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Nights 1 to 3 · Lesson 2 of 11

Fix Your Wake Time: Count Back to Lights Out

Pick one wake time for every day and work out your lights-out time by counting back seven hours plus the time you take to fall asleep.

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THE WRITTEN LESSONFollow along at your pace

Tonight’s change is simple, and it is one of the most useful. You will pick one wake time for every day, and work out when to turn the lights off. This is general information, not medical advice.

One wake time, every day

Health agencies list going to bed and getting up at the same times each day among the habits that can improve sleep. Start with the wake time, because it is the one you can control with an alarm. You cannot make yourself fall asleep at a set minute, but you can decide when you get up.

Seven day cards, Mon to Sun, each with the same alarm clock and the time 6:15. A label under them says Same wake time, every day.(opens the full-size picture)
The same alarm, all seven days.

Weekends too

Keep your weekend wake time within about an hour of your weekday one. A long lie-in can push your body clock later, which can make Sunday night and Monday morning harder.

The week of 6:15 alarm cards again, with a bracket under Saturday and Sunday that reads Within about 1 hour. Below it a crossed-out card says Lie-in until 10, and an arrow from one clock to a later clock is labelled Body clock pushed later.(opens the full-size picture)
A long lie-in nudges your body clock later.

Count back to lights out

Now find your lights-out time. Take seven hours of sleep, and add the time you usually take to fall asleep. For example, if your alarm is at 6:15, and you take about twenty minutes to drift off, aim for lights out at about 10:55.

A bar made of a lemon part, 20 min to fall asleep, and a navy part, 7 hours asleep. A lamp at the left end is labelled Lights out 10:55 and an alarm clock at the right end is labelled Alarm 6:15.(opens the full-size picture)
Work backwards from the alarm.

Seven hours is the low end of what adults are advised to get, so it is a starting point. Your own diary will show you how it goes.

After a bad night

It is tempting to sleep in after a bad night. But the advice is to stick to your regular hours. Get up at your usual time anyway, and keep your plan for tonight.

A card that asks Bad night? with Sleep in to catch up crossed out in red and Get up at your usual time in bold. An alarm clock with a tick sits beside it, and a label says Keep your plan for tonight.(opens the full-size picture)
Bad night? Same alarm anyway.

Never drive when you are drowsy

After a short night, do not drive or use machinery if you feel drowsy. Keep the plan for tonight, and take extra care today.

When real life gets in the way

If you work shifts, or a baby wakes you, a fixed time may not be possible every day. Pick the steadiest time you can, and treat it as an aim, not a test you can fail.

A drawing of a shift worker in a hard hat and a parent holding a baby, next to two labels, Pick the steadiest time you can and An aim, not a test, and a small alarm clock.(opens the full-size picture)
Steady as you can, with no pass or fail.

Use your diary

Keep filling in your sleep diary. After a week, you will see whether your wake time is steady, and how long you really sleep.

A sleep diary table with bed and wake times for Monday to Sunday, such as 10:55 and 6:15, beside a bar chart of hours slept for the same seven days with a dashed line at 7 hours.(opens the full-size picture)
A week of notes shows the pattern.

YOUR TURN

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Read the full lesson script

Tonight's change is simple, and it's one of the most useful. In this lesson, you'll pick one wake time for every day, and work out when to turn the lights off.

Health agencies list going to bed and getting up at the same times each day among the habits that can improve sleep. Start with the wake time, because it's the one you can control with an alarm.

Keep your weekend wake time within about an hour of your weekday one. A long lie-in can push your body clock later, which can make Sunday night and Monday morning harder.

Now count back to find your lights-out time. Take seven hours of sleep, and add the time you usually take to fall asleep. For example, if your alarm is at 6:15, and you take about twenty minutes to drift off, aim for lights out at about 10:55.

What about after a bad night? It's tempting to sleep in, but the advice is to stick to your regular hours. Get up at your usual time anyway, and keep your plan for tonight.

If you work shifts, or a baby wakes you, a fixed time may not be possible every day. Pick the steadiest time you can, and treat it as an aim, not a test you can fail.

Keep filling in your sleep diary. After a week, you'll see whether your wake time is steady, and how long you really sleep.

So remember: pick one wake time for every day, with weekends within about an hour. Count back seven hours of sleep, plus your time to fall asleep. And after a bad night, get up at your usual time. Before the next lesson, set your alarm for your wake time, and write down your lights-out time. In the next lesson, you'll use daylight to set your body clock.