Fixed Wake-Up Time
Get up at the same time every day. One of the best-supported sleep habits.
For adults who go to bed and get up at a different time every day. The program rests on one fixed wake-up time, morning light and a cutoff for coffee, and takes a few minutes a day.
A day in the program
Tasks, in order.
Times assume waking at 7:00 and going to sleep at 23:00. In the app, they shift to fit you.
Morning
- 7:00Get up at 7:00Sleep · Every day
When the alarm goes off, get up right away, weekends included, with a margin of about half an hour. 7:00 is the default; set a time you can keep every day.
Regularity over length. In data from about 60,000 people, sleep regularity predicted mortality better than sleep duration (Windred et al. 2024).
One missed day. According to the UCL study, missing once did not meaningfully affect habit formation. Pick it up again the next day (UCL 2009).
- 7:30Go out into daylight10 min · Lifestyle · Every day
When you leave the house or finish breakfast, spend at least 10 minutes outdoors within an hour of waking. On cloudy days, take 20 to 30 minutes.
A practical rule. There is no official number of minutes of morning light; "10 minutes in sun, 30 under cloud" is just a practical rule. The consensus recommends at least 250 lux during the day, and even in winter there is far more light outdoors than indoors (Brown et al. 2022).
Afternoon
- 14:00Finish your last coffeeFood · Every day
When you finish your after-lunch coffee, that is your last caffeine of the day; in the afternoon, choose water or decaf tea. If you go to bed at a time other than 23:00, count back about 9 hours from bedtime.
Why 14:00. According to a meta-analysis of 24 studies, a coffee with about 100 mg of caffeine is best had at least 8.8 hours before bed (Gardiner et al. 2023).
Night
- 22:30Set up a place to be awakeSleep · Every day
When you have been lying awake in bed for more than 20 minutes, get up, go somewhere with dim light and come back when you feel sleepy. In the evening, set out a chair, a blanket and a book for this.
Bed is for sleep. Getting out of bed when sleep won't come is part of the behavioral approach that sleep specialists recommend over sleep hygiene alone (AASM, Edinger et al. 2021).
General suggestions for everyday wellbeing, not medical advice. Adjust the tasks to suit you. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication regularly, talk to your doctor before making changes.
What our programs build onSources
What the program builds on.
The step of getting out of bed when sleep won't come is taken from the behavioral approach, which the AASM recommends over sleep hygiene alone.
The morning trip outside follows the consensus of at least 250 lux during the day; even in winter there is far more light outdoors than indoors.
The program sets your last coffee about 8.8 hours before bed, for a cup with 100 mg of caffeine.
A fixed wake-up time is the core of the program, because sleep regularity predicted mortality better than sleep duration (an association, not proof of cause).
One wake-up time every day, and a missed day is fine: missing a single day did not meaningfully affect habit formation.