Brits collectively drink 65 million cups of tea every morning, burn nine million pieces of toast and scroll through 130 million social media posts, according to a national survey*.
Researchers surveyed the nation, looking at all aspects of the modern British morning routine and found working Brits collectively send a staggering 97 million emails (three each), before even getting out of bed.
We also spend three million hours browsing social media from our beds, loos and breakfast tables and spend 16 million hours watching morning TV.
As a nation, we now spend over four million hours catching up on news online, before leaving the house for work.
After this, we are left with just three minutes to make the bed, five minutes to make breakfast and a mere ten minutes to get showered.
In fact, the growth of multiple morning screen time means one in five Brits no longer have time for breakfast before leaving the house.
The nationwide survey of 2,000 working Brits by Dunelm, to celebrate their partnership with ITV’s This Morning, found we begin each morning by waking up at 6am after an average of just six hours of sleep and pressing the snooze button five times.
The average morning routine also includes hunting for lost keys and mobile phones twice, as well as breaking up two arguments between children and swearing at least four times before 9am.
As many as 36 percent are perpetually sluggish and 27 percent feel stressed from the moment they open their eyes. Only one in ten of us bounce out of bed every morning feeling refreshed.
So, it is no surprise that three quarters of Brits (76 percent) claim that weekday mornings are the most stressful part of the week.
Angela Porter, Marketing Director at Dulmein, said:
We wanted to get to grips with the nation’s morning routine. Today’s busy lifestyles require so much to get done before we are even out of the door, so it can be a very stressful time. It’s important to get a great night’s sleep and wake up feeling refreshed, which is why we wanted to find out more to help our customers have a great start to the day.
The study also explored the morning mishaps of the nation and found that a third of Brits have accidentally left their mobile at home, 29 percent have left their lunch on the kitchen counter, and 27 percent have had such a rushed morning that they’ve left the house without even a sip of water having passed their lips.
We should be glad that, in fact, the average worker only leaves the house ten minutes late.
More than half (52 percent) of respondents claim that a poor night’s sleep gets their day off to a bad start, while 49 percent say running late is what ruins their mood.
Getting stuck in traffic (36 percent), oversleeping (34 percent), and getting toothpaste on your clothes (18 percent) also top the list of morning downers, along with missing your bus/train (18 percent) having a row with your other half (17 percent), and your kids messing around (16 percent).
More than a quarter (26 percent) of Brits eat their breakfast while walking around the house getting ready, 16 percent have completely forgotten to brush their teeth before, and 13 percent have burst into tears because the morning has been so stressful.
For one in five women (19 percent) and 7 percent of men, not being able to decide what to wear always puts them in a bad mood.
One in ten of us have had to dry damp clothes with a hair dryer so they could be worn that day, Nine percent have resorted to wearing yesterday’s underwear, and 4 percent have even sent their kids to school in a dirty uniform because they hadn’t done the washing.
British women spend 12 minutes applying make up every morning, but only half have time to do this at a dressing table. 14 percent powder their noses over breakfast, while nine percent resort to putting on the slap in their work loos. And a reckless six percent put it on while driving in to the office.
On the upside, Brits will have two intimate morning encounters a week with their partners and could it be a coincidence that they will eat the same number of full English breakfasts every week too?
Regionally, Belfast is the happiest place to wake up where, 15 percent of people feel refreshed first thing, nearly five times as many as dozy Cardiff where only thre percent of people wake feeling on top of the world.
On an average working morning, the average Brit will…
Drink two cups of tea
Hunt for mobile twice
Hunt for keys twice
Break up at least two fights between children
Answer three work emails in bed
Swear four times before 9am
Have cross words with partner twice
Implore the kids to hurry up four times
Tell kids to get out of bed three times
Fall back to sleep after the alarm has gone off four times
Post on social media four times
Press the snooze button five times
On an average working morning, the average Brit spends…
Watching TV – 30 mins
Exercising – 14 mins
Oversleeping – 14 mins
Walking the dog – 12 mins
Applying makeup – 12 mins for women
Playing video games – 11 mins
Showering – 10 mins
Housework – nine mins
Styling hair – eight mins
Catching up on news online – eight mins
Eating breakfast – seven mins
Checking work emails before you’ve even got out of bed – 6 mins
Posting on social media before you’ve even got out of bed – 6 mins
Hunting for something clean to wear – five mins
Washing hair – five mins
Shaving – five mins for men
Making breakfast – five mins
Making bed – five mins
*Stats in the first three paragraphs come from British working population: 32,250,000 (ONS)
Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!
Aphrodite has had a variety of high profile industry clients as a freelancer, and previously worked for a number of years as an Editor and Journalist for Prospects.ac.uk.
Aphrodite is also a professional painter.
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