OK – we lied, the average American has 99 ‘terrible’ nights of sleep each year, and about 70 million adults in the U.S. suffer from a sleep disorder. So, just how valuable is a good night’s sleep? Survey says the average American would pay $290 for a perfect night’s sleep.
$290/night over a year, totals $105,000 for 365 straight nights of peaceful sleep. That might be worth it to the 35% of American adults who log less than seven hours of sleep on any given night. A recent OnePoll survey of 3,000 adults found the average American gets just 6 hours 17 minutes of sleep a night.
Researchers found a profound difference in sleep quality between different sleeping positions. The most popular position was side-sleeping (37%), yet most people agreed the best quality of sleep occurred when they slept on their backs.
Having a pet in bed also contributed to higher quality sleep. Those who slept with their furry friends reported sleeping better than respondents who did not.
Study participants averaged 106 “perfect” nights of sleep per year and 99 “terrible” nights of sleep. On average, Americans attempted 107 naps a year, but they only counted a successful nap 93 times on average per year.
The study also found some interesting trends on how Americans fall asleep. 32% reported they needed the television on in order to fall asleep. And it seems just about everyone fiddles with their phone before shutting off the lights. The average respondent spent 15 minutes on their mobile device before drifting off to sleep.
As for other common behaviors – 42% said they read a book before going to sleep. Another 41% say a warm bath or shower is part of their nightly routine, while 40% tune in to a specific movie or TV show in bed. And, believe it or not, a quarter of respondents literally still count sheep.
Many people in the survey believed they found the secret to a good night’s sleep, which ranged from meditating for 10 minutes to eating a bowl of kiwi fruit before bed.
Some additional tips from survey participants:
1. A nice cool room. Blankets rolled up to elevate my legs and a fan blowing loudly to drown out any sound from in the house or from outside.
2. Count the number of breaths you take.
3. Lavender in a diffuser.
4. Listen to the radio or podcast.
5. Don’t have anything with sugar at least 4 hours before going to bed.