlier. Check the caffeine calculator |
| A nightcap | Alcohol can fragment the second half of the night | Herbal tea or sparkling water |
| Scrolling in bed | Bright light plus endless content | Phone charging in another room |
| Heavy late dinner | Harder to get comfortable | Finish eating 2 to 3 hours before bed if you can |
| Hard workout right before bed | Leaves some people wired | Move it earlier, or keep evening exercise gentle |
If you only have 20 minutes
Some nights won't allow a full hour. Keep the parts that carry the most weight:
- Dim the lights and put your phone away.
- Write a quick to-do list so tomorrow isn't spinning in your head.
- Read something calm in bed until you're drowsy.
A short routine done most nights beats a perfect one done twice a month.
Make it stick
- Anchor it to your wake-up time. Work backward from your alarm, not forward from whenever dinner ends. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours. See what makes a good bedtime for adults.
- Set a phone alarm for the start of your wind-down, not just for the morning.
- Give it two weeks. A routine works partly through repetition. The first few nights may not feel different.
If you've built a solid routine and still can't sleep for weeks at a time, or you snore loudly, gasp at night, or feel exhausted during the day, talk to a doctor.