An earlier lights-out paired with a wind-down hour can add sleep. In a controlled trial published online 6 October 2026 in the journal Sleep, British Army infantry recruits whose platoons got a 9 PM wind-down and lights-out at 10 PM reported about 32 minutes more sleep a night and better sleep quality than recruits on the usual schedule.

Key takeaways

  • A 2026 trial in Sleep (Rawcliffe and colleagues) compared four British Army infantry platoons at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, UK: two got a sleep program, two kept the usual schedule. 83 male recruits, average age 22, were analyzed.
  • The program moved lights-out from 10:30 PM to 10 PM and added a wind-down from 9 PM, with dim light, fewer screens, warm showers and a darker, quieter bedroom.
  • Recruits on the program went to bed about 40 minutes earlier and reported about 32 minutes more sleep a night: 5 hours 50 minutes versus 5 hours 18 minutes.
  • They also reported better sleep quality, milder insomnia symptoms, less stress and fewer depressive symptoms. Sleep was self-reported and the platoons were not shown to be randomized, so the results are promising, not proven.
  • The one change: put a 1-hour wind-down block before a fixed lights-out, and move lights-out earlier rather than the alarm later.

What did the 2026 earlier-bedtime trial find?

An earlier lights-out with a wind-down routine was linked with more sleep and better-rated sleep. Alex Rawcliffe and colleagues followed 98 male infantry recruits (Para trainees) through basic training between October 2023 and March 2024; 83 were analyzed, 43 on the program and 40 on the usual schedule.

Basic training is a hard test for sleep. Recruits reported about 7 hours a night before training began, falling to about 5 hours 8 minutes in the first 3 weeks, mainly because they woke much earlier. From week 4, two platoons moved to the program while two carried on as usual.

Measure, weeks 4 to 11 Earlier lights-out and wind-down Usual schedule
Average bedtime 9:52 PM 10:31 PM
Reported sleep a night 5 h 50 min 5 h 18 min
Sleep quality score (higher is worse; above 5 means poor sleep) 5.3 8.3
Insomnia symptoms below the threshold for concern 84% 43%
Depressive symptoms in the range that warrants attention about 13% about 60%

Both groups were still well short of the 7 hours adults need, but the program group gained a moderate, meaningful margin. Daytime sleepiness was higher during training than before it in both groups, with no clear difference between them.

What was in the wind-down routine?

The program bundled five pieces, so the study tests the package rather than any single habit.

  1. Two short talks on how sleep works and why it matters for performance and mental health.
  2. Bed for sleep only. Recruits who could not sleep went to a quiet room for calm, screen-free activities.
  3. A darker, quieter room: blackout curtains, eye masks, earplugs, soft-closing doors, temperature control and stickers over small LED lights.
  4. A wind-down from 9 PM: dimmed lights, less phone use and admin, warm showers, no large meals or caffeine late, and quieter group noise.
  5. A longer sleep window: lights-out at 10 PM instead of 10:30 PM.

The authors tried to move wake time later, to 7 AM, but fixed meal times ruled it out; the extra sleep came from earlier bedtimes rather than later waking. That is the end most people can also move.

Does going to bed earlier actually add sleep?

Yes, in controlled settings it does. In a 2023 Pediatrics study from the University of California, Davis, 144 young people aged about 10 to 21 kept their usual rise time while bedtime moved earlier, and sleep was measured in a sleep lab. Going from 7 to 8.5 hours in bed raised sleep from about 6 hours 43 minutes to about 7 hours 51 minutes, roughly 68 minutes more, even though falling asleep took a little longer.

The 2026 trial shows the same direction in a real, demanding schedule: about 40 minutes earlier to bed, about 32 minutes more sleep reported.

Why dim the lights in the last hour?

Evening light pushes the body clock later and holds back melatonin, the hormone that signals night. In a Harvard lab study of 116 adults aged 18 to 30 (Gooley and colleagues, 2011), ordinary room light in the hours before bed, compared with dim light, delayed the evening melatonin rise in 99% of people and shortened melatonin’s night by about 90 minutes.

Screens add to it. In a 2015 randomized crossover study in PNAS (Chang and colleagues), 12 young adults read for about 4 hours before bed on a light-emitting tablet or a printed book for five evenings each. With the tablet, they took about 10 minutes longer to fall asleep, their melatonin rise came about 1.5 hours later, and they were sleepier the next morning. A dim, screen-light wind-down gives an earlier lights-out a better chance of turning into sleep.

What are the limits of the study?

It is a small, early study. Only four platoons took part, two per group, and the paper does not describe the platoons as randomly assigned to each group. All outcomes were self-reported in questionnaires, with no sleep tracker, and recruits and staff knew who was on the program. Everyone was a young man in infantry training, so results may differ for women, older adults and ordinary jobs. The trial was not registered in advance. The authors call the mood findings suggestive of a buffering effect and say larger studies are needed.

