Sleep resolutions that stick: realistic sleep goals for the new year

The sleep resolutions most likely to last are small and specific: wake at the same time every day, leave room for 7 or more hours, make the bedroom easier to sleep in, and deal with anything that disturbs your breathing at night. "Sleep better" is a wish. "Up at 6:45 every day, lights out by 11" is a plan you can check off. Here's how to set goals that survive past January, with the research behind each one.

Why are sleep resolutions worth making?

Sleep resolutions are worth making because so many adults fall short. When the CDC analyzed its 2014 survey of 444,306 adults across all 50 states and Washington, DC, 65.2% reported a healthy sleep duration of 7 hours or more. More than a third said they usually slept less than that. The same report links sleeping under 7 hours a night to higher risks of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and frequent mental distress.

Sleep is also one of the few health goals you practice every single day. That repetition is exactly what turns a resolution into a habit.

How much sleep should you aim for?

Most adults should aim for 7 or more hours of sleep a night. A joint consensus statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommends 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis for adults aged 18 to 60. The NHLBI's chart lists 7 to 8 hours a day for adults 18 and older, and the NHS says adults need 7 to 9 hours on average, while noting that everyone needs different amounts.

The phrase "on a regular basis" matters. The NHLBI explains that lost sleep adds up into sleep debt: lose 2 hours a night and you're 14 hours short after a week. It also notes that sleeping much more on days off may be a sign you aren't getting enough during the week, and that it can upset your body's sleep-wake rhythm. So a resolution built on weekend catch-up sleep is working against itself. For more on the numbers by age, see how much sleep adults need.

Why is a consistent schedule the best first resolution?

A consistent sleep schedule is the best first resolution because it's simple to measure and the evidence for regularity keeps getting stronger.

A 2024 study in Sleep used more than 10 million hours of accelerometer data from 60,977 UK Biobank participants to score how regular each person's sleep timing was. Over an average follow-up of about six years, people in the more regular groups had a 20% to 48% lower risk of death from any cause than the least regular group, after adjusting for age, sex, lifestyle and health factors. Sleep regularity predicted mortality more strongly than sleep duration did. It's an observational study, so it shows a link rather than proof, but it fits long-standing advice. The NHS says a regular routine can help your body get used to sleeping better, and recommends going to bed and waking up at around the same time each day.

Start with the wake time. It's the part of your schedule you control best, and a fixed alarm makes a sensible bedtime follow more naturally. Pick a time you can keep on weekends too, within about half an hour.

How long does it take for a sleep habit to stick?

A sleep habit takes longer than the popular "21 days," but it doesn't have to be perfect to stick. The best-known study on this, by Phillippa Lally and colleagues in 2010, asked 96 volunteers to repeat a new daily health behavior tied to a cue, such as a piece of fruit with lunch or a run before dinner, for 84 days. The median time to reach peak automaticity was 66 days, ranging from 18 days to a predicted 254 days, according to the British Psychological Society's summary and later research citing the study.

Two findings from that study are useful for sleep goals. A single missed day had little effect on later progress, though many missed days had a cumulative cost. And more complex behaviors took longer: exercise habits took about one and a half times as long as eating or drinking ones. A fixed wake time is about as simple as a behavior gets, which is another reason to start there. Expect it to feel deliberate for weeks, not days, and plan for the occasional late night instead of treating it as failure.

What sleep resolutions are realistic?

Realistic sleep resolutions are ones you can do on a bad week, not just a good one. Here's how common resolutions translate into versions that work.

Pick one or two, not all six. Add another once the first feels automatic.

How do you set up your bedroom for the new year?

You set up your bedroom by fixing whatever wakes you most often. The NHS says noise, light, being too hot or cold, or an uncomfortable bed can make it harder to sleep, and suggests small changes like making your bedroom more comfortable, avoiding caffeine late in the day and putting your phone away before bed. It also recommends not smoking or drinking alcohol, tea or coffee at least 6 hours before bed, and notes that alcohol can make you sleepy at first but lead to poor sleep later in the night.

Our sleep environment checklist goes through the room one item at a time.

Should breathing at night be on your list?

Breathing at night belongs on your list if snoring, a blocked nose or a dry mouth is breaking up your sleep or your partner's. A perfect schedule doesn't help much if you're waking up several times a night.

The NHS lists several options for snoring: sleeping on your side, not drinking too much alcohol, and for a blocked or narrow nose, nasal dilators or strips that hold the nose open. In a small randomized trial in the European Respiratory Journal, 12 people with chronic rhinitis snored less often with an external nasal dilator strip than with a placebo strip (173 versus 258 snores per hour), though snoring loudness and sleep quality didn't change.

If your mouth falls open at night, mouth tape is another option for adults who can breathe comfortably through the nose. In a 2022 study of 20 mouth breathers with mild sleep apnea, a home sleep test on a night with the mouth taped, one week after a baseline test, showed the median snoring index and apnea-hypopnea index each dropped by about half. It's a small, uncontrolled study, but it's an encouraging start. See how to start mouth taping for a gentle first week.

If both are part of the picture, a combined routine like the Titan Sleep System turns two resolutions into one nightly step, which is easier to keep than two separate ones.

We don't recommend mouth tape for children. Check that you can breathe easily through your nose with our nose test before you try it.

How do you keep a sleep resolution going?

You keep a sleep resolution going by tracking it lightly and planning for the nights that go wrong. Write down your wake time and bedtime each day, on paper or in a sleep app. After two weeks you'll see whether you're short on hours, irregular, or both.

Tie each new habit to a cue you already have, the way participants in the habit study did. Brushing your teeth can be the cue for the phone to go on its charger, or the mouth tape to go on. When a holiday, a sick child or a late flight breaks the streak, go back to your normal wake time the next day. The research suggests one missed day won't undo your progress.

When should you see a doctor?

See a doctor if you're doing everything right and still waking up tired, or if sleep problems are going on for weeks. The NHS says to see a GP if changing your sleeping habits hasn't helped your insomnia, or if you've had trouble sleeping for months. Our CBT for insomnia guide covers a structured, non-drug approach.

For snoring, the NHS advises seeing a GP if you feel sleepy during the day, your breathing stops and starts while you sleep, or you make gasping or choking noises, since you may have sleep apnea. Check those signs before trying mouth tape; our sleep apnea warning signs guide has the full list. If your nose is blocked most of the time, get it checked, and if you're pregnant, ask your clinician before starting a new sleep product.

Our pick (paid partner): Titan Sleep System

If easier breathing is one of your resolutions, our pick is the Titan Sleep System. We haven't tested or ranked sleep products ourselves; this is our recommendation, based on how Titan describes the system. It's a support for nose breathing, not a guaranteed fix for snoring.

Titan describes the Sleep System as TitanAir Nasal Strips and Titan Bamboo Silk Mouth Tape together as one nightly system. Titan says the strips are drug-free external nasal dilators with flexible spring-loaded bands, worn just above the flare of the nostrils on the soft part of the nose rather than the bony bridge. The tape is a bamboo silk strip that Titan describes as soft, breathable and moisture-wicking, and Titan suggests 20 to 30 minutes of daytime practice before the first night.

A routine you'll keep matters more than any single night, and Titan's 30-night guarantee gives you about a month to see how it fits. Titan says every batch is third-party tested and certified PFAS-free, and it sells 30, 90, 180 or 360-night supplies. If you'd rather start with one product, Titan also sells Titan Bamboo Silk Mouth Tape on its own.

Read next

• Sleep hygiene: the habits with the best evidence
• How to track your mouth tape results
• The best anti-snoring kit

* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.