Many in Singapore struggle to get a good night's sleep – and this is detrimental not just to the individual
One reason given by experts for the lack of sleep among many Singaporeans is that the society's culture has long equated staying up late with higher productivity and achievement. In more recent times, heavy screen use has worsened the problem.

The National Sleep Foundation in the United States recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep each night. (Illustration: CNA/Nurjannah Suhaimi)
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On a good night, estate planner Shirlyn Tan gets about six hours of sleep, like many others in Singapore.
Once back home after work and dinner outside, the 35-year-old starts getting her son ready for bed, bathing him, putting on his pyjamas and tucking him in bed. This routine begins around 9pm and can last until 10pm, when her 17-month-old finally falls asleep.
Ms Tan then washes up, completes household chores and packs his bag for when he is dropped off again at an infant care centre the next day.
She usually gets into bed a little past 11pm and falls asleep immediately on some nights if she is exhausted. On others, she unwinds with a book or watches a show on Netflix streaming site until shortly after midnight.
Her day begins anew at 6.30am when her son wakes up and she gets ready with her husband to take him to the infant-care centre by around 7am.
All fairly normal and probably relatable to many other Singaporean parents, but the fact is that six hours is too little sleep.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep each night to fully recharge.
Interviews with several other people found that those without children are not necessarily getting this requisite amount either.
Ms Samantha Lim, an account manager at a technology firm, gets about five to seven hours a night, yet she does not feel rested unless she sleeps nine hours.
The 30-year-old usually reaches home at about 7pm unless she has post-work plans. After a shower and dinner, it is usually past 9pm.
Even if Ms Lim is in bed by midnight, she will “doomscroll” social media for an hour or two and end up sleeping at 1am or 2am. She often gets up for work by 7am or 8am.
“Doomscrolling is so addictive. The one or two hours go by so quickly,” she said.
On weekends, she often tries to catch up on her sleep by waking up an hour or two later, but she also goes to bed at a later time.
“Scrolling through my phone before bed is the worst. Sometimes, I feel like I should get a traditional alarm clock to keep my phone out of the room,” Ms Lim added.
Ms Tan and Ms Lim’s struggles to get a good night’s rest mirror those of many in Singapore, with some surveys finding that the country is one of the most sleep-deprived countries in the world.
Assistant Professor June Lo from the Centre for Sleep and Cognition at the National University of Singapore (NUS) said that on average, adults in Asia sleep 6.5 hours on weekdays, while adults in other parts of the world sleep seven hours.
“Within Southeast Asia, the average weekday sleep duration of adults in Singapore is about 6.5 hours, while adults in Thailand sleep about 10 minutes more,” she added.
Additionally, a survey published last year by market research firm YouGov of residents across 17 international markets revealed that 54 per cent of Singaporeans sleep less than seven hours a night.
Singapore was found to be among the top sleep-deprived nations, alongside Indonesia, where 51 per cent of residents get less than seven hours of sleep daily.
The survey found that countries such as Denmark and Germany had the highest proportion of residents who slept seven or more hours a night, at 67 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.
Experts told CNA TODAY that Singaporeans are not getting enough shut-eye due to well-known reasons such as having a low priority for sleep, prolonged work and study hours, and heavy screen use.
“Some individuals also spend a significant amount of time caring for their family,” Asst Prof Lo said.
Lack of sleep is also often linked to a culture prioritising productivity over getting enough sleep.
Associate Professor Joshua Gooley from the Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School said: “Many people think that sleep can be sacrificed in the pursuit of achievement. Working late hours and getting short sleep is often viewed as a badge of honour.
“The problem with this way of thinking is that inadequate sleep impairs overall performance and well-being, which may lower work efficiency and the quality of work.”
And it is not just the individual who suffers. Insufficient sleep can also have economic repercussions for a country.
A 2016 study on sleep deprivation by Rand Corporation found that in addition to an increased mortality risk for people sleeping less than six hours a night, up to 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) was lost due to lack of sleep.
