Morning madness: Average adult wakes up grumpy 300 days a year!

NEW YORK — Waking up “on the wrong side of the bed” is inevitable from time to time, but a new survey of 2,000 Americans finds that most people rarely ever wake up in a good mood. Over the course of a calendar year, the average U.S. adult will wake up in a bad mood 300 times, meaning they’ll only experience 65 good mornings!

All of that irritation amounts to six disgruntled mornings each and every week on average, according to the research, which was commissioned by Hatch.

A great deal of that grumpiness can be traced back to nighttime disruptions, with respondents waking up in the middle of the night due to temperature issues roughly three times per week, and at least once a week because of outside noise or a nightmare. Alarmingly, a full night’s sleep is so rare that respondents report only getting an uninterrupted night’s sleep about a quarter of the time each year.

During the rest of the year, Americans will, on average, spend 90 minutes each night tossing and turning. Broken down even further, respondents report waking up an average of two times per night, and staying awake for a total of 45 minutes each time.

With all of these numbers in mind, it’s certainly not surprising that 71% of respondents say they need to find a way to get both better, and more, sleep on a regular basis.

Other common factors keeping people up at night include stress and anxiety (31%) and the urge to use the bathroom (75%). For respondents with a significant other, their partner’s snoring was another common complaint (30%), followed by bedtime differences (31%), and their partner tossing and turning (19%).

Don’t go assuming romance is dead, though: 67% of respondents in a relationship still say they prefer to sleep beside their partner. Of course, nearly a quarter of that same group say they like sleeping alone. On the subject of relationships, respondents report having sex an average of one to two times per week, and 42% say that regular sex usually helps them sleep.

Also, respondents with a pet say they are rudely woken by their furry friend at least once a week. Still, that doesn’t stop 60% of pet-owning respondents from allowing their pet to sleep on their bed. Meanwhile, 23% of respondents with children say they routinely let their kids sleep beside them.

“Sleeping well on a consistent basis can be a tall task,” says Ann Crady Weiss, co-founder and CEO of Hatch. “Good quality sleep is so important for maintaining our health, yet there are so many factors, from daily stresses and varying environments to pre-bedtime activities, that can disrupt a good night’s sleep.”

Regarding pre-bed rituals, 33% of respondents say they sleep poorly after bringing professional work into the bedroom, or checking emails just before bed. Another third say scrolling through social media negatively impacts their sleep. Surprisingly, 43% say that watching TV before bed actually helps them sleep. Other helpful bedtime habits included reading (47%), and meditation (41%).

The survey was conducted by OnePoll.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *