What Time Should I Get to Bed Each Day?

Like eating and breathing, sleep is an essential aspect of our lives. It helps regulate physical health, stabilize mental health, and protect your overall well-being. However, an estimated 33% of people struggle getting a full night’s sleep — and for good reason. Between smartphones, on-demand entertainment, packed schedules, daily stress, and other challenges, we’re as busy as we’ve ever been. These factors can complicate your bedtime process and keep you up far too late, even if you get into bed well before you plan to fall asleep.

Identifying the best time to fall asleep isn’t a task; it’s a process. And that process can change as often as you do. To identify your optimal bedtime, it’s important to consider all of the factors that encourage, or complicate, sleep itself. These factors include categories like your mental health, bedtime routine, and your schedule the following day.

How Much Sleep Do I Need?

One way to identify an optimal bedtime is by working backwards from your required hours of rest each evening. Adults between the ages of 18 and 60 generally need seven or more hours of sleep per night. However, the exact amount of sleep you need can vary, based on a few determining factors.

These include:

• Age: Different age groups require varying amounts of sleep. Infants typically need the most sleep, while older adults may require slightly less.
• Chronotype: Your chronotype, whether you're a morning person, evening person, or somewhere in between, affects your sleep-wake patterns and the amount of sleep you need.
• Health conditions: Certain medical conditions, such as sleep disorders, chronic pain, or mental health issues, can impact your sleep quantity and quality.
• Activity levels: Your level of physical and mental activity throughout the day can influence how much sleep your body needs to recover and rejuvenate.
• Lifestyle factors: Factors like stress, work schedule, family responsibilities, and social activities can affect the amount of time available for sleep.
• Nightly sleep quality: The quality of your sleep, including how deeply you sleep and how often you wake up during the night, can impact how much restorative sleep you receive.

It’s important to note that these factors can also change over time. For example, the amount of sleep you might need can change as your work schedule or family responsibilities change. You might also need to alter your sleep schedule with the arrival of a new family member. These factors can help you better understand your body’s natural sleep requirement each night. Once you understand the amount of sleep your body needs, you can identify an appropriate per-night bedtime.

Outlining your Ideal Bedtime Routine

If we’re aiming for a bedtime between 10:00 and 11:00 pm — consistent with most Americans — then it’s important to start working your way toward the bed hours beforehand. In fact, outlining your ideal bedtime in an all-day activity, one that begins with a consistent sleep hygiene routine.

In the morning:

• Wake up at a consistent time: Waking up at the same time every day helps regulate your body's internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm. Consistency in wake-up times reinforces this rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep at night and wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.
• Participate in light physical activity: Engaging in light physical activity, such as walking, stretching, or gentle yoga, can have numerous benefits for sleep. Exercise promotes better sleep quality by reducing stress and anxiety, which are common contributors to sleep disturbances.
• Plan out your day: Planning out your day involves organizing your tasks, responsibilities, and activities in advance. Having a structured schedule can help reduce feelings of overwhelm and anxiety, making it easier to relax and unwind at night.

In the afternoon: 

• Prioritize a nutritious lunch: Eating a light, nutritious lunch can positively impact your energy levels and overall well-being throughout the day, including your ability to sleep at night.
• Take short breaks during work hours: Taking short breaks during work hours is essential for maintaining productivity, focus, and overall well-being. Continuous periods of intense concentration without breaks can lead to mental fatigue, decreased cognitive performance, and increased stress levels, all of which can negatively impact your ability to sleep well at night.
• Hydrate: Staying hydrated throughout the day is crucial for overall health and well-being, including your sleep quality. Dehydration can lead to various negative effects on the body, such as fatigue, headache, and difficulty concentrating.

In the evening: 

• Dim the lights: Dimming the lights in the evening signals to your body that it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep.
• Limit phone and television use: The blue light emitted by electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and televisions can interfere with your body's natural sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep at night.
• Create a calming bedroom environment: Create a sleep-friendly environment by controlling light and noise levels in your bedroom. Install blackout curtains or blinds to block out unwanted light and create a dark, peaceful sleeping setting.

Example Bedtime Routine

If you’re following the above steps — including morning, afternoon, and evening sleep priorities — you should find it easier to fall asleep at the end of each day. Here’s an example sleep schedule you might follow:

Prepare for Bedtime (1 hour before bed)

• Begin winding down your activities and start preparing for bed about an hour before your intended sleep time.
• Dim the lights in your home to signal to your body that it's time to start relaxing.
• Turn off electronic devices or use blue light filters to minimize exposure to stimulating screens.

Engage in Relaxing Activities (45 minutes before bed)

• Take a warm bath or shower to help relax your muscles and soothe your mind.
• Practice mindfulness or meditation to quiet your thoughts and ease any lingering stress or tension from the day.
• Spend a few minutes journaling to reflect on your day, jot down any worries or to-do lists, and clear your mind for sleep.
• Listen to calming music or white noise to create a tranquil atmosphere in your bedroom.

Prepare Your Bedroom (30 minutes before bed)

• Create a calming bedroom environment by ensuring your sleep space is clean, comfortable, and conducive to relaxation.
• Adjust the temperature to a comfortable level, typically cooler temperatures are more conducive to sleep.
• Make sure your bedding is clean and fresh, and your mattress and pillows provide adequate support.
• Dim the lights in your bedroom or use soft, warm lighting to create a cozy atmosphere.
• Consider using essential oils or a room spray with lavender or other relaxing scents to promote sleepiness.

Unwind with a Bedtime Ritual (15 minutes before bed)

• Brew a cup of caffeine-free herbal tea, such as chamomile or peppermint, to sip on as you unwind.
• Practice gentle stretching or progressive muscle relaxation to release any physical tension and prepare your body for sleep.
• Read a book or listen to an audiobook with calming content to help quiet your mind and distract from any lingering stress or worries.
• Practice deep breathing exercises or guided imagery to further relax your body and mind.

Go to Bed (at bedtime)

• Once you've completed your bedtime routine, head to bed and allow yourself to drift off to sleep naturally.
• Keep electronic devices out of the bedroom to minimize distractions and promote better sleep quality.
• If you have trouble falling asleep, try using relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or visualization to help calm your mind and induce sleepiness.
• Stay consistent with your bedtime routine each night to reinforce healthy sleep habits and optimize your chances of a restful night's sleep.

This bedtime routine is just an example. Feel free to personalize times and details so that they match exactly what you’re looking for in a bedtime routine.

The Right Mattress: Your Advocate in a Better Night’s Sleep

Getting to sleep at a reasonable time can be difficult. Without the right sleep materials, it can feel impossible. Your mattress, pillows, blankets, and other sleep materials should be advocates in a full night’s sleep. But if you’ve invested in low-quality sleep materials, you might not be getting the help you need from your bedding.

Even worse, you might not know where to look to improve those sleep materials.

That’s exactly why we created bedMATCH: to pair sleepers with mattresses without emptying bank accounts. Our patented bedMATCH sleep diagnostic system analyzes your complete sleep profile, from your height and weight to your preferred sleep position, before identifying the best mattress options for sleepers like you. We put science, not sales, behind the search for a better night’s sleep, and the results speak for themselves.