The study by the American non-profit think tank suggested that an increase in sleep could add billions of dollars to a country's economy. The survey covered five major economies: Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States
It also found that the US sustained estimated losses of up to US$411 billion yearly, which is 2.28 per cent of its GDP – the largest the study found due to the size of the American economy. Japan is estimated to lose up to US$138 billion a year.
As for Singapore, people experiencing anxiety and depression – conditions often linked to insufficient sleep – could be costing the nation nearly US$12 billion yearly, about 2.9 per cent of its GDP. This was based on a 2022 article from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Asst Prof Lo from NUS explained that the costs are largely driven by the consequences of sleep deprivation, including reduced productivity, higher rates of illness and increased absenteeism.
Additionally, higher risks for total mortality shrink the workforce, while poor school performance hampers skills development, ultimately diminishing the quality and competitiveness of the working population.

WHY SLEEP IS IMPORTANT
Sleep is more than just taking a break from the daily grind. It is crucial for a person’s overall health and well-being, significantly influencing their physical and mental functioning, experts said.
When one does not get enough sleep, there is an immediate drop in alertness and a decrease in learning capacity in the short term.
Professor Michael Chee, director of the Centre for Sleep and Cognition at NUS, said: “In the short term, you are less vigilant and your mood is worse. If you are a learner, you become a less efficient and effective learner.”
Sleep-deprived individuals are more likely to overlook details and make mistakes because their ability to form long-term memories is impaired.
Those who regularly lack sleep are at a higher risk of a range of health problems, including decreased immune function, cognitive decline, cardio-metabolic issues such as an increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, Prof Chee and other experts said.
Sleep specialist Eric Lim said that chronic sleep deprivation also impairs emotional regulation and increases stress vulnerability, making it harder to cope with life stressors that come our way.
Mr Lim who is co-founder of sleep disorder centre Somnus Sleep Wellness added: “Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with increased risk of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
"Several studies found that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with a higher risk of depression, especially in young women.”
Prof Chee said that getting good sleep is not just about how long you sleep, but also its quality – how rested you feel, regardless of the duration.
He added that sleeping and waking up at the same time every day improves sleep health, too.
Adequate sleep also differs from person to person. Many people think they need eight hours of sleep or they “will fail the next day”, but that is not exactly true, Mr Lim said.
The National Sleep Foundation in the United States recommends that adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep, but good quality uninterrupted sleep is important for feeling well-rested the next day, he added.
Other factors include continuity. This means you sleep right through the night, not when you spend seven hours in bed but only five hours asleep because you woke up and could not fall back asleep.
Prof Chee said: “You need to make time for sleep. If you make time for sleep, you will take care of both the duration and the regularity issues.”
CAFFEINE-DEPENDENT, RUNNING ON EMPTY
People who are constantly running on a sleep debt can feel its ill effects on their bodies and lives.
However, sometimes, the circumstances are beyond their control and reflect the challenges of living in a dense, urban city environment such as Singapore's.
For a time, Ms Shermane Wong, 30, found herself constantly being woken up in the wee hours of the night by the explosive roars and rumbles of her neighbour’s sports car business.
“I'll be in a deep sleep and wake up in shock,” the content developer said. “I can fall asleep in a second, but I'm also a light sleeper, so the smallest things wake me up. On top of that, it would be hard to fall back asleep.”
Those loud roars have since stopped, but because of the environmental acoustics of her estate, she is still disturbed or awakened by other loud noises from her neighbours such as the thumps and cheers of late-night basketball games.
She noticed that she became snappier and more impatient with her husband whenever she did not get enough sleep.
“I couldn't wait for him to get to the point when he was talking. I kept telling him, ‘faster, faster’,” Ms Wong recalled, noting that her grumpy mood became a “point of contention” for the couple.
Naturally, being sleep-deprived also affected her at work.
“We would have these long creative meetings once a week and I just could not contribute as much as I normally would,” she said.
