Does anyone else still feel tired when they wake up no matter what time they go to bed, or is that just me? There are plenty of factors that could be messing with your sleep or keeping you from turning in earlier, but one of the most effective ways to adjust your sleeping habits is to know exactly how much shut eye you should be getting. How in the world are you supposed to know this, you ask? Give sleepyti.me a try.
Sleepyti.me is a bedtime calculator that can help you figure out what time to go to bed depending on when you need to wake up or when you should wake up if you go to bed now. You might think that you would just take that time and add or subtract eight hours from it, but it's not that simple. Sleepyti.me works by counting backwards in sleep cycles, with a complete cycle taking an average of 90 minutes. Waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle leaves you feeling groggy, so the secret is not the amount of sleep you get, but rather the number of minutes slept, and sleeping for a multiple of 90 minutes is a total game changer.
Say you need to get up at 6 a.m. for a spin class. If you select that time on the website and click "calculate," you'll be told that you should try to fall asleep at one of the following times: 9 p.m., 10:30 p.m., 12 a.m., or 1:30 a.m., which are all multiples of 90 minutes. You should be falling asleep at these times, not getting into bed. It takes the average person 14 minutes to fall asleep, so plan accordingly.
It may not seem like four-and-a-half hours would be enough sleep, but completing three complete sleep cycles is actually way more effective than going to bed at 11 p.m. before your 6 a.m. alarm and waking up in the middle of a cycle. If you don't believe us, give sleepyti.me a try for yourself!
