What time should I go to bed so I don’t wake up tired? Use our sleep calculator to find out

Research indicates that establishing a consistent sleeping routine can lower the likelihood of an early mortality by approximately 30%.

There is a growing emphasis on the necessity of getting adequate rest.

But at what hour should you retire to bed to ensure you're feeling refreshed throughout the night?  Please enter the time at which you'd like to wake up in our tool below, and based on sleep cycles of 90 minutes, we can advise you on the ideal bedtime to help you feel awake and alert.

Others, who we might term "long sleepers", struggle to get by with fewer than nine hours of sleep each day.

Sleep cycles

Even more detrimental than not getting enough sleep, is when our sleep-wake patterns are disrupted when we're already halfway through them, as each stage offers its own advantages for our wellbeing.

According to Professor David Ray, an expert in endocrinology at the University of Oxford, it's probably the initial half of our night's rest that is crucial, as this is when the body typically performs its important "vital repair processes". Disturbing these times can leave us feeling drained, and we're all aware that "if we have a bad night's sleep then we wake up feeling dreadful", regardless of the actual bedtime.

Sleeping at the same time every night is one of the most effective ways to ensure you get a good night's rest every evening, according to Charalambos Kyriacou, president of the European Biological Rhythms Society and a professor at the University of Leicester.

"Individuals have unique chronotypes, which determine the amount of sleep they require and whether they tend to be early risers or night owls," Expert Professor Kyriacou states.

“Your natural inclination for rising early or late can be influenced by your genetic makeup, but to avoid those pesky wake-up grogginess, it's advisable to maintain a consistent bedtime routine.”

Our brains move us in and out of various sleep stages throughout the night, with each stage lasting approximately ninety minutes.

And then, it's slow-wave sleep, which is particularly crucial for restorative sleep. After this comes REM sleep, when you dream, and this stage seems to be vital for processes like forming memories and fostering creative thinking," Professor Ray notes.

To wake up feeling revitalised, it may be most helpful to plan your waking times in line with your body's natural sleep cycles. Our tool is meant to assist you in determining a consistent bedtime routine that enables you to wake up feeling refreshed each morning.

Recommended

Achieving uninterrupted sleep for eight hours - advice from a leading authority on sleep

Read more

Improve your mindset every day with a wide variety of puzzles from The Telegraph. Exercise your brain and lift your spirits with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the challenging Killer Sudoku and the classic Cryptic Crossword.

Share :