The Exact Times You Need To Go To Bed To Wake Up Fully Refreshed

Sleep is a cruel and unpredictable mistress. You try and sneak in a cheeky nap, with hopes that you'll wake up feeling ten times better and ready to head out. Usually, though, you come out on the other side feeling worse.

The same can sometimes be said following a full nights sleep. You can get all the hours you need in preparation for work, but somehow once you're awake not even a coffee can get rid of the prevailing feeling of shitness.

In order to actually feel fully refreshed after a sleep it's more than just focusing on how many hours you're getting, but more to do with sleep cycles, according to the Mirror.

via GIPHY

Since understanding a load of crap about REM sleep and all the rest of it is beyond the average mind, a 'sleep calculator has been created by blinds company web-blinds.com so we don't have to.

If you enter what time you have to get up in the morning, then the site tells you the ideal time to hit the sack. It factors in the time it takes to get to sleep, as well as sleep cycles.

A sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, with each bringing five stages of sleep. This includes four stages of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and one stage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when most dreaming occurs.

Disrupting these cycles is what will make you feel nonhuman the following day, fall asleep on public transport, givie everyone in the office evils and head home in a right foul mood.

For example, if you're part of the lucky folk who don't have to start work until 10am, meaning you don't have to get up until 8ish, then the sleep calculator suggests going to bed at either 10:46pm, 12:16am, 1:46am or 3:16am.

If you're not so lucky and your lie in is non-existent, as work beckons you at 8am, which means getting up at 6ish, the calculator says 8:46pm, 10:16pm, 11:46pm or 1:16am is ideal.

Credit: PA

The Sleep Calculator website attempts to explain it by saying: "Getting a good night's sleep is about more than simply going to bed early - it's about waking up at the right time too.

"Using a formula based on the body's natural rhythms, the Sleep Calculator will work out the best time for you to rise or go to sleep."

Most people take roughly 14 minutes to nod off, which is why every time given will end in six, presuming you'll be asleep on the hour, or half an hour past it.

Waking up mid-cycle is what leaves you feeling grumpy and tired; whereas rising in between these phases will help you feel much more like a human throughout the day.

Topics: Sleep

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.