Each year in preparation for Sleep Awareness Week the National Sleep Foundation conducts a Sleep in America poll. This year Americans were asked how sleep contributes to next day effectiveness and how much of a priority sleep is for Americans.
While most Americans will agree that getting enough sleep makes them a more effective person, only 10% rated it as their top priority. The leaders were Fitness/Nutrition with 35%, Work at 27%, and Hobbies/Interests at 17%. The lowest rated priority in the poll was Social Life with just 9%.
Not only is sleep not a top priority for Americans, but planning for sleep is also an extremely low priority. 90 percent of Americans believe their day starts when they wake up and not with the sleep they get the night before. While most of the public is aware of how critical sleep is to effectiveness, this lack of planning shows a major disconnect between the two.
Sleep heath can help improve overall health, reduce stress, and have an overall improvement to life satisfaction. Yet, most Americans are not taking this into consideration when planning their schedules. The National Sleep Foundation’s theme, “Begin with Sleep” is asking us to change our perception of when the day begins. If we start our day by planning adequate, quality, sleep we are giving ourselves the best chance at a healthy and productive day.
Click here to read the complete Sleep in America Poll 2018.
