New Delhi: India has become a country that rarely switches off. Work extends beyond office hours, notifications continue late into the night, and screens remain active long after bedtime. In many urban professional circles, especially in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Gurugram, sleeping less is often treated as a sign of ambition and productivity. Yet despite spending more time in bed, millions of professionals continue waking up mentally and physically exhausted.
The growing wellness crisis in India is no longer only about sleep deprivation. Increasingly, it is about recovery deprivation. Sleep and recovery are not the same thing. True recovery depends not only on the number of hours slept but also on deep sleep quality, stress regulation, circadian rhythm stability, and the body's ability to shift out of a constant state of alertness.
Many professionals today experience what researchers describe as non-restorative sleep. They sleep through the night but still wake up tired, foggy, irritable, and dependent on caffeine to function normally. India's always-on work culture has normalised continuous stimulation through late-night work messages, endless scrolling, weekend catch-up work, and constant digital engagement, leaving the nervous system with little time to recover.
Recent surveys reflect this trend. A 2026 LocalCircles study found that 61 per cent of Indians now get fewer than six hours of uninterrupted sleep, while the Wakefit Great Indian Sleep Scorecard 2025 reported that more than half the country sleeps after midnight. Many also report daytime fatigue severe enough to affect work performance. (ANI)
Also Read: Pre-workout supplements may cut sleep in half for young users, study finds