A sleep specialist has shared the ideal amount of time it should take to drift off — and what it could indicate if you regularly can’t.
Some people fall asleep almost as soon as they get into bed, while others can spend a long time staring at the ceiling before they finally nod off.
Bedtime habits also vary widely. For certain sleepers, complete silence and darkness are essential, whereas others prefer a bit of background sound to help them relax.
Even with those differences, experts say there’s a typical window that most healthy adults should aim for when it comes to falling asleep — and a point at which taking longer may suggest something is getting in the way.
That said, sleep onset isn’t the same for everyone every night. Stress, comfort, your bedroom environment, and your overall sleep debt can all change how quickly you drop off.
Someone who hasn’t been sleeping enough might crash almost instantly, while a person who slept in, napped during the day, or wasn’t very active could find it harder to fall asleep later that evening.
Specialists at TRT UK outlined what most adults should expect when things are working as they should.
They said: “For most healthy adults, it should take about 10-20 minutes to fall asleep,” the experts explain.
“Falling asleep the moment your head hits the pillow might sound like a dream; however, it can actually show sleep deprivation.
“But if you find yourself lying there awake for more than 30 minutes it can suggest overstimulation, stress, or circadian system disruption.
“The key is ‘sleep latency’, the time it takes to drift off. If you always need more than half an hour that can mean your mind and body isn’t fully ready to relax yet. Which can be linked to high stress levels, late caffeine, an inconsistent schedule or too much light exposure in the evening.”
They also noted when a longer wait to fall asleep is more than just an occasional annoyance.
If taking over 30 minutes becomes routine — especially if you’re also dealing with tiredness, low energy, or poor concentration during the day — it may be a sign you should look more closely at what’s affecting your sleep.
“If it sometimes takes longer, this is normal. But if trouble falling asleep starts to be a pattern, as well as daytime fatigue, it’s a sign your sleep-wake cycle may need changing,” they explain.
The sleep-wake cycle is essentially your usual daily rhythm for when you feel naturally alert and when you feel ready for sleep.
John Hopkins Medicine says two main systems work together to control when you feel sleepy and when you feel awake.
Those are sleep-wake homeostasis and the circadian biological clock.
“With sleep/wake homeostasis, the longer you are awake, the greater your body senses the need to sleep… But your circadian biological clock causes highs and lows of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day,” they explain.
It’s also common for many adults to feel a natural dip in alertness in the early hours of the morning (roughly 2am to 4am) and again in the afternoon (around 1pm to 3pm), which is why naps can feel so tempting.
In many cases, getting enough consistent sleep at night can help reduce how strongly those daytime slumps hit.