I've been reading about the health benefits of getting the right amount and right kind of sleep, so have concentrated on getting more, high quality sleep. My total sleep time is about 7.5 hours and starts at about midnight. But my wake-up time is not consistent.
One thing I quit doing was letting daylight dictate when I woke up, hehe! I have a small towel that I put over my eyes that does the trick. A pillow is too heavy.
Occasionally I'll "miss a cycle", meaning, I wake and don't fall right back asleep. Instead, I'll stay awake for about 90 minutes. I might listen to a book on 'tape', or just lay there for that time. But if things go to plan, my total in-bed time increases (I wake up later).
They went out of business, but there used to be a device called Zeo that actually measured brain waves to determine the various states of sleep. The device actually worked, so I'm not sure why they went bust. But I got one of these devices and experimented with it. After a while, I could predict with some accuracy, the results it would generate. What I learned was that that extra beer does have a significant impact on sleep quality, so that makes it easier to say I'd rather sleep better tonight.