🌙Sleepgoody

How long until you're caught up?

Most answers to this are a range someone else's body produced. Put in how far behind you are and get a night-by-night schedule, with the date you're clear.

Why it isn't one big lie-in

You can only fall asleep for so long in one go, and the hours past your normal need give you less back than the first ones. That's why this schedule caps the extra at about 2 hours a night rather than telling you to sleep fourteen hours on Saturday.

There's a second reason. A long weekend lie-in moves your body clock later, so Sunday night you aren't tired at bedtime and Monday starts short. The shortfall gets pushed into the next week instead of cleared.

Earlier to bed beats later to rise

If you can choose, add the extra time to the front of the night. Keeping your wake-up time steady holds your body clock where it is; sleeping in moves it. Same hours, less disruption — which is why the plan above assumes an earlier bedtime rather than a later alarm.

Work nights or a rotating rota? Use the night shift version — it counts a whole block rather than assuming you slept at night. We also asked shift workers what they actually sleep: the average came out at 5.6 hours.

What to do if you miss a night

Nothing dramatic. The shortfall goes back up by whatever you missed and the schedule gets a night longer. It isn't a streak you broke, it's a number that moved. Come back and put the new figure in.

When catching up isn't the answer

If the number climbs week after week no matter what you do, the problem isn't recovery — it's the schedule producing the shortfall. No catch-up plan fixes a week that doesn't contain enough room for sleep.

Sleepgoody is a self-care tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose or treat any condition. If you are persistently exhausted despite sleeping enough, talk to a doctor.