Getting up early is easy for some people and next to impossible for others. While some of us force our way through it because of jobs, children, or some other responsibility, the fact of the matter is that a lot of people would sleep until 10 am or after if they were able. However, that’s not always a possibility, so what’s the best way to sort out this dilemma? Well, according to some, it’s actually quite simple: go to bed early. How early, you might ask? Try 8:45 p.m. (1)

Is “Early To Bed” Really The Ideal?

Now, if you think about it, there’s honestly something odd about our willingness to stay up well into the night but not get up earlier in the morning. Both times are spent in darkness, but for whatever reason, many of us prefer the darkness on the later end of the day. While it’s easy for early birds to wake up well before the sunrise and then go about their day, others of us find that entirely impossible to convert to this early bird lifestyle. We’d rather stay up into all hours of the night (and even early, early morning) and then sleep later. However, if you want to get up early, or perhaps you must, then you should probably be going to bed around 8:45 p.m.

Believe me, I know how upsetting this idea is for you. What happened to high school and college life where going to bed before 10 was a mark of a loser without any social life? Well, these expectations change when you have a job, kids, and adult responsibilities, so honestly, it’s okay to be too tired to care what other people think of your bedtime routine. Once you’ve been up for 16 hours, your body generally wants nothing else but to sleep, so when you’re forcing it to stay awake, be active, or even productive, your torturing yourself to an extent. While you can absolutely force yourself to stay awake, it’ll only happen with lots of yawning, blurry eye-site, and a desire for bed. So why not let go of all the rules you learned in high school and college? Go to bed. Enjoy it.  (1)

Now, we all understand that sleep is good for your body. Additionally, a bedtime routine is good for you! Experts say that

“Going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day–even on weekends–is crucial for setting your body’s internal clock, which experts call your circadian rhythm. Staying consistent also means that the quality of your sleep will be better.” 

For some people, this often means going to bed at 10 p.m., which is often more realistic for those with evening events and responsibilities. But for those who must get up at 5:00 a.m., be sure to be in bed by 8:45 p.m, working through their bedtime routine of reading a book, listening to calming music, or whatever else signals your body to fall asleep, will greatly enhance your health, overall rest, and body’s ability to remain productive throughout the next day. Remember that you should “avoid watching TV or looking at any laptop, tablet, or smartphone screens before hitting the hay since those activities can trigger your brain to stay awake.” (1, 2)

Studies Supporting An Early Bedtime

Not only does going to bed early in order to rise early have health benefits, but studies have revealed that late-bed/late-rise adolescents were 1.47 times more likely to be overweight than adolescents who were early to bed and early to rise. Additionally, they were 2.16 time more likely to be obese and 2.92 times more likely to have high screen time. As though that’s not enough, late-bed/late-rise adolescents were also far more likely to come from poor households, live in major cities, and have fewer siblings. Another study revealed that:

“…No difference was observed in lymphocyte and granulocyte ratios due to the duration of the sleep. As the excessive quantity of granulocytes was not corrected through longer sleep, these findings suggest that the time when first going to sleep is more important than the total hours of sleep achieved.”(4, 5)

Keep in mind that the first time you attempt this early-to-bed-early-to-rise technique, it might not work perfectly and you might feel a little off in the morning. However, the health life benefits are hard to argue with, so just give your body time to adjust to the change! Before you know it, you will be so well rested and adjusted that you might even grow to love this routine.