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← Sleep Cycle Calculator

To wake up at 7 AM, go to bed at 11:15 PM Form SC-8

The standard workday alarm. Five full sleep cycles back from 7 AM lands you at 11:15 PM: off the couch by 10:30, screens dimming, teeth brushed while the kettle's still warm. The 9-to-5 crowd doesn't need a sleep philosophy, just a bedtime that survives the week.

Tool № 8 · Saturday, September 26, 2026 · free, always

The 9-to-5 page. Built for the workweek alarm.

Input slip · Form SC-8

Pre-filled for the 7:00 AM workday alarm: bedtimes posted below the tear line. Change the time and it re-counts instantly.

Posted entry · Form SC-8-R

IN BED BY 11:15 PMForm SC-8

Tonight. Set the alarm for 7:00 AM.

  • 6 cycles9:45 PM9h 15m in bedthe full monty
  • 5 cycles11:15 PM7h 45m in bed the sweet spot for most people
  • 4 cycles12:45 AM6h 15m in bedthe minimum, don’t make it a habit
What about 3 cycles?

In bed by 2:15 AM: 4h 45m in bed, roughly four and a half hours of actual sleep. Emergency minimum, not a plan.

My bedtime ledger — Form SC-8
Wake: 7:00 AM → in bed by 11:15 PM (5 cycles, ~7h 45m in bed)
Full rest: 9:45 PM (6 cycles) · Minimum: 12:45 AM (4 cycles)
Rule of thumb, not medical advice. microtoolsdaily.com/wake-up-at-7am/

A rule of thumb, not medical advice. This calculator uses average sleep-cycle lengths to estimate good bedtimes. It doesn’t know you, can’t diagnose anything, and doesn’t promise how you’ll feel. If sleep is a real problem, talk to a doctor — not a ledger.

How the math works Form SC-8

From a 7:00 AM alarm, five 90-minute cycles plus 15 minutes of drifting off puts lights-out at 11:15 PM; six cycles reaches back to 9:45 PM and four lands at 12:45 AM. The idea is the same every night: finish a cycle when the alarm rings instead of being dragged out of deep sleep halfway through one.

Real cycles wobble between about 80 and 120 minutes, so think of 11:15 as the bullseye and the rest of the table as the near misses worth knowing on the nights the evening runs long.

Common questions Form SC-8

What time should I go to bed to wake up at 7 AM refreshed?

11:15 PM. That's five 90-minute sleep cycles plus 15 minutes to fall asleep, counted back from a 7:00 AM alarm: about seven and a half hours of actual sleep with the alarm landing between cycles. It's the stamped sweet spot for the standard workweek.

Is 11:15 PM late enough?

It's 7 hours 45 minutes in bed, which covers most adults. If you know you need a full eight-plus hours asleep, or you take longer than 15 minutes to drift off, take the 9:45 PM row instead. The honest answer depends on your own sleep latency; the page assumes the average.

How do I actually fall asleep by 11:15 PM?

Work backward from the bedtime the way the page works backward from the alarm: off the couch by 10:30, screens dimmed or docked, and the same time every night so your body starts the wind-down on its own. A bedtime only works if the hour before it belongs to it.

Should the alarm be exactly 7:00 AM?

Yes: the three bedtimes are cycle boundaries measured from exactly 7:00, so shifting the alarm shifts the whole table. Pick the alarm your morning actually needs, then let the arithmetic place the bedtime. Consistency matters more than the exact minute: the same alarm seven days a week beats a perfect alarm five days a week.

Also in the ledger Form SC-8