Do You Need Sound To Fall Asleep?

We’re still in the time frame of being able to ask you about your New Year’s Resolution and how it’s going. You can improve your life in many ways, but sleep is crucial. No matter how well you eat, train and plan your day, all your efforts are wasted if you don’t get a suitable night’s rest.

If you know you don’t get enough sleep or enough good sleep, you’re not alone. A new study caught our eye, and you might see a lack of sleep is more common than you thought.

A recent YouGov survey, published on 16th January 2025, asked 6,072 adults in Great Britain:

How often, if ever, do you play sounds of some kind (e.g. music, podcasts, sounds from a video, etc) to get to sleep?

On the surface of it, a resounding number of respondents (57%) said they never play sounds to help themselves fall to sleep. With 3% saying they don’t know, 30% of respondents say they play some form of sound to get to sleep. 

A little help goes a long way when it comes to sleep

20% of all respondents say they take this approach on some nights, 9% said they add sound to their end-of-the-day most nights, and 10% said they use sound to sleep every night.

30% of the population requires help to fall asleep, which is a sizable proportion, and 10% need assistance every single day (well, night for most people), which is a lot of people.

In Scotland, with a population of 5,490,100, this equates to 549,010 people requiring help to fall asleep every day.

For the UK as a whole, with a population of 68.35 million, this means around 6,835,000 need sounds to fall asleep. Every day.

What happens if sound doesn’t help you sleep?

While many people swear by soothing sounds or white noise as they drift off, it’s not an option for everyone. If you sleep with a partner or in a quiet home, the thought of music or noise playing late at night might give you sleepless nights, or nightmares!

Thankfully, there are many other options to consider, and at Ready Sweat Go, we can help you with a few of these routines.

You’ve probably heard the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to tire yourself out, but you don’t need a strenuous workout to reap the rewards. Yoga is an excellent way of preparing your body to rest, and in our Resource Hub, we have a page on Yoga for Sleep. I’ve always found Yoga good to calm the body and mind, so if your mind races away every evening, settle yourself with a short yoga session. YouTube is helpful for this if you need someone to follow.

A warm and relaxing bath is another commonly cited solution to a lack of sleep. Whether your muscles ache after a great workout or you’ve had a long day dealing with colleagues and life’s grind, a bath is a brilliant way to unwind.

It’s not just the bath itself, many people love being able to lock the door and knowing they have an oasis of serenity for as long as they remain in the tub! Of course, the quality of your bath also matters, and products like bath salts create a profoundly therapeutic bathing experience.

But we’re not only here to sell you products. We want to enable you to lead the life you want to. This is why we have some quick, cheap, and practical tips to boost your sleep.

Quick, Cheap, and Effective Sleep Tips

• Develop a schedule and stick to it, which means going to bed and getting up at a regular time
• Put your phone down and turn off the TV at least an hour before you go to bed, why not indulge in some reading?
• A dark room is a great way to enhance your potential for sleep, as is lowering the temperature of your bedroom
• Be mindful of caffeine and alcohol—we’re not going to say don’t consume these, but if you find you can’t sleep and you use these items, why not try taking a break and see how it goes? If you wear a whoop or up-to-date Garmin, you’ll see what a difference alcohol makes to your sleep scores.

You might have some tips you swear by; if you do, we’d love to hear them. There’s still plenty of time to make 2025 a year you look back on fondly. 

The quality of your sleep will play a significant role in how prepared you are to tackle what comes next, but whatever is around the corner, we’re here to help you every step of the way.

Resources

YouGov Survey - Sounds for Sleep: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/health/survey-results/daily/2025/01/16/c89e0/3