How to Improve Sleep Efficiency

Sleep Efficiency Percentage

Ideal Range

85-95% for healthy adults. Above 95% might indicate sleep deprivation.

What is Sleep Efficiency?

Sleep efficiency is the percentage of time in bed that you actually spend sleeping. A sleep efficiency of 90% means you slept for 90% of your time in bed, with 10% spent awake (falling asleep, brief awakenings, etc.).

Why Sleep Efficiency Matters

Sleep efficiency above 85% indicates healthy sleep architecture. Low efficiency suggests difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings, or spending too much time in bed not sleeping. It's a key indicator of sleep quality independent of duration.

How to Improve Sleep Efficiency

1Only go to bed when truly sleepy
2Get out of bed if you can't sleep after 20 minutes
3Keep the bedroom for sleep and intimacy only
4Maintain a consistent wake time (even after poor sleep)
5Avoid clock-watching during the night
6Create a strong sleep-wake drive with morning light
7Limit time in bed to actual sleep ability
8Address underlying sleep disorders if present

Common Mistakes

  • Going to bed too early out of habit
  • Lying awake in bed for hours, training your brain that bed = awake
  • Using phones/tablets in bed before sleep
  • Napping too much during the day
  • Inconsistent sleep schedule

The Science

Sleep efficiency is a cornerstone metric in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). The sleep restriction component of CBT-I deliberately limits time in bed to build sleep pressure and improve efficiency. Your brain creates associations - if you spend lots of time awake in bed, it learns that bed is for wakefulness. High sleep efficiency trains the opposite association.

Other Sleep Metrics

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