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Sleep Awareness Week 2025 is here — how to ‘flourish’ this year through better sleep
Sleep Awareness Week 2025 starts today with World Sleep Day taking place on Friday 14th March. To celebrate, we’re speaking to globally renowned sleep doctors, neuroscientists, chartered psychologists and more to bring you the latest science, tips, methods and products to help you sleep better.
The National Sleep Foundation (founders of Sleep Awareness Week) is once again marking the occasion with its annual Sleep in America Poll. This year the report focuses on how sleep can help us flourish in all aspects of life.
The poll reveals that 6 out of 10 adults are not getting enough sleep, which is having a knock-on impact on their life. It also shows a direct correlation between sleep duration and sleep satisfaction with productivity, happiness, goal achievement and a fulfilling social life.
In short, it’s never been more important to focus on how you can be what the National Sleep Foundation calls your ‘best slept self.’
We'll be updating this article with all of our essential sleep content throughout the week, so bookmark the page and check back to learn more about the latest sleep tips and techniques.
Sleep Awareness Week: Sleep health
Sleep Awareness Week: Mattress and bedding
Good sleep makes you happy: Sleep in America Poll findings 2025
- Nearly 4 in 10 adults have trouble falling asleep 3 or more nights per week
- People who get NSF-recommended amount of sleep are more likely to be flourishing
- Three out of every four adults say that good quality sleep has a positive impact on their flourishing
The National Sleep Foundation’s focus on flourishing refers to achieving success in all aspects of life.
“Importantly, just as sleep health is more than the mere absence of a sleep disorder, so too is flourishing more than the simple absence of negative states, such as depression and anxiety, and instead represents positive functioning and achievement,” the report states.
And sleep can be the key in achieving this.
When digging deeper into the correlation between sleep quality and wellbeing, the report found that those who struggled to fall asleep or stay asleep for more than 1 night a week were less likely to be flourishing.
Only 5% of people with good sleep health did not report being happy, compared to 21% of individuals with poor sleep health
72% of people who never struggled to fall asleep described themselves as flourishing, whereas only 49% of people who struggled to fall asleep three or more nights a week were flourishing.
A similar correlation was found when looking at happiness.
“Only 5% of people with good sleep health did not report being happy, compared to 21% of individuals with poor sleep health,” the report states.
On top of this, when looking at specific areas of people’s lives, an overwhelming 90% said getting enough sleep impacted their work productivity.
A similar trend was noted for a fulfilling social life, goal achievement and home productivity, proving how integral good sleep is to every aspect of our lives.
For this reason, the NSF are calling for wider awareness of sleep in improving wellbeing and mental health.
How we’re marking Sleep Awareness Week 2025
Every year, our team comes together to celebrate this important week and this year, one of our focuses will be on how different people experience sleep.
From exploring the gender sleep gap to the neurodiverse experience of sleep, everyone has a different relationship with the rest they get, and we’ll exploring this further through conversations with doctors, sleep specialists and hearing from real people and their struggles.
With the ever increasing use of wearable sleep trackers, from rings to watches, people are becoming more aware of the different stages of sleep and how much REM sleep, deep sleep and light sleep they get.
For this reason, we’ll also take a closer look at sleep architecture and what actually happens while we sleep, breaking down the sleep cycle and looking into the roles the different sleep stages play in our physical and mental health.
And, as ever, we’ll be trying out new sleep methods, hacks and tricks to fall asleep fast and stay asleep throughout the night, reporting on how effective these are with help from the experts so you can find new and innovative ways to improve your sleep.
How to sleep better in 2025
So, with the National Sleep Foundation uncovering such a strong relationship between sleep and wellbeing, it’s time to prioritize your sleep health.
The first place to start? Sleep hygiene. This refers to the habits you keep during the day and evening that can impact the quality of sleep you get. This can include your diet, activity levels, screen time and more.
So, assess your lifestyle and see if you’re doing anything that might jeopardize your sleep. For example, eating three balanced meals throughout the day is a great way to regulate your energy levels, but sugary snacks in the evening might be throwing your glucose levels off, making it difficult to fall asleep.
Another key area the NSF highlighted is work life balance. Keep work out of your bedroom and ensure you have adequate time to wind down in the evening. A regular nighttime routine as well as a consistent sleep schedule will help keep your circadian rhythm (or internal body clock) working as it should.
For more expert advice, check out the following resources:
- Best mattress of 2025
- How to fall asleep fast
- Best mattress toppers of 2025
- How to stay asleep all night if you keep waking up
- Best pillows of 2025
- How to choose a mattress
- Insomnia: what is it, what's the cause, and how to tackle it
Tom's Guide created this content as part of a paid partnership with Helix Sleep. The contents of this article are independent and solely reflect the editorial opinion of Tom's Guide.
