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| If you recall from a past newsletter I wrote, I love sleeping. But I thought maybe I loved it a little too much because I sometimes wake up groggy, which can be a sign of oversleeping.
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| To test my hypothesis, I changed my weekday wake-up time from 8 a.m. to 7 a.m. for 1 month. I still went to bed at 11 p.m. most weeknights. Below, I get into the results.
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Sleep tight,
Sarah Matysiak
Associate Editor, Healthline
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Written by Sarah Matysiak
October 31, 2025 • 3 min read |
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| Does 1 hour make a difference?
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| Prior to starting the month-long challenge (and it was challenging), I got 9 hours of sleep most weeknights. This is at the top of the range recommended for people of my age, which is 7 to 9 hours per night.
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| On my old schedule, I experienced the occasional bout of sleep inertia (the grogginess you feel upon waking up). I thought it might be due to oversleeping, so I decided to switch things up and adopt a shorter schedule. On this shortened schedule, I only got 8 hours of sleep. Most days, I had trouble getting out of bed until closer to 7:30 after my alarm went off at 7, shaking off the sleepiness and taking microsleeps until I forced myself up.
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| A few days I woke up with enough energy to get out of bed right away. This was a major contrast to before: Most of the time, I could start my morning as soon as I heard my alarm’s first chime — no snooze needed (except those sporadic groggy days I mentioned).
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| While I tried to tough out the tiredness most days, I did succumb to an afternoon nap and early bedtime just a couple of times. Interestingly enough, when I went to bed before 11 p.m., I woke up the next day with more energy. I felt like I typically do in the morning on those days — awake. Maybe 9 hours of sleep is actually what I need?
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| I should mention one thing that could have affected the outcome of this experiment: Though 1 hour may not seem that dramatic a change, suddenly changing your sleep schedule isn’t recommended. It’s generally better to adjust it slowly over time. Had I done it gradually, might my opinion — and results — have changed? Maybe.
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| Follow the link below to learn more about my takeaways from this experiment! (And if I adopt this new schedule.)
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| ‼️ Heads up: While occasional sleep inertia isn’t a big deal, you may benefit from talking with your doctor if you have trouble shaking off the grogginess or if it interferes with your daily activities.
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