Set a personal caffeine cutoff 8-10 hours before bed

What to Do

Stop all caffeine intake at least 8-10 hours before your target bedtime. For a 10 PM bedtime, your last coffee should be by noon to 2 PM.

Why It Works

Caffeine's average half-life is 4-6 hours, meaning half the caffeine from a 2 PM coffee is still in your system at 8-10 PM. A study showed caffeine consumed 6 hours before bed still significantly reduced sleep quality and total sleep time. Even when you feel like caffeine "doesn't affect" you, measurable reductions in deep sleep occur.

Tips

• Remember that tea, chocolate, pre-workout, and some medications also contain caffeine
• Decaf coffee still contains 7-15 mg of caffeine per cup (vs. 95 mg for regular)
• An 8-hour cutoff covers most people; slow metabolizers may need 10-12 hours
• The subjective feeling of alertness fades before caffeine's effects on sleep architecture do