Only 5% of Australians sleep soundly every night, and for women aged 45 to 64 it drops to 2%.
Only 5% of Australians sleep soundly every night. I know, because I asked. I commissioned my own sleep survey of 1,003 Australians to find out how we sleep and what keeps us awake, and these are the 3 things I learned.
Here are the 3 things I learned from my sleep survey
1. Almost nobody sleeps soundly, and women my age sleep the worst
65% of us struggle with sleep deprivation or disturbed sleep. One in three of us find it hard to get to sleep most nights, and 13% of us use sleeping pills.
I pulled the women aged 45 to 64 out of the raw data, because this is my age bracket. Only 2% of us sleep soundly every night. 28% of us often wake and can't get back to sleep, 39% of us struggle to fall asleep most nights or every night, and 18% of us use sleeping pills.
2. It's our minds keeping us awake
60% of us say our mind won't switch off, and for women it's 66%. Stress at home (44%) and stress from work (41%) come next. Noisy neighbours keep just 23% of us awake.
And we feel it the next day. 58% of us get grumpy, 46% of us are less productive and one in five of us have felt too unsafe to drive.
3. The basics beat the apps
69% of us say a comfortable bed helps us sleep, 68% a good pillow and 48% a room at the right temperature. Only 4% of us use sleep apps when we can't sleep, 14% of us have a herbal tea and 11% use natural remedies. 61% of us use nothing at all.
Sleep tips from my podcast guests and our naturopath
Wake up at the same time every day. This is the first tip from sleep coach Shea Morrison, co-founder of The Goodnight Co. It sets a rhythm for the body clock.
Take small breaks during the day. Shea says they bring the heart rate down, so we don't carry the whole day into bed.
Stop trying so hard. Sleep psychologist Dr Amelia Scott told Lee and me, "Sleep is one of the very few biological processes where the harder you try, the less likely you are to succeed." She says to go to bed when we feel sleepy, not just tired.
Don't check the sleep tracker first thing. Amelia's tip is to hold off judging how we slept until we've had some sunlight, some water and something to eat.
No chocolate after 4pm. My co-host, nutritionist Lee Holmes, says to skip chocolate after 4pm if we're caffeine sensitive. She doesn't eat 100% cacao at night because it makes her a bit jumpy.
Try yoga nidra. Yoga teacher Kate Kendall does it every night, lying down for 20 to 40 minutes while a voice guides her through the body.
Set up the bedroom and wind down. Melanie Ruckley, our naturopath at Clean Nectarine, says "making sure your bedroom is a quiet, dark and cool environment and a comfortable bed and a good pillow will also help induce sleep." Mel swaps alcohol, nicotine and caffeine at night for a herbal tea, and one of her picks is the Badger Sleep Balm with organic lavender, bergamot and rosemary oils. My own wind down is a warm bath with Elektra Magnesium Chloride Flakes, then the phone goes away and I journal to get my thoughts out of my head.
There's more in my sleep supplements and natural sleep aids.
About the survey. I commissioned this online survey of 1,003 Australians aged 18 and over. It was run by Pureprofile, with nationally representative quotas for age, sex and state.
About the Author
Irene Falcone is the founder of Clean Nectarine and co-host of The Lee & Irene Show. She started her first clean beauty business in 2011 with $100 in her garage and grew it to $20m in four years. She has spent over 15 years reading the backs of beauty and wellness labels, is a Telstra Business Women's Awards winner and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and has been featured on A Current Affair, The Project, Sunrise, Channel Nine Mornings and Sky News.
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