“It looks like I'm slacking off, but I'm not. I'm just trying to make sure I stay awake for the entire meeting.”
She continued: “I feel like it's unfair for my work, colleagues or even my husband because they just don't have the best version of me (when I’m sleep-deprived).”

For 32-year-old Iqmall Hayat, who sleeps about four hours every night, he typically “doesn't ever feel rested”. The video producer said that he is usually in a daze, mustering whatever energy he needs to get through the day.
A typical night for him starts with falling asleep at 9pm and waking up “extremely prematurely” at around 1am.
He would spend the next seven hours or so, until 8am, either trying to get back to sleep or “revenging the hours” by doing things he could not find the time for during the day.
Mr Iqmall said that his unhealthy relationship with sleep started during his school years when academic stress kept him up at night. This has dogged him into adulthood.
He also has several health problems that exacerbate the problem, including sleep apnoea (where a person stops breathing for short time during sleep) and bile reflux, both of which frequently disrupt his sleep.
Mr Iqmall has tried taking all sorts of sleep supplements, ranging from melatonin pills to stress relievers and painkillers, with limited success.
"They are also difficult to maintain because they are quite pricey," he said. "I fear becoming too reliant on them would only sink me deeper into the proverbial hole."
Although he can often summon the energy needed for work in the earlier part of the day, he keenly feels the full effects of sleep deprivation “once the dreaded 3pm comes”.
“It hits me like a truck.”
He tries to fend off the fatigue with caffeine, but even so, his brain would feel "foggy" at times when he needs it to be most sharp, he said.
Mr Staffan Stewart, a 31-year-old nurse, said that he felt the effect of sleep deprivation most when he used to work the night shift, which would usually run from 8pm to 8am.
At his previous job, he would take turns to work a morning shift from 7am to 3pm, an afternoon shift from 1pm to 9pm and the night shift.
Mr Staffan followed this shift schedule for five years before leaving in 2019. He now has a more manageable routine of working two consecutive days from 9am to 9pm, followed by two days off.
He remembers how he was often too exhausted to mix and mingle during gatherings such as weddings or parties due to sheer fatigue.
“As much as you want to enjoy, you want to go back home and sleep."
“(During) family functions … you are too tired to find out how they are doing and it sometimes can spoil the relationship,” Mr Staffan said, recalling times when friends or extended relatives tried to engage with him.
For Ms Zawani Abdul Ghani, 39, not having enough sleep affects “everything” in her life, from her mood, concentration, ability to stay awake and her health.
A typical night’s sleep for the freelancer in the media industry now consists of waking up at least once, even if only for a brief moment.
She said that it used to be worse. There was a time when she would wake up four times a night, tossing and turning and unable to fall back into a deep sleep. Now, she aims for at least seven hours of sleep, which she manages most nights.
But whenever she falls short of this, Ms Zawani said that it affects her energy levels, prompting her to reach for junk food, which inevitably leads to a sugar crash and further drains her energy.
“It’s a vicious circle,” she said.

Similarly, Ms Tan the estate planner also felt the severe effects of sleep deprivation when her son was born in 2023 and she began clocking in less than two hours of sleep a night.
She called that period of her life “really tough” as she juggled caring for her son and working her nine-to-six corporate job, which required her to be in the office by 8am daily.
Aside from the "brain fog" and needing an extra cup of coffee to get through the day, she felt like her health took a hit as well, she said.
“When I'm more tired, it also means that I don't have that extra energy to exercise and I just feel sluggish.”
She remembers that her doctor said her cholesterol levels had increased during a health screening last year.
“The first thing that the doctor asked me was about my diet and sleep.”
Ms Tan said that she felt “helpless” when her doctor told her to adjust her sleep, but she could not control when her son would wake. Thus, getting the required eight hours of sleep felt “quite impossible” for her.
She added that she fell sick more frequently when she slept less. “Each episode was pretty serious and I took longer to recover.”
