Sleep Cycle Calculator

Do you struggle to get out of bed in the morning? This is likely because you aren’t getting enough sleep some nights or maybe lack a routine.

Our sleep calculator can help you understand why you might not feel as refreshed in the mornings. It will give you recommendations on what time you should go to bed and what time you should wake up, as well as information about your sleep cycles.

To find out how your sleep compares to the rest of the UK, take a look at our 2024 Sleep Survey.

You might feel groggy in the morning, likely because your sleep cycle was interrupted, but what does this mean?

When you fall asleep, you enter the stages of sleep called non-rapid eye movement (non-REM). These are split into three sections, each meaning you fall deeper and deeper into sleep. The last stage is rapid eye movement (REM), which is where you dream.

To feel fully refreshed when we wake up, we have to go through all 4 stages and reach deep sleep. A full night’s sleep will include 5 or 6 sleep cycles, which each take about 90 minutes, totalling 7-9 hours of sleep. Our sleep cycle calculator will help you reach the recommended amount of sleep cycles per night making sure you wake up without interruption.

The first stage of a sleep cycle is typically a light sleep stage, during which you may drift in and out of sleep and experience slower brain waves. The second stage is also considered a light sleep stage, during which your brain waves become more rhythmic, and your body temperature and heart rate begin to decrease.

The third stage is the deep sleep stage, where your brain produces slow delta waves, and your body becomes fully relaxed. Finally, you enter the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage, where your eyes move rapidly, your breathing becomes irregular, and your brain waves become more active. According to medical experts, this is also the stage where most of your dreaming occurs.

There are several different types of sleep cycles that allow you to train your brain to rest in shorter intervals, ensuring you still get the right amount of sleep each day. These alternative sleep schedules, known as polyphasic sleep cycles, break away from the traditional monophasic (one long stretch of sleep) pattern most people follow.

You can learn more about the different sleep cycles, such as the Everyman or Uberman in our guide to alternative sleep cycles.

The trick is to get enough sleep, allowing for 5-6 90-minute sleep cycles, and plan your wake-up time to land during a lighter sleep stage rather than deep sleep. This is what our sleep calculator can do for you.

However, you can influence your sleep cycles by planning and sticking to a routine, such as going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Learn more about the importance of evening routines.

To complete 5-6 sleep cycles, you need about 7-9 hours of sleep. This is when your brain and body rest for the day, ensuring you can recharge, which can improve overall health and well-being. To learn the specifics, read all about what happens to your body during 8 hours of sleep.

If you wake up feeling unmotivated, you might be getting too much sleep, not enough, or interrupting your sleep cycle.

If you’re sleeping too much you might be:

• Sleeping through your alarm
• Can’t get out of bed
• Never feel refreshed
• Always feel sleepy no matter how much sleep you get

To help, you might need to stop oversleeping.

If you are sleep-deprived you might be feeling:

• Trouble concentrating
• Memory issues
• Mood swings
• Reduced alertness
• Anxious or stressed

To learn more, read our signs of extreme tiredness.

Using our sleep cycle calculator will give you an ideal time to go to sleep based on your wake-up time so that you can fit in the right number of cycles. Furthermore, it will calculate it so that you won’t wake up during deep sleep.

The sleep calculator is a guide to help you understand your sleep routine. If you want to aim for 8 hours of sleep, you could also count backwards by the time you need to wake up to help you figure out when to go to sleep.

If you’re planning on a lie in you’ll need to make sure you do it carefully to not offset your sleep routine.