Health Digest Survey: What Time Do People Typically Wake Up Every Day?
Our jobs, family obligations, certain medications, as well as one's personal sleep schedule can all play a role in what time we wake up in the morning — or afternoon. As per Medical News Today, our circadian rhythm tends to naturally align with the rise and fall of the sun. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults between the ages of 18 and 64 are encouraged to get between seven and nine hours of shut-eye each night. However, this doesn't necessarily mean we're all heading to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
So what time do most people tend to rise and shine? To get a better idea, we asked 612 readers of Health Digest to share their typical wake-up time out of five possible answer choices. Responses varied between the wee hours of the morning to the latter hours of the day. Here's when most people climb out of bed each day, and the answer may surprise you. With 78 answer selections, the least amount of people wake up around 8 a.m. This response made up 12.75% of the total answers submitted. With 22 more votes, 100 people said they wake up at 9 a.m. or later in the day. These late risers accounted for 16.34% of the total respondents. In third place were the early birds. Responsible for nearly 18% of all answers, 110 people said they get up at 5 a.m. or earlier in the morning.
The majority of people wake up between two times
Ultimately, the greatest number of people reported waking up at either 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. each day. Between the two, however, those who rise at 6 a.m. won out with 172 votes, compared to 152 votes for a 7 a.m. wake-up time.
As previously mentioned, the best time of day to rise and shine will vary from person to person. But if you're looking to find out what wake-up time may be optimal for you, Oxford University sleep expert, Dr. Paul Kelley, tells Daily Mail that the best time to wake up can change based on one's age. For example, Dr. Kelley shares that for those in their 20s, wakefulness kicks in around 9:30 a.m. Yet for those in their 70s, 6 a.m. is the best suggested time to wake, as one's natural biological processes progressively shift. Above all else, however, it seems that consistency is the most important factor to keep in mind when it comes to our sleep-wake cycle. "I think the most important thing in terms of what I should do for my sleep is go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time, each day," Dr. Richard Schwab, professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, tells CNBC News.