✨ Wellbeing — Global Study

Sleep and Wellbeing Trends 2026 : How Modern Life Is Reshaping Rest

Q: 1. How much sleep are people getting on weekdays?

48.4% report sleeping for less than six hours on a typical weekday or workday.

Q: 2. What most commonly prevents people from getting enough sleep?

Work responsibilities are the leading barrier at 47.2%, followed by study, phones or social media, and stress or worry.

Q: 4. Are screens making people sleep later?

Yes. 69.3% say screen use very often or often causes them to go to sleep later than intended.

Q: 6. Are people trying to recover lost sleep?

Yes. 65.3% often or almost always sleep longer on weekends or days off to make up for insufficient sleep during the week.

Sleep is one of the most basic requirements for wellbeing, yet modern life is making it increasingly difficult to protect.

Work stretches into the evening, screens follow people into bed, responsibilities compete with rest, and many consumers are trying to recover lost sleep through weekend lie-ins, naps and caffeine.

Our latest research shows that the challenge is not simply getting enough hours. It is also about bedtime habits, interruptions, sleep quality and the pressures that make rest easier to postpone than protect.

💬 Total Respondents: 216,377

🌍 Countries: 25

🗓️ 2026

⏱ 6 Min Read

StandOut Stats

0 %

Use screens before bed every or most nights

Say screens delay sleep very often or often

0 %

Get the sleep they need every or most nights

0 %

Go to bed later than intended frequently or almost every night

0 %

Say work or study extends into sleep time very often or often

SLEEP AT A GLANCE

01 // Short Sleep

48.4%

Weekdays Run Short

Nearly half sleep less than six hours

02 // Bedtime Drift

60.5%

Sleep Gets Delayed

Many regularly go to bed later than planned

03 // Screen Habit

83.6%

Devices Follow Us to Bed

Screens are part of most bedtime routines

04 // Digital Delay

69.3%

Screens Push Sleep Later

Many say devices delay bedtime

05 // Daytime Fatigue

44.4%

Tiredness Continues

Almost half feel sleepy every or most days

06 // Weekend Recovery

65.3%

Rest Gets Deferred

Many compensate by sleeping longer on days off

07 // Your Turn

YOU

WHAT WOULD HELP YOU SLEEP BETTER?

Tell us which habits, routines or changes could make better sleep easier to maintain in everyday life.

HOW IS MODERN LIFE SHAPING YOUR SLEEP?
Share how work, screens, stress and daily routines affect the way you rest with The Panel Station.

THE BIG PICTURE

The survey reveals a clear tension between wanting more rest and the realities of everyday life.

On weekdays or workdays, 48.4% of respondents sleep for less than six hours, even though the most common answer for the amount personally needed to feel fully rested is seven to eight hours, at 32.9%.

At the same time, many people believe they are coping reasonably well. 64.2% say they definitely or probably get enough sleep for their current life, while 64.1% say they wake completely or mostly rested.

Yet the behaviours surrounding sleep tell a more complicated story. 60.5% frequently or almost every night go to bed later than intended, and 83.6% use screens during the hour before sleep every or most nights.

The problem may therefore be less about people not valuing sleep and more about how many other parts of modern life compete with it.

Sleep Is Competing With the Rest of Life

When people are asked what prevents them from getting enough sleep, work leads the list.

47.2% cite work or job responsibilities, while 30.7% mention study or education, 27.5% point to phones or social media, and 23.6% identify stress or worry.

When respondents select the single biggest influence on sleep, work remains the leading factor at 32.8%.

This is important because sleep advice often focuses almost entirely on individual discipline. People are told to go to bed earlier, reduce screen time and develop better routines. Those choices matter, but they do not exist in isolation.

If work continues late, study extends into the evening or household responsibilities take priority, bedtime becomes negotiable. For employers and wellbeing leaders, this suggests that sleep should also be viewed through the lens of workload, schedules and the ability to disconnect.

The Problem Often Starts Before People Reach Bed

The survey does not suggest that everyone struggles to fall asleep. More than half of respondents usually fall asleep within 20 minutes, and another 22.2% take between 21 and 30 minutes.

The more revealing behaviour happens earlier. 60.5% say they frequently or almost every night go to bed later than they originally intended.

