--- title: Full Moon Affects Your Sleep description: You might want to begin preparing now for the supermoon canonical: https://time.com/2973469/sleep-less-full-moon/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-10T17:06:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:04:44.641Z article:section: Health og:title: Why You're Probably Going To Sleep 20 Minutes Less On July 12th og:description: You might want to begin preparing now for the supermoon og:url: https://time.com/2973469/sleep-less-full-moon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399c4aa11085dbf4/69869b3d55a859706ca81bd2/supermoon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Supermoon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why You're Probably Going To Sleep 20 Minutes Less On July 12th twitter:description: You might want to begin preparing now for the supermoon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399c4aa11085dbf4/69869b3d55a859706ca81bd2/supermoon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Is Why You'll Sleep 20 Minutes Less On July 12th by [Prevention](https://time.com/author/prevention/) ## Prevention Jul 10, 2014 5:06 PM UTC  A supermoon rises next to the ancient Greek temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, some 65 kilometers south of Athens, on June 23, 2013. A supermoon rises next to the ancient Greek temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, some 65 kilometers south of Athens, on June 23, 2013.ARIS MESSINIS—AFP/Getty Images by [Prevention](https://time.com/author/prevention/) ## Prevention Jul 10, 2014 5:06 PM UTC When the moon is full, we sleep less…at least that was the common belief without any real science to back it up. Now Swedish researchers have not only quantified it, but they also found a correlation between the lunar cycle and our sleep duration. According to the study, published in Current Biology, researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Switzerland observed 47 healthy individuals and found that they slept an average of 20 minutes less and took 5 minutes longer to fall asleep during the full moon phase. While more research is needed to determine exactly why this is, the study authors suspect that our brains are more reactive when the moon is full, making it harder to calm down and drift off to sleep. Which means you might want to start preparing now for the supermoons—when the moon is the closest to the earth and is full to boot—on July 12, August 10, and September 9\. Enlist these [**10 simple sleep remedies**](http://www.prevention.com/health/sleep-energy/insomnia-cure-10-simple-sleep-remedies?cid=Synd%5FTime%5FWhyYoureProbablyGoingToSleep20MinutesLessOnJuly12th%5FArticle%5FJuly09%5FHowToGetYourBestNightsSleepEver) to help you fall asleep. (A full moon isn’t the only sleep saboteur; read about the [top 10 sleep thieves](http://www.prevention.com/health/sleep-energy/10-reasons-you-cant-sleep?cid=Synd%5FTime%5FWhyYoureProbablyGoingToSleep20MinutesLessOnJuly12th%5FArticle%5FJuly09%5FTop10SleepThieves) and how to thwart them.) MORE: The [3-Minute Massage That Lengthens Sleep](http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/3-minute-massage-shown-lengthen-sleep?cid=Synd%5FTime%5FWhyYoureProbablyGoingToSleep20MinutesLessOnJuly12th%5FArticle%5FJuly09%5FThe3MinuteSleepTrickThatWorks) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2973469/sleep-less-full-moon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2973469/sleep-less-full-moon/"},"headline":"Here Is Why You'll Sleep 20 Minutes Less On July 12th","datePublished":"2014-07-10T17:06:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:04:44.641Z","description":"The surprising reason","url":"https://time.com/2973469/sleep-less-full-moon/","keywords":["Sleep","Science topic","insomnia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399c4aa11085dbf4/69869b3d55a859706ca81bd2/supermoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Prevention","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/prevention/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt399c4aa11085dbf4/69869b3d55a859706ca81bd2/supermoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Supermoon","caption":"Supermoon","creditText":"ARIS MESSINIS—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sleep/","name":"Sleep"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2973469/sleep-less-full-moon/","name":"Here Is Why You'll Sleep 20 Minutes Less On July 12th"}}]}] ```