insideKENT Magazine Issue 27 - June 2014 | Page 90

HEALTH+WELLNESS

Sleep Deprived
South East

Are you getting your beauty sleep?
BE IT WORK-RELATED STRESS, UNREMITTING
SNORING OR YOUNG CHILDREN KEEPING
YOU UP AT NIGHT, IT CAN SOMETIMES SEEM
THE RECOMMENDED EIGHT HOURS IS NOT
ONLY FAR FROM HAPPENING, BUT ALSO FAR
FROM REALISTIC.
In fact, a recent sleep study from new Febreze
Sleep Serenity shows that on three different nights
each week, people in the South East lose an
average of one hour and 43 minutes of shuteye
while struggling to nod off – that is five hours and
59 minutes each week or almost 13 days each
year. Almost nine in ten people in the South
East (88%) have nights of disturbed sleep, with
more than a third saying they rarely have a full
night’s sleep.
The effect of this lost sleep is visibly noticeable,
with over half (58%) of people in the South East
stating that people say they look tired or like
they’re struggling the morning after a bad
night’s sleep.
The research revealed stress, bad dreams and
partner’s snoring were among the top 10 reasons
for a disturbed night's sleep. Sunday was identified
as the night when people in the South East are
most likely to find themselves tossing and turning,
worried about the working week ahead.
As per the report, the top ten reasons for
disturbed sleep in the South East are:
1. Needing to go to the toilet
2. Stress/anxiety
3. Being too hot
4. Partner snoring
5. Bad dreams
6. Money worries
7. Health problems
8. Work issues
9. Being too cold
10. Noisy neighbours

Febreze
Fabric
Refresh

Leading
sleep expert, Dr
Guy Meadows,
comments: “For
people in the
South East, the
continuous
struggle with sleep
peaks on a
Sunday night.
Largely it’s due to
us going to bed
Dr Guy Meadows
late on a Saturday
night, and sleeping in too long the next day What
.
people may not realise is that this resets your
body clock, the part of your brain that tells you
when to sleep, telling it to go to bed later the
next night. You also need 16-17 hours of
wakefulness in order to get to sleep, which doesn’t
happen if you get up late.
“So, however hard it may feel, it’s important to
wake up and face the day as early as you can
after a late Saturday night to help you fall asleep
quickly and stay asleep, ready to start the week
full of energy.”
Lack of sleep isn’t just affecting mood, it’s also
affecting productivity, with over three quarters
(84%) of people in the region struggling to
concentrate at work after a night of tossing and
turning. A sixth (15%) of people in the South
East have been pulled up on their tirednessinduced poor work by their boss, while a fifth
(20%) admit to making mistakes at work. One in
ten (10%) have snapped at a colleague and 5%
have fallen asleep at their desk. Others may not
even make it to the office, with one in 10 nodding

off on the commute. It’s also a bad week for
tardiness, as 5% of people in the South East
admit to having been late for work on the Monday
following the clock-change.
Other negative effects from lack of shuteye were
listed by people in the region as snapping at their
partners (48%), oversleeping (29%), crying (20%),
and even leaving the house with clothes on inside
out (3%)!
The South East’s current bedtime routines involve
watching TV (40%), checking social media (27%)
and reading work emails (11%). However, with
the region losing two years of their life struggling
to sleep, the research suggests these nightly
rituals are not promoting a peaceful night’s sleep,
particularly for the 13% who admit to gaming
just before bed.
This research is released in line with the launch
of new Febreze Sleep Serenity, the first range of
fragranced products designed by Febreze to
create a relaxing bedtime environment.
Dr Guy explains: “Loss of sleep is having clear
negative affects to many people in the region.
Creating a relaxing bedroom environment is a
great way to help people prepare for a night of
undisturbed sleep. This can include removing
distractions, ensuring a room is dark, quiet,
comfortable, and at a cool temperature. Certain
fragrances can have a powerful impact on our
senses and a calming effect on the body, which
is why scent can have a role in creating a relaxing
bedtime environment."

Febreze worked with Dr Guy Meadows to identify different sleep typologies
that the UK population fall into. These can be found by visiting
www.supersavvyme.co.uk, and filling out a short quiz. Once you’ve identify
which of three core sleep types you fit into, you will be able to access tips
from Dr Guy Meadows for how you can adjust your night time routine to
#sleephappy.

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