Senior consultant Shaun Loh, who is an ear, nose and throat surgeon at The ENT, Voice & Snoring Clinic (Napier), said that deep sleep is when repair, restoration and rejuvenation occur, thus making it critical for the body's immune function.
He added that deep sleep is when the body releases proteins such as cytokines, which are vital for the immune system and boost antibody production.
"Studies have shown that people who chronically sleep less than four hours a night are two to three times more likely to suffer from the common cold and produce fewer antibodies after vaccination due to a less responsive immune system."
STRESS, DEVICES, URBAN ENVIRONMENT
In developed countries such as Singapore, the reasons for insufficient sleep are often well-understood but difficult to address.
Assoc Prof Gooley from Duke-NUS Medical School said that work – whether paid or schoolwork – is one of the “greatest barriers to achieving a healthy amount of sleep”, with time-use studies showing that work often displaces time spent on sleep.
“We often work late to complete tasks (on the job or schoolwork) and also wake up early to report to work or school.
“On top of this, the pressures of work can contribute to pre-bedtime anxiety and worrying that make it difficult for the mind to shut down for sleep,” he added.
Dr Biju Thomas, head and senior consultant of the Respiratory Medicine Service at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said that artificial light exposure, mainly blue light from digital screens, negatively affects sleep.
“It can suppress the production of melatonin, a naturally produced hormone that helps to regulate the sleep-wake cycle,” Dr Thomas said.
“Suppressing the natural cycle of melatonin production will lead to an increased level of alertness, difficulty in falling asleep, increased sleep latency and poor sleep quality due to fewer restorative deep-sleep stages.”
Asst Prof Lo from NUS said that people usually use their devices for activities that keep them “cognitively aroused” such as playing games and watching videos.
“As a result, we delay our bedtime and when we finally go to bed, we have trouble falling asleep,” she added.
However, Prof Chee pointed out: “Many people say devices are an issue, but the devices are a symptom of poor time management.”
When used properly, devices can aid people in getting better sleep, with research showing that phones can sometimes be used for relaxation, he said.
“If you get riled up (from using the phone), then that’s a different story. But if you're just looking at maybe a comforting movie or listening to an audiobook, that's fine.”

In addition to the stresses of daily life and devices, the constant buzz of city life makes it tempting to forgo a night of rest for some prata at the coffee shop or a "quick" game of mahjong.
Dr Joseph Leong, senior consultant psychiatrist at mental health clinic Promises Healthcare, said that he has encountered patients who said that because they could not sleep, they would eat and "play" throughout the night.
"Late-night mahjong or social gaming requires intense focus, strategy and engagement, which keeps the brain alert and delays relaxation."
He added that late-night suppers can cause discomfort and result in indigestion and acid reflux, making it harder to fall asleep.
"Drinks consumed during supper such as kopi (coffee) or milk tea contain caffeine, and spicy food like laksa can stimulate the body and delay sleep onset."
“I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD”
The glorification of hustle culture began during the entrepreneurial boom in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the rise of technology startups in Silicon Valley laid the foundation for the lifestyle of intense, all-consuming work ethics and needing very little sleep.
Prominent figures such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were famously known for functioning only on four hours of sleep a night, which added to the perception that successful leaders required very little sleep.
This continued into the 2010s, when many chief executive officers of multinational companies such as Mr Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of X (formerly Twitter); Ms Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Yahoo; and Ms Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, constantly boasted of needing only four hours of sleep a night.
However, a cultural shift from glorifying sleep deprivation to valuing rest and sleep began in the mid-2010s, driven by increasing awareness of the health and productivity costs of insufficient sleep.
Public figures such as Ms Arianna Huffington, co-founder of news site The Huffington Post and founder of behavioural health technology firm Thrive Global, experienced burnout and became vocal advocates of sleep’s importance, framing it as essential for success rather than a sign of weakness.
Although there has been greater awareness of the importance of sleep in Singapore, its impact has yet to be fully realised.
Asst Prof Lo said: “The Confucian emphasis on hard work is deeply ingrained in many Asian societies, including Singapore.
