What Time Should I Go to Bed? A Bedtime Guide by Wake Time and Age

On this page

1. Bedtimes by wake-up time
2. How we got these numbers
3. Bedtimes by age
4. Why teenagers can’t just go to bed earlier
5. Is 10 pm a good bedtime?
6. Consistency beats the perfect hour
7. How to move your bedtime earlier
8. Night owl or early bird?
9. When the right bedtime still doesn’t work
10. Common questions

Your wake-up time is the fixed point. Pick the time you have to be up on a normal weekday, then work backward. Here’s the calculator, with its assumptions stated next to it.

Bedtimes by wake-up time

This table assumes it takes you 15 minutes to fall asleep and that a sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes. Times are when your head should hit the pillow with the lights off, not when you start brushing your teeth.

For most adults the 5-cycle column is the practical target. The 6-cycle column suits teenagers and anyone who keeps waking up tired on 7.5 hours. Treat the “latest” column as a floor, not a goal.

How we got these numbers

Three inputs, each with a source.

Sleep need. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society say adults should sleep 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis. The CDC’s table uses the same figure for ages 18 to 60.

Time to fall asleep. Most people without sleep problems fall asleep within 10 to 20 minutes, and the Sleep Foundation puts it at 15 to 20 minutes for healthy adults. We use 15. If you know you take longer, move every bedtime earlier by the difference; the calculator has a slider for it.

Sleep cycles. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says your sleep cycle starts over every 80 to 100 minutes, usually four to six times a night, and that you may wake briefly between cycles. Ninety minutes is the middle of that range.

A caveat on cycles: timing your alarm to land between them is a reasonable idea, but cycles vary from person to person and night to night, so nobody can hit the boundary to the minute. Getting enough total sleep matters far more than the exact landing.

Bedtimes by age

Sleep need changes a lot across a lifetime. This table uses the CDC’s recommended hours and shows the resulting lights-out window for a 7:00 am wake-up, again allowing 15 minutes to fall asleep.

For children under 6, the recommended totals include naps, so a single bedtime formula doesn’t work as well. Our sleep needs by age guide has the full table, and your pediatrician can help set a bedtime around nap schedules.

Why teenagers can’t just go to bed earlier

Around puberty, the body clock shifts later. The American Academy of Pediatrics describes a shift of up to 2 hours compared with middle childhood, and notes that the average teenager has difficulty falling asleep before 11:00 pm. That’s biology (later melatonin release and slower-building sleep pressure), not just phones.

So a 9:00 pm lights-out for a 16-year-old often means an hour of lying awake. A more workable plan: protect the 8 to 10 hours as much as the schedule allows, keep screens and bright light out of the last hour, and keep weekend wake-ups within an hour or two of school days so Monday isn’t a fresh round of jet lag.

Is 10 pm a good bedtime?

For an adult who gets up between about 5:30 and 7:00 am, a bedtime around 10 to 11 pm lines up with 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Beyond that, there’s no single correct clock time.

You may have seen headlines about a “best” time. In a UK Biobank study of 103,712 people who wore activity trackers for a week, falling asleep between 10:00 and 10:59 pm was linked to the lowest rate of heart disease over about six years. That’s an association in an observational study. It doesn’t show that moving your bedtime causes anything, and the authors framed it as a possibility, not a rule.

Consistency beats the perfect hour

The AASM’s healthy sleep advice is to get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations, and to set a bedtime early enough for at least 7 to 8 hours. It also says not to go to bed unless you’re sleepy.

The research on regularity is striking. In another UK Biobank analysis of 60,977 people, those with the most regular sleep-wake timing had a 20% to 48% lower risk of death from any cause than the least regular group, and regularity predicted risk better than sleep duration did. Same caveat: observational, not proof of cause. But a steady schedule is free.

How to move your bedtime earlier

If your current bedtime is midnight and the table says 10:30, don’t jump straight there. You’ll likely lie awake, which teaches your brain that bed is a place for frustration.

1. Fix the wake-up time first. Set it for every day of the week. This is the lever that drags your bedtime earlier over time.
2. Move bedtime 15 to 30 minutes earlier every few nights. Stay at each step until you’re falling asleep reasonably quickly, then move again.
3. Get daylight soon after waking. Cleveland Clinic sleep specialists suggest natural light first thing in the morning and avoiding bright light and screens before bed to help you fall asleep and wake earlier.
4. Watch the afternoon coffee. The AASM advises avoiding caffeine in the afternoon or evening. Our caffeine calculator shows how much is left at your target bedtime.
5. Get up if sleep doesn’t come. If you’re still awake after about 20 minutes, get out of bed, do something quiet in low light, and come back when you’re sleepy.

More methods, ranked by evidence, are in how to fall asleep fast.

Night owl or early bird?

People differ in when their body wants to sleep, and age shifts it too. The National Institute on Aging notes that older adults tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier than younger adults. If your natural timing runs late and your job starts early, you can nudge it with the steps above, but you probably won’t turn into a 9 pm sleeper. Pick the latest bedtime that still gives you 7 hours and defend it.

When the right bedtime still doesn’t work

Sometimes the schedule is fine and sleep still won’t cooperate. Trouble sleeping at least three nights a week for three months is chronic insomnia, and it responds to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) better than to an earlier bedtime. Loud snoring with pauses in breathing, or feeling exhausted after 8 hours in bed, can point to sleep apnea and is worth raising with a doctor. And if you’re drowsy behind the wheel, that’s a reason to pull over and make an appointment.

For the habits that make any bedtime easier to keep, work through the sleep hygiene checklist, or browse more guides in Habits and Routines.

Common questions

What time should I go to bed if I wake up at 6 am?

For about 7.5 hours of sleep, be in bed with the lights out around 10:15 pm, allowing 15 minutes to fall asleep. To get at least 7 hours, lights out should be no later than 10:45 pm.

What time should I go to bed to wake up at 5 am?

Aim for lights out around 9:15 pm for five 90-minute sleep cycles, and no later than 9:45 pm to get 7 hours of sleep.

Is 10 pm a good bedtime?

For adults who get up between about 5:30 and 7 am, a 10 to 11 pm bedtime gives 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Keeping the same schedule every day matters more than any particular clock time.

What time should a teenager go to bed?

Teens need 8 to 10 hours, so for a 7 am wake-up that means lights out between about 8:45 and 10:45 pm. Their body clocks shift later at puberty, so falling asleep before 11 pm is hard for many teens.