Catch Up on Sleep: Why It’s Possible and How to Do It

We all know we need to get enough sleep for our energy levels, health, and productivity. But all too often, life gets in the way. When you miss out on sleep, you’ll build up what’s known as sleep debt.

The good news is research suggests you can catch up on sleep and reverse at least some of the damage. 

Below, we’ll dive into the question of whether you can catch up on sleep (spoiler: you can!). Plus, we’ll cover how the RISE app can help you catch up and avoid missing out on sleep in the future.

What Is Sleep Debt?

Before we dive into whether you can catch up on lost sleep, you need to know about one important term: sleep debt.

Sleep debt is how much sleep you need to catch up on. It’s measured against your sleep need, which is the amount of sleep you personally need. 

You’ll have sleep debt if you’ve been pulling all-nighters or staying up late and waking up early. But you may also have sleep debt if you don’t know your sleep need, as you might need more sleep than you think.

For example, if you need seven hours of sleep, but you only get six hours, you’ll wake up with sleep debt. And if you continue to not get enough sleep, your sleep debt will keep building up. 

There are two types of sleep debt: 

Acute sleep debt: This is short-term sleep debt. At RISE, we measure this over your last 14 nights. 

Acute sleep debt can lead to: 

• Daytime sleepiness 
• Brain fog 
• Irritability 
• Anxiety 
• A weakened immune system 
• Digestive issues 
• Reduced attention span and focus 
• Lowered mental performance
• Microsleeps and falling asleep while driving 

Chronic sleep debt: This is long-term sleep debt that’s built up over months and years. 

The effects of chronic sleep debt include: 

• Diabetes 
• Weight gain and obesity 
• Cardiovascular diseases and problems like high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and heart attacks 
• Anxiety and depression 
• Increased risk of having multiple health conditions

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Is Sleep Debt Real? 

Sleep debt is real — it isn’t a myth. It can lead to low energy, trouble concentrating, and irritability. And the long-term effects of sleep debt aren’t pretty either. You’ll be upping your odds of everything from diabetes to obesity, depression to heart disease.‍

Sleep banking, on the other hand, isn’t real. It’s a myth that you can bank sleep ahead of time or “stock up on sleep.” Most sleep researchers believe you’re just catching up on sleep debt you already have. 

Can You Catch Up on Sleep? 

You can catch up on sleep – catch up sleep isn’t a myth either! It might not happen overnight, but research shows catching up can reverse some of the negative effects of sleep loss.  

For example, in a canonical study, participants got five hours of sleep a night for seven nights and then got two “recovery” nights of sleep. 

Participants’ mood, sleepiness, and mental performance got significantly worse while they were getting five hours of sleep, but bounced back after two nights of recovery sleep.  

Beyond recovering, the fact we as humans can sleep for longer than we usually need when sleep deprived suggests this extra sleep serves a biological purpose. You can’t “oversleep” or get too much sleep, either, so any extra sleep you get may be needed.

Most sleep experts agree. “More research needs to be done, but it does seem we can catch up on sleep when we’re sleep deprived,” says Dr. Chester Wu, a double board-certified doctor in psychiatry and sleep medicine. 

Here’s what else we know: ‍

• Catching up on sleep may improve your health: A 2023 study found catching up on sleep at the weekend can reduce your risk of high cholesterol compared to those who don’t catch up. Another study found the mortality rate of those who slept for five hours or less during the week and nine hours or more on the weekends was the same as those who consistently got seven hours of sleep. 
• Catching up on sleep may improve mental performance: A two-hour nap after an all-nighter can boost alertness and performance and reverse increased cortisol (the stress hormone). Reaction times can bounce back, too.
• Catching up might not reverse all damage: One study found sleep deprivation caused a decrease in frontal lobe (a part of your brain) function. Recovery sleep was only partially restorative. Another study found weekend recovery sleep didn’t prevent the insulin sensitivity and weight gain that sleep loss can lead to. Participants may have needed more time to catch up on lost sleep, though. 
• Recovery sleep looks different to normal sleep: When you catch up on sleep, you may experience “REM rebound.” This is when you get an “increase in the frequency, depth, and intensity of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep." This may be because your brain prioritizes deep sleep when you’re not getting enough sleep, but then catches up on REM sleep when it can. 

Expert tip: While weekend recovery sleep can be beneficial, you shouldn’t rely on it. As this study concludes, “the long-term effects of a repeated sleep restriction/sleep recovery weekly cycle in humans remain unknown.”

Our advice? If possible, get enough sleep each night. But if you do miss out on sleep, catch up when you can. Your body and brain will thank you for it.

Catching up on sleep doesn’t have to be all or nothing, either. Even if you can only partially recover from lost sleep, you’ll still feel and perform better than if you hadn't caught up on anything at all.  

