How Australians Really Sleep, According to Our White Paper
Did you know that only a third of the people reading this sentence right now are getting enough sleep? Or, at least, the amount of sleep they think they should get.
That’s what we here at Sheridan discovered with our ‘Real Deep Sleep’ white paper — a survey that assessed the sleeping habits of Australians across the country.
From our bedtime rituals, to what we wear to sleep, to how many hours of sleep we’re actually getting a night, and even popular sleeping positions — we got under the covers with you (metaphorically), and uncovered our nation's sleep statistics.
How Much Does The Average Australian Sleep?
Well, 57% of Aussies claim they get between 6-8 hours of sleep each night. But this seems to be dependent on a number of factors - age, relationship status, whether you have children, your children’s age, and so on.
Those under 25 are most likely to get 9-10 hours of sleep; parents with young children (where the oldest child is under 10) - well, you won’t be surprised. Almost 40% of them are functioning on 5-6 hours of sleep…or less.
But Are We Sleeping Enough?
Look, the parent of any teenager will probably tell you that their kid is sleeping more than enough. But as it turns out, we’re a bit of a sleep-deprived bunch.
Regarding sleep deprivation statistics, Australians — at a rate of more than half — believe they’re getting less sleep than they need. Yep, 56% of us think we don’t sleep enough.
And this, in turn, impacts our day to day performance. In fact, over three in four (78%) people report they perform better when they manage to achieve their “ideal” amount of sleep — ranging from “a little” better, to “significantly” so.
How Do We Actually Sleep?
Turns out we’re really quite restless when we sleep. 59% of us wake up in a different position than we started in.
And we’re waking up a lot during the night — 56% of us wake up during the night; women, those 55+ and empty nesters are more likely to do so. And of those who do so, 76% of us are waking up multiple times a night.
Told you we weren’t great at sleeping.
However, it seems that even with this fact, we’re falling asleep fast — or at least we think we are. Our survey says that the most common amount of time to fall asleep is 10-20 minutes. And men are more likely to fall asleep in less than 10 minutes.
Men are also more likely than women to be snorers. Uh, surprise?
What Sleep Positions Do We Favour?
If you’ve ever wondered what the most popular sleeping position is, it turns out most of us are sleeping on our side — 32% of us, in fact. 17% of us are self-confessed stomach sleepers, and back sleepers only make up 9%.
Almost a fifth of us report sleeping cuddled up to a pillow in some way, shape or form — no news on how many of us favour a teddy bear, though.
What Do We Wear to Sleep?
One in four of us sleep hot, and one in ten of us are sleeping cold. Either way, over 50% are stripping down to our undies to sleep — regardless of the temperature outside. How’s that for some fun sleep statistics, Australia?
In cooler months, 13% are brave enough to sleep in nothing at all — one in five of us are doing so when it’s a bit warmer.
Oh, and almost a quarter of us are sleeping with our arms and legs outside of the bedding.
What Are Our Pre-Bedtime Rituals?
Something we share in common even more than a sleep position? Bedtime rituals — more than 80% of us have one. The most common one is going to bed at the same time each night — 43% of us do so. And if you need help doing that, we’ve talked to an expert to get some sleep tips.
33% of us also enjoy an evening shower to wind down. And Aussies with young children are more likely to use an aromatherapy diffuser before bed — really putting the emphasis on relaxation when it comes to R&R.
How Do We Wake Up?
Ok, let’s run through dreams first. Less than a third of us do so — but youngin’s under 25 are more likely to do so (along with regional Victoria, it turns out — almost half of you guys do). And of those who do remember them, 75% can recall them 2-5 times a week.
One statistic that we’re side-eyeing, however, is the fact that 67% of Aussies wake up naturally. Only 36% of you claim to use an alarm to wake up…
Those who live in Sydney are more likely to use a ‘wake up light’ to wake up in the morning — fancypants.