
Count backward 8 hours from your required wake time. If you must wake at 6:30 AM, your bedtime is 10:30 PM. This does not mean you must be asleep by 10:30 — it means you are in bed, lights off, at 10:30. Most people fall asleep within 10–20 minutes, which gives you 7.5–8 hours of actual sleep. That is the range where most adults function best.
The most important rule: this bedtime applies every single night, including weekends. Staying up until 1 AM on Friday and Saturday and then trying to sleep at 10:30 on Sunday gives you social jet lag — your body clock shifts by 2–3 hours over the weekend and takes until Wednesday to recover. You feel tired all week because your weekend erased your weekday consistency.
Pro tip. Set a 'bedtime alarm' on your phone 30 minutes before your target bedtime. When it rings, start your wind-down routine.