Heads-up: It’s common to think you can’t catch up on sleep because: 

• We don’t know if you can catch up on chronic sleep debt, so some people assume you can’t catch up on any sleep debt at all (when, in fact, you can catch up on acute sleep debt).
• Some research explains how it’s difficult to catch up on sleep — not that it’s physiologically impossible. Misunderstandings and misleading headlines can focus on how difficult it is, forgetting to explain how it’s still possible.
• Our bodies adapt to sleep loss and we think we’re doing fine (although research shows we’re not really). So, we may think we don’t need to catch up on sleep. 
• Catching up on sleep can be tricky, so it’s easier to believe it can’t be done so we don’t have to worry about it. 

How Long Does It Take to Catch Up on Sleep? 

The more sleep debt you have, the longer it takes to catch up on sleep. There’s no set number, but one study found one hour of sleep loss takes four days to recover from.

Other studies have similar findings.

For example, one of our sleep advisors Dr. Jamie Zeitzer — co-director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences at Stanford University — worked on a real-world study of sleep loss and its effect on work performance. 

The paper states, “on average, it takes three nights to make up one insufficient night of sleep.” And it takes six nights to make up for two insufficient nights of sleep in a row.

Here’s what Dr. Zeitzer has to say, 

“Unfortunately, catching up on sleep may take longer than you think. Instead of trying to catch up in one go, make an effort to get to bed a little earlier over the course of a week or two to pay down any sleep debt you’ve built up.”

It can take a while to catch up on sleep as work and personal commitments get in the way. But even if you had the free time to sleep for 16 hours straight to catch up, your circadian rhythm (or body clock) probably won’t let you go to sleep hours earlier than usual or sleep in hours later than usual. Instead, you need to slowly chip away at sleep debt. 

You can start the process of catching up on sleep quickly, though. We found within the first two weeks of using RISE, users with more than five hours of sleep debt reduce it by about two hours.

Heads-up: RISE can give you an estimate of how long it will take to catch up on sleep. The smart schedule feature takes into account your goal wake-up time, sleep need, and how much sleep debt you have. RISE then gives you a bedtime that helps you chip away at sleep debt and an estimation of how many days it’ll take to catch up on sleep.

We’ve covered how long it takes to recover from sleep deprivation here. 

How to Catch Up on Sleep 

• Take naps: Nap no later than the afternoon and limit naps to 90 minutes to make sure you can still fall asleep at night. Check RISE for the best time to nap. 
• Go to bed a little earlier. We’ve covered how to sleep early here.
• Sleep in a little later: Keep this to an hour or two to avoid messing up your circadian rhythm and struggling to sleep the next night.
• Improve your sleep habits: These habits are known as sleep hygiene. They can help you fall asleep faster and wake up less often, so you get more sleep overall. 

Our Best Sleep Hygiene Tips

Keep a consistent sleep pattern: Try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day — unless you’re paying back sleep debt. Regular sleep-wake times help you feel sleepy at bedtime. Our user data backs this up. RISE users with low sleep debt have more consistent sleep-wake times than those with high sleep debt.

Get natural light in the mornings: Aim for at least 10 minutes of light as soon as possible after waking up, or 15 to 20 minutes if it's overcast or you’re getting light through a window.

Avoid light close to bedtime: Dim the lights and put on blue-light blocking glasses about 90 minutes before bed (we recommend these glasses).

Exercise regularly: Physical activity during the day can make it easier to fall asleep at night. Just be sure to avoid intense exercise within an hour of bedtime as this can keep you up. 

Avoid caffeine, large meals, and alcohol too late in the day: Check RISE for when to avoid each one daily. Our personalized caffeine cut-off reminder is one of the most used features in the app.

Create a relaxing bedtime routine: RISE users say stress and anxiety are the biggest barriers to a good night’s sleep. Try doing a relaxing bedtime routine that includes reading, listening to music, journaling, or doing yoga before bed. RISE can walk you through relaxation exercises in the app.

Keep your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet: Aim for 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, use blackout curtains, and wear earplugs and an eye mask.

You don’t need to keep track of all of these tips. RISE can tell you when to do 20+ good sleep hygiene habits to help you catch up on sleep. 

Expert tip: RISE’s alarm feature can also help you catch up on sleep. It tells you if your alarm time is contributing to sleep debt as you set it.

We’ve found 80% of RISE users get more sleep within five days. And users say lowering their sleep debt makes a big difference to their days: 

“Since I got my debt under control, I have more energy, am no longer crashing or napping, drinking less coffee, and my days feel more productive.” Read the review.

If you follow these habits and still can’t get enough sleep, reach out to your healthcare provider. They may recommend a sleep medicine specialist or order a sleep study to see if you have an underlying sleep disorder.