The Galaxy Watch findings: UK’s top Sleep Animal is the Nervous Penguin, 25% of Brits dread bedtime

The lion may be the official animal symbol of Britain, but that’s when the Brits are awake. When they’re asleep, they’re the Nervous Penguin.

Alright, maybe it’s time to elaborate on this one and not lose any UK readers right from the start.

What we’re dealing with here is possibly the biggest single sleep health study ever undertaken – “Have we been sleeping well?” by Samsung. The report is analyzing 716 million nights of sleep behaviors from Samsung Health users worldwide that track their sleep for two years between 2021 and 2023.

We've already talked about how, according to the data, sleep is getting worse everywhere and for everyone in the world. Samsung has discovered that the average sleep duration has declined across the globe from 7 hours and 3 minutes to 6 hours and 59 minutes, which is just below the 7-hour threshold recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.

22% of Brits doze off at work

Now, the report is shedding extra light on the UK and its subjects’ sleeping patterns. Over a fifth of them (some 22% of adults) say it’s not uncommon that they accidentally snooze while at work. That’s one in five! There are more statistics than that, showing that Brits doze off in the cinema (29%), on the toilet (10%), and even at the club (12%) – the nation likes to sleep, no question about it! But maybe it’s not so much that they like doing it – they need it, because of poor nighttime sleep.

If we define sleep efficiency as the amount of time spent in bed relative to the amount of actual sleep, it turns out that in Europe, the UK is the country with the lowest sleep efficiency.

What’s with the Penguin and why is it Nervous?

So, the study categorizes various types of sleepers into eight ‘Sleep Animals’ based on sleep patterns (for the data to be gathered, it requires sleep insight from at least 7 days, including 2 days off). The Sleep Animals each represent unique characteristics based on measuring the Galaxy Watch users’ sleep duration, consistency, and awake time – all of which influence sleep quality.

For example, the light-sleeping Nervous Penguin is the most common sleep persona in the UK. The Nervous Penguin represents those who maintain healthy sleep rhythms yet frequently experience interruptions during sleep, in turn affecting sleep efficiency. Those are the light sleepers who can be easily rattled while sleeping and may have trouble going back to sleep.

What is causing that?

There’s a variety of reasons why the Brits are the sleep efficiency anti-champions of Europe.

45% of the Brits that participated in the study say they stay up too late, with the average bedtime for UK adults being 11:54 PM. Next, some 32% of them say working too hard is stopping them from getting much-needed rest, followed by 25% of adults who say overindulging in food is to blame.

25%, or one in four, of adults now dread bedtime as they know they will struggle to get to sleep. From avoiding caffeine (43%) to taking sleep medication (17%), Brits have tried it all to get a good night’s sleep.

What are the doctors saying?

Samsung has partnered with Dr Julie Smith to reveal how the Samsung Sleep Animal personas on the Galaxy Watch 6 can be the key to unlocking a better night’s sleep:



Here’s a short list with top tips from Dr Julie Smith, including how to use the Galaxy Watch 6 to reach sleep success:

• The best way to change unhealthy habits around sleep is to get clear on the things you are doing that contribute to that later bedtime, from the bigger things down to the smaller details. When I set myself the challenge of improving my own habits around sleep, I tracked my sleep using the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. It’s able to categorize sleepers based on unique characteristics that affect your sleep quality, using your results to liken your sleep to a particular animal, which is a fun way to remind you of what areas you need to work on.
• Once you have an idea of the habits that cause you to stay up late, target those one at a time. Start with something that feels easy to change and make that sustainable over time. This will build some momentum, so you will be less likely to give up and you’ll start to feel the benefits of improved sleep much sooner. Once that new habit is established, then move on to work on the others.
• Keep tracking your new habits and your sleep for longer than you think is necessary. It is extremely easy to slip back into those old ways when your goals are not at the forefront of your mind. It also helps to keep you motivated and on track each time to see that your new habits are leading to better sleep.