What Is the Best Time to Sleep and Wake Up?

There's no single best time to sleep and wake up that works for everyone. The best window is one that gives you 7 to 9 hours of sleep, suits your natural body clock, and stays about the same every day. For many adults, that lands somewhere between 10 PM to 6 AM and midnight to 8 AM.

Clock time matters less than most people think. How much you sleep, and how regularly, matter more.

What the evidence actually points to

Sleep guidelines for adults are built around duration: at least 7 hours a night, with 7 to 9 hours recommended for most. They don't name an ideal bedtime.

Newer research adds a second factor: regularity. In a UK study of about 60,000 adults who wore activity trackers, people with the most regular sleep and wake times had a lower risk of dying over the following years than people with the least regular schedules. In that study, regularity predicted risk better than sleep duration did. This kind of study shows a link, not proof of cause, but it fits with what's known about how the body clock works.

So the practical ranking looks like this:

1. Enough sleep (7 to 9 hours for most adults)
2. At consistent times (roughly the same bedtime and wake-up time, every day)
3. At a time that suits your body clock (earlier or later, depending on your type)

Does sleep before midnight count double?

You may have heard that each hour before midnight is worth two after it. There's no good evidence for that. The kernel of truth is that deep sleep tends to be concentrated in the first part of the night, whenever that night starts. Someone who sleeps from 1 AM to 8:30 AM still gets most of their deep sleep in the first few hours.

What does matter is whether your sleep lines up with your body clock. Sleeping at a time your clock considers "daytime," like after a night shift, tends to be shorter and lighter.

Your chronotype shapes your ideal window

People differ in when they naturally want to sleep. Large surveys of sleep timing show a smooth spread from very early types to very late types, driven largely by differences in the body clock. Chronotype also shifts with age: teenagers and young adults tend to run later, and people tend to get earlier again as they get older.

Here are example windows that give 5 full sleep cycles (7.5 hours), including 15 minutes to fall asleep:

Not sure which you are? Night owl or early bird walks through the signs.

How to find your best window

Most people can't pick a sleep schedule freely: work, school and family set the wake-up time. Here's how to find the best window within those limits.

1. Start with your latest possible wake-up time on workdays. That's usually your anchor.
2. Count back 7.5 hours plus 15 minutes to get your bedtime, or use the sleep calculator to do it for you.
3. Check it against your body clock. If that bedtime is two hours before you usually feel sleepy, you'll need to shift gradually. How to go to bed earlier has a step-by-step plan.
4. Keep the same times on days off, or within about an hour.
5. Test it for two weeks. If you wake up without an alarm most days and don't need a nap, you've found it.

Signs your current window isn't working

• You rely on an alarm every day and still feel groggy for an hour
• You sleep two or more hours longer on weekends
• You can't fall asleep until long after you get into bed
• You need caffeine to get through the morning and then again in the afternoon

A big gap between your weekday and weekend sleep is one of the clearest signs. It often means you're short on sleep during the week, your schedule is fighting your body clock, or both. More in is it bad to sleep in on weekends.

A good default if you're unsure

If you're starting from scratch and have a typical workday, 10:30 PM to 6:15 AM or 11 PM to 6:45 AM are sensible defaults. Each gives 7.5 hours and leaves room for a normal evening. Hold it steady for a couple of weeks, then adjust by 15 minutes at a time based on how you feel. For more on choosing a bedtime specifically, see good bedtime for adults.