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Fitness & Health

21st Mar 2017

If you want to have the best sleep possible, here’s the exact time that you need to go to bed

Alan Loughnane

Struggle to get up no more…

If your mornings are a constant battle to sweep away the cobwebs from your brain and tell yourself that you need to get up, then any potential help to aid the waking up process will surely be welcome.

We see a lot of tips going around about getting to sleep, but arguably, the harder task is waking up a lot of the time.

Sleep is essential for good health with a recent study by the Centre for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, at the University of Pennsylvania suggesting that sleep loss may irreversibly damage brain cells.

A way to encourage a good night’s sleep and to wake feeling rested and refreshed is to think about sleep in cycles.

Speaking with the Times of India, sleep expert Dr Sushant Meshram explained how a sleep cycle works.

“One sleep cycle is of 90 minutes,” Meshram said. “It includes different stages. The Non Rapid Eye Movements (NREM) stage which runs over 70 minutes consists of 1, 2 light sleep cycles and 3 and 4 are deep sleep cycles. REM, which forms the second half (20 minutes), is when brain tissue rejuvenation and memory development takes place.”

To help people calculate when they should go to bed, according to a sleep cycle, web-blinds.com have created an online calculator to work out the best time for you to go to bed and rise each morning so you can feel refreshed.

According to the calculator:

  • Most people take about 14 minutes to fall asleep and this is factored into your bedtime by this sleep calculator.
  • The Sleep Calculator works out the ideal time for you to start snoozing by counting in sleep cycles.
  • Each cycle lasts roughly 90 minutes and you should pass through five or six of them each night.
  • Waking up mid-cycle can leave you feeling grumpy and tired; rising in between phases will help you to start the day with a smile on your face.

If you need to be up at 9am, it suggests heading to bed at 10.46pm or 12.16am or 1.46am or 3.16am.

Try it out yourself to find our when you should be hitting the hay for your morning alarm.