"Many individuals do not value their sleep. They prioritise their work and study over sleep, thinking that longer wake hours mean more work can be done.”
Mr Iqmall the video producer is very familiar with such thinking. When he started working, he felt the need to “prove his worth” and “close the gap” between himself and his peers.
“This often comes in the form of spending late nights, improving my craft and taking the time to better myself,” he recalled.
It did not stop there.
“After I'd reached a milestone of sorts came the need to produce better or quicker. I often fell back on the idea that if I'm working while people are asleep, I'm getting ahead."
Ms Wong the content developer said that hustle culture is very much “romanticised” in Singapore. “I think we all know that sleep is important, but we just don't want to lose (when work is competitive).”
People need to look like they are working harder than their peers for “bragging rights”, she added.
She admitted that, like many bright-eyed 20somethings, she also went through a phase of not needing sleep to function. During this time, she worked hard in school and partied even harder into the night, her head barely touching the pillow.
“Yes, working overtime sometimes is okay, but burning the midnight oil is not supposed to be something like a trophy on your shelf,” Ms Wong added.
“As I grow older, I feel sleep is so important. I start my day right when I wake up with enough sleep.”
Ms Zawani who works in the media industry noted that although there have been more discussions about getting better sleep such as delaying school starting times, the “always-on” culture is still strong in Singapore.
“I don’t think we generally take our sleep quality seriously. I mean, look at how being on our phones almost 24/7 and answering work emails outside work hours are normalised.
“You know what isn’t normalised? Saying you’ve had a good night’s sleep and feeling energised throughout the day,” Ms Zawani added.
While the dream of getting a good night’s rest seems elusive to most Singaporeans, some people have managed to achieve it.
Ms Divika Jethmal religiously clocks in eight hours of good-quality sleep nearly daily. The 29-year-old said that her journey to better sleep was an “unintentional side effect” of minimising doomscrolling on social media.
The head of marketing in Asia at Carma, a global media intelligence and research solutions firm, said that since December last year, she had removed the Instagram mobile application from her phone.
The move was primarily driven by an increasing FOMO (fear of missing out) feeling that she had while scrolling through the app and seeing other people's Instagram-worthy lives, and the shock that hit her when she realised how much time she was spending on it. She has also been off Facebook and video-sharing site TikTok for a year.
Before moving away from the apps, she was getting four to six hours of sleep on weekdays.
“Staying up till 2am or 3am was what my body clock was used to, which affected my energy and productivity the next day.” Ms Divika also frequently binge-watched shows on Netflix, speeding through drama series and snacking on junk food.
“After removing the apps that promote doomscrolling and contribute to ‘noise’ in my brain, I felt empty initially because I didn't have that glimpse into others' lives,” she said, noting that deleting social media apps from her phone was a game-changer.
Her body clock has adjusted to the new normal and she now falls asleep before 11pm and wakes up around 7am daily feeling “incredible”.
“Slowly but surely, I am finding more balance between work and rest. I find myself looking forward to bedtime.”
HOW TO GET BETTER SLEEP
Getting better sleep is often on everyone's New Year's resolution. Here are tips from some experts for improving your sleep and getting closer to your goal:
- Stick to a consistent sleep schedule both on weekdays and weekends. By going to bed and waking up at the same time, it can help to regulate your internal clock.
- Be intentional about scheduling downtime during the day, not just right before you sleep. Getting too wound up in the day can make it harder to unwind at night.
- Create a bedtime ritual that is calming, including activities such as reading, taking a warm shower or practising mindfulness exercises before bed.
- Optimise your sleep environment by keeping it cool, dark and quiet. Invest in comfortable bedding and consider blackout curtains or white-noise machines if needed. These machines generate static sound that is meant to mask unwelcomed or distracting noises.
- Limit nap times and take short naps during the day of no more than 30 minutes and before 3pm.
- Engage in physical activity during the day to improve sleep quality, but avoid vigorous exercise within a few hours of bedtime.