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National study finds one in two Brits get six hours sleep or less
See the results of the study

Should you be focusing on the quality of your sleep rather than the quantity?

Our CEO and Sleep Posture Expert James Leinhardt comments…

“As a nation we’re so focused on how many hours we manage to sleep each night, but this doesn’t reflect whether it’s been restful. It can be viewed as a ‘vanity metric’, a competition to see who can get the most hours per night.

“Instead, we should be concentrating on the quality of our sleep first and foremost. How we position ourselves through the night, combined with the correct sleep surface, is the key to achieving an optimised night’s rest, and this is more important than how many hours you get.”

The number of hours slept per night across the UK

Scroll to see how your night’s sleep compares with the rest of the nation…

Scroll to find out

  • 0-3
    hours

    Percentage of Brits:
    9.4% of UK population
    Top age group:
    16-24
    Top Region:
    Greater London

  • 3.5-6
    hours

    Percentage of Brits:
    39.1% of UK population
    Top age group:
    55+
    Top Region:
    South East

  • 6.5-7.5
    hours

    Percentage of Brits:
    32.38% of UK population
    Top age group:
    55+
    Top Region:
    South East

  • 8
    hours

    The supposed ‘magic’ eight hours

    Percentage of Brits:
    11.52% of UK population
    Top age group:
    55+
    Top Region:
    Greater London

  • 8.5-11
    hours

    Percentage of Brits:
    7.35% of UK population
    Top age group:
    16-24 and 55+
    Top Region:
    West Midlands and East of England

How can you optimise your sleep?

It’s simple – focus on quality rather than quantity.

There’s a continuous buzz in the media to say eight hours is the ‘magic’ number we should be aiming for per night, but how can you monitor if it’s been a restful night? 

Take celebrities for example, there’s a constant mention in the media about the number of hours that is deemed as the ‘ultimate’ to achieve a ‘glow’ just like them. This is amazing if they’re all aiming for better sleep health but how many times could their sleep be disturbed by aches and pains, toilet breaks or general worry? This hasn’t necessarily been factored in.

Think of it this way – you may head to bed at 10pm every night and wake up at 6am, but have you been fast asleep that whole time?

“The best way to tackle this is to focus on the factors you can control – your sleep posture and your sleep surface.

The optimum sleeping position: The Dreamer

The sleeping position you need to be placing yourself in to aid a relaxing night’s sleep is ‘The Dreamer’.

We surveyed the nation early in 2022 and the result found only 18% of Brits sleep in this position. We wanted to test this again for 2023, and in our latest study it revealed this figure has risen to 21% of Brits choosing to sleep in this optimised position. It’s great to see the numbers are slowly increasing, but there’s still some way to go.

By combining The Dreamer with a pillow that supports your neck, and a mattress that supports you and your spine, you can achieve a better night’s sleep without counting the hours.

How to position yourself in The Dreamer position

Positioning yourself on your side is the optimum position for a neutral spine, but not many are doing it properly! If you want to see what waking up with no pain is like, try:

  • Selecting the right pillow height for you: not too high and not too low, but just perfect for your body shape and size
  • Sticking your old pillow between your knees and ankles. This will help your hips remain neutral and help you achieve the optimum sleep posture
woman sleeping on her stomach before after
Choosing the right mattress to support your needs

It can be easy to fall into the trap of choosing a mattress that you deem as ‘comfy’ but there are so many more factors you need to consider. Here’s some top tips…

  • Avoid soft and unstable mattresses.
    • They don’t address motion isolation (specifically important if you sleep with a partner).
    • If you sink into your mattress then this surface will remember your sleeping position and if you have a bad posture, why would you want your mattress to remember this?
  • Choose a mattress that is stable, soft, and conforming.
  • Mattress will claim to ‘fix’ your aches and pains and buzzwords such as orthopaedic, therapeutic, and cooling technology are often a myth.
  • It needs to consider the three Ps – pressure, posture and proprioception.
Levitex mattress
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