This distinction matters. People may know when they want to sleep but still delay it because work needs finishing, conversations continue, entertainment stretches on or scrolling lasts longer than planned.

In other words, sleep is not always being lost because people cannot sleep. It is often being lost because the waking day keeps expanding.

Screens Have Become Part of the Bedtime Routine

Digital habits are deeply embedded in the final hour before sleep.

Among people who use screens before bed, 67.8% use social media, 42.9% message or chat, and 41.5% watch short videos. More significantly, 69.3% say screens very often or often cause them to sleep later than intended.

The issue is not that every digital activity is inherently harmful. Phones can provide entertainment, connection, reading and relaxation. The difficulty is that digital experiences rarely offer a natural stopping point.

For technology companies, this creates an important wellbeing question. If products are designed to keep attention, how can they also help people recognise when engagement is beginning to compete with rest?

WHEN DOES REST BECOME A PRIORITY FOR YOU?

Tell us what helps you protect your sleep and what most often gets in the way.

Tiredness Does Not End When the Day Begins

Insufficient sleep follows people into their waking hours. 57.8% say they feel tired after not getting enough sleep, while 39.6% experience difficulty concentrating and 32.4% report lower productivity.

The ways people compensate are equally revealing. 46.9% nap every day or several times a week, while 50.7% use caffeine specifically because they feel tired every or most days.

These behaviours show why sleep cannot be viewed only as a nighttime issue. It influences concentration, energy, mood, productivity and the routines people build to get through the day.

For organisations, this makes sleep relevant not only to wellbeing programmes but also to questions around performance, safety and sustainable ways of working.

Weekends Are Becoming Recovery Time

For many respondents, lost sleep is not abandoned entirely. It is postponed. 65.3% say they often or almost always sleep longer on weekends or days off to compensate for insufficient sleep during the week.

When respondents were asked how they would use one extra free hour, 28.7% chose sleep, second only to relaxation. That finding is significant because it suggests that people may not need to be persuaded that rest has value. Instead, they may need more room in their schedules to protect it consistently.

When sleep becomes something that has to be recovered later, the issue is no longer simply bedtime behaviour. It becomes a question of how everyday life is structured.

How Much of the Day Is Spent Recovering From Poor Sleep?

The effects of insufficient sleep often continue well beyond the morning. 44.4% experience daytime sleepiness every or most days, while 57.8% say insufficient sleep leaves them feeling tired, 39.6% struggle to concentrate and 32.4% report lower productivity.

Many people are also finding ways to compensate. 46.9% nap every day or several times a week, while 50.7% use caffeine specifically because of tiredness every or most days.

These behaviours suggest that insufficient sleep does not simply reduce rest at night. It can reshape daytime routines as people use naps, caffeine and other coping strategies to maintain energy and concentration.

Are Enough Hours Always Enough?

Getting enough hours does not always mean getting good-quality rest. While 64.1% say they wake completely or mostly rested, 27.6% say they get enough hours of sleep but still experience poor sleep quality, while another 20.8% say they sleep well but usually do not sleep for long enough.

Interrupted sleep adds another dimension. 56.3% wake unintentionally at least one or two nights a week, and among those who wake during the night, 28.6% find it difficult or are usually unable to fall asleep again.

These findings show why sleep wellbeing cannot be measured by duration alone. How consistently people sleep, whether their rest is interrupted and how they feel when they wake can be just as important as the number of hours spent in bed.

Better Sleep Is Possible, but It Has to Fit Real Life

People are already trying to improve their sleep. 41.1% maintain a regular bedtime, 39.9% reduce screen use before bed and 36.5% keep a regular waking time.

Among those taking action, 73.8% say their efforts are very or somewhat effective. There are also signs of progress, with 56.5% saying their sleep is much or somewhat better than it was a year ago.

This suggests that practical changes can make a difference, particularly when they fit naturally into people’s existing lives. The wider implication is that better sleep may depend less on creating the perfect routine and more on identifying the pressures that repeatedly push rest aside.

For consumers, that may mean protecting bedtime more deliberately. For employers, technology companies and wellbeing leaders, it may mean asking whether the environments they create make healthy sleep easier or harder to achieve.

Sleep is personal, but the forces shaping it increasingly are not.

HELP SHAPE THE CONVERSATION AROUND BETTER SLEEP

Share your experiences with rest, recovery and everyday pressures with The Panel Station.