What to do with your sleep numbers:
- Now that you have calculated your sleep numbers, take a look at the table below to get an idea of where you fall on the sleep efficiency scale.
- If there is room for improvement, take Control by following a few simple rules listed here
. - If you are using time-in-bed restriction therapy
to treat insomnia, use your sleep efficiency calculation for making adjustments to your Sleep Schedule. Learn more at Sleep Drive.
| Sleep Efficiency | Interpretation |  Sleep Schedule Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| 95% or greater | Too high? Your efficiency is very high, possibly too high. Consistently scoring above 95% could indicate that you are not getting enough sleep. Are you going to bed very late and getting up early? Are you getting enough sleep? | Set bedtime for this week should be 30 min earlier. |
| 90% to 94% | Great result! When you are in bed, you are spending most of your time asleep. | Set bedtime for this week should be 15 min earlier. |
| 85% to 89% | Great result! When you are in bed, you are spending most of your time asleep. | Set bedtime for this week should be unchanged. |
| 70% to 84% | Some opportunity for improvement. Ideally, you should be spending a larger proportion of your time in bed asleep. | Set bedtime for this week should be 15 min later.* |
| Less than 70% | Lots of opportunity for improvement. You are spending more time in bed while awake than is recommended. You may be finding it difficult to get to sleep, stay asleep, or both. | Set bedtime for this week should be 15 min later.* |
*When advised to reduce your time in bed based on your sleep efficiency calculation, make sure that your new sleep schedule (the time between your scheduled bedtime and rise time) is 6 hours or longer per night.
Needing 8 hours of sleep per night is a myth. Everyone is different. Some people function very well during the day, without feeling excessively tired, with less than 8 hours of sleep per night. Other people do best with 8 or 9 hours per night. Visit the National Sleep Foundation for more information about the recommended duration of sleep for different age groups.