What is the one change to make?

Put a 1-hour wind-down block before a fixed lights-out, and move lights-out earlier rather than the alarm later. The trial bundled several steps, so this is a practical way to act on its findings rather than a tested single fix.

  1. Keep your wake time. Count back 7 to 8 hours to set lights-out.
  2. Start the wind-down an hour before: lamps instead of overhead lights, phone on the charger outside the bed, a warm shower.
  3. Move lights-out 15 to 30 minutes earlier at a time until it lands where you want it.
  4. Make the room dark, cool and quiet: blackout curtains or an eye mask, earplugs if you need them.
  5. Keep coffee early in the day; see Caffeine Cutoff Time: When to Have Your Last Coffee.

For a full reset, read How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule: Anchor, Light, 15 Min. On evening light, see Does Electric Light Make Us Sleep Later? A 12-Year Study; on steady timing, Irregular Sleep and Death Risk: What a 2026 Study Found. Curious when your own body clock runs best? Take the Body Clock Type quiz.

Your day on My BodyClock

Does an Earlier Bedtime Help? What a 2026 Study Found. My BodyClock for Tuesday, November 3 in Encinitas: Flow at 6 AM (Wake and get ready); Move at 6:30 AM (Morning walk outside); Eat at 7 AM (Breakfast); Flow at 7:30 AM (Commute); Work at 8 AM (Deep focus); Eat at 12 PM (Lunch); Flow at 12:45 PM (Messages and admin); Work at 1 PM (Afternoon work); Flow at 5 PM (Commute home); Move at 5:30 PM (Run outside); Eat at 6:15 PM (Cook and eat dinner); Love at 7:15 PM (Family time). Center Photo: A bedside table with a glowing lamp, a book and a glass of water beside a made bed in warm evening light.
Your day on My BodyClock. Build it in Owaves.

The day above on My BodyClock is built around a fixed 10 PM lights-out and a 6 AM wake time, an 8-hour sleep window. The morning starts with a walk outside and breakfast, work fills the day around a lunch break, and a run after work adds movement and daylight. Dinner wraps up by 7:15 PM, followed by time with family and a short tidy-up to set out what the morning needs. From 9 PM, a Relax block holds the wind-down: lamps on, screens away, a warm shower and a book. Because the alarm never moves, the extra sleep comes from the evening.

Build your own wind-down in Owaves: My BodyClock on the App Store, or join the Android waitlist.

FAQ

Does going to bed earlier help you sleep more?

Usually, if you keep your wake time. In the 2026 British Army trial, recruits given a 10 PM lights-out and a wind-down hour went to bed about 40 minutes earlier and reported about 32 minutes more sleep a night. In a 2023 lab study, advancing bedtime by 90 minutes added about 68 minutes of measured sleep.

What should a wind-down routine include?

The trial’s routine started an hour before lights-out: dim lights, less screen use, a warm shower, no big meals or caffeine late, and quiet activities. Bedrooms were dark and quiet, with blackout curtains, eye masks and earplugs. The study tested the whole package, so no single step can be credited on its own.

How much earlier should I go to bed?

Start with 30 to 60 minutes earlier than your current bedtime and hold your wake time steady. The trial moved bedtime about 40 minutes and saw sleep rise by about half an hour. Adults need 7 hours or more on a regular basis, so count back 7 to 8 hours from your alarm.

Can better sleep help mood?

In the trial, recruits on the earlier schedule reported less stress and fewer depressive symptoms, though the study was small and mood was a secondary, exploratory outcome. Sleep habits can support wellbeing but are not a treatment. If low mood lasts, talk with a clinician.

If you’re in crisis in the US, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). Outside the US, contact local emergency services.

Sources

  1. Rawcliffe AJ, Martin H, Ratna E, Salt B, Weaver J, Roberts A. The effects of a multimodal intervention for optimizing sleep and internalizing symptoms in young adults during British Army Infantry basic training. Sleep, published online 6 October 2026. doi:10.1093/sleep/zsag263. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsag263
  2. Campbell IG, Cruz-Basilio A, Figueroa JG, Bottom VB. Earlier Bedtime and Its Effect on Adolescent Sleep Duration. Pediatrics, 2023;152(1):e2022060607. doi:10.1542/peds.2022-060607. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10312236/
  3. Gooley JJ, Chamberlain K, Smith KA, et al. Exposure to room light before bedtime suppresses melatonin onset and shortens melatonin duration in humans. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2011;96(3):E463-E472. doi:10.1210/jc.2010-2098. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3047226/
  4. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. PNAS, 2015;112(4):1232-1237. doi:10.1073/pnas.1418490112. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4313820/
  5. Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, et al. Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2015;11(6):591-592. doi:10.5664/jcsm.4758. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4442216/
  6. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/

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