How we now sleep for just six hours and 41 minutes
a night (and even LESS if you live in Coventry)
- - Recommended night's sleep for an adult is 8 hours
- - Most adults in UK sleep for just 6 hours 27 minutes a night
- - And 27% get less sleep now than they did a year ago
- - Half of adults don't even have time for a lie-in on the weekend
- - Some 40% of adults trick themselves into 'extra sleep' using snooze button
- - Nation's worst sleepers are in Coventry, and the best in Aberystwyth
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We now only sleep for six hours and 41 minutes each night and half of us have no chance of a weekend lie-in, a new study reveals.
A busy 48 per cent of us can't afford to waste precious time cramming in a well-deserved snooze when we're not working at the weekend. And it seems even during the week we are struggling to get enough shut eye.
Worryingly, two-thirds (65 per cent) of us are only sleeping for six hours and 27 minutes, the study of 2,000 UK adults found. The figure is one hour and 33 minutes short of the recommended daily amount of sleep - eight hours.
The new research, carried out by Travelodge, highlights that more than a quarter (27 per cent) are getting less sleep than they did a year ago.
Most people in the UK sleep for just six hours and 27 minutes, and a quarter of us are getting steadily worse at shutting our eyes: 27 per cent of adults sleep less than they did a year ago
Instead of a weekend lie-in, British people are opting for 11 minutes of extra 'snooze button' time, which sleep experts believe could be detrimental to health.
Four out of ten adults polled by Travelodge admit they set their wake-up call earlier than required, then hit the snooze button on their mobile phones twice for an additional 11 minutes' rest, in order to trick their bodies into thinking they are having more shut-eye.
One of the key reasons we are becoming a nation of snooze button addicts is due to the fact that 68 per cent of Britons now use their mobile phone to wake them up every morning.
Stevie Williams at the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said: 'Setting your alarm clock much earlier than you intend to get up and continually pressing snooze actually makes you feel more groggy than refreshed after a night's sleep.
'Snoozing in this way can lead you to miss out on the vital REM sleep that occurs just before you wake up.
'It is more beneficial to your health to use the weekend to catch up on any sleep debt you have accumulated during the week.'
Are you a weekend lie-inner or a weekend snooze buttoner? The latter could be detrimental to your health
Other key findings revealed that Coventrians, Brightonians and Belfastians are the worst sleep deprived individuals across the country - each of them are clocking even less sleep than the national average sleep figure of six hours and 27 minutes.
WHAT'S KEEPING US AWAKE?
1. Money worries (32%)
2. Family issues (25%)
3. Work stress (18%)
4. Job security worries (17%)
5. Unfinished household chores (16%)
Conversely, people in Aberystwyth, Plymouth and Aberdeen are the country's best sleepers, each notching up more than six and a half hours.
The sleep study also delved into the key reasons to why Britons are not getting their recommended sleep quota of eight hours per night.
A third of adults are kept awake at night due to money worries, a quarter toss and turn over family issues, and just under one-fifth fret about work stresses.
Shakila Ahmed, spokesman for Travelodge, said: 'Although we are coming out of the recession, Britons are still worried about money and work issues, which is fuelling this sleep disorder.
'Not only is over a quarter of the nation getting less sleep now, than they did a year ago but nearly half of the adult population is too busy for a weekend lie-in so that they can catch up on lost sleep.
'This is a vicious circle and extremely detrimental to a person’s heath and well-being. Britons have to stop treating sleep as a luxury and make it more of a necessity within their lifestyle and strive for eight hours of sleep on a regular basis.'
Some 32 per cent of people are kept up at night with money worries
Further research found that in an attempt to obtain extra slumber Britons are forgoing a number of essential morning rituals so that they can have more time beneath the duvet.
One-fifth of adults skip breakfast, while quarter of Britons leave the house without washing and styling their hair so they can grab some additional kip.
And 18 per cent of British beds are left unmade every morning due to their owners being too tired to make them.
THE NATION'S BEST SLEEPERS
Aberystwyth Seven hours and 30 minutes
Plymouth Six hours and 42 minutes
Aberdeen Six hours and 41 minutes
Cambridge Six hours and 40 minutes
Bristol Six hours and 39 minutes
Leeds Six hours and 38 minutes
Oxford Six hours and 36 minutes
Edinburgh Six hours and 35 minutes
Southampton Six hours and 33 minutes
Swansea Six hours and 31 minutes
THE NATION'S WORST SLEEPERS
Coventry Six hours and five minutes
Brighton Six hours and 15 minutes
Belfast Six hours and 17 minutes
Manchester Six hours and 18 minutes
Liverpool Six hours and 21 minutes
York Six hours and 22 minutes
Glasgow Six hours and 23 minutes
Wolverhampton Six hours and 24 minutes
Leicester Six hours and 25 minutes
Cardiff Six hours and 26 minutes
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