Studies indicate that 80% of Americans are of the opinion that an additional hour of sleep would significantly enhance their ability to manage their everyday tasks. Counting Sheep has carried out a study to investigate … Read more
Studies indicate that 80% of Americans are of the opinion that an additional hour of sleep would significantly enhance their ability to manage their everyday tasks. Counting Sheep has carried out a study to investigate the actions sleep-deprived individuals would take if granted one more hour of sleep daily. Findings reveal that a majority of Americans, despite having the chance to get more sleep, opt not to.
Did you know that the CDC has proclaimed a national sleep epidemic in the US? Despite a national epidemic and a claim of 80% of Americans that an extra hour of sleep at night is extremely valuable, research shows that American adults consciously choose not to sleep more even when they have the chance. Let’s found out why.
Adults that are averagely 55 years old find sleeping for an extra hour valuable than younger adults. Women, unlike man, apart from valuing an extra hour of sleep also believe they would be more prepared for their daily obligations and activities if they generally slept longer. On the other hand, around 50% of male respondents say they would feel extremely frustrated if they lost an hour of sleep at night if that wasn’t because of their choice. Lastly, around 55% of all Americans feel that they do not have enough time in the day to do everything they want. So we asked, what they would do if they had that extra hour.
Only 26% of Americans would choose to sleep if they had an extra hour during the day. These respondents are mostly more than 50 years old. 18- to 34-year-olds prefer engaging in any other activities during the day than using an extra hour to sleep. Women are more likely than men to opt for sleeping than an extra hour of activity.
When it comes to questioning the respondents who claim they don’t sleep enough during the day, only 33% of them would actually choose to sleep. We asked what would they specifically do – 42% of them would rather relax, 12% would have sex, 10% would spend time with family and friends and 7% would exercise.
Respondents who fell they don’t get enough sleep are aged from 35 to 54, and they have a full-time job. Although they believe they don’t sleep as other adults, they get as much sleep as every other average adult – sometimes even more on weekends. Our survey showed that 64% of Americans get around 7 to 8 hours of sleep on weekends and only 49% sleep for 8 hours during weekdays. Around 70% of US citizens would rather lose an hour of sleep during the weekend than weekdays because it’s not a workday, there are fewer obligations and similar. Saturday was the top pick for losing an hour of sleep because they have an extra day to make it up. 34% of respondents believe Saturday is an easy day or a family day when you are allowed to sleep in. During weekdays, you can’t goof around and you have to organize the entire day properly.
Co-founder of Counting Sheep and Sleepaholic