Average American needs 60 ‘lazy days’ a year

Americans need 60 lazy days per year to feel rested and relaxed, according to a recent survey.

The poll of 2,000 Americans investigated how the average person leverages days literally doing nothing for self-care as well as the anatomy of a perfect do-nothing day.

It turns out Americans take lazy days very seriously, with one in five (21%) planning their lazy days in advance and 67% opting to take their lazy days spontaneously.

Although a forward-thinking few (11%) even put their do-nothing days on the calendar a few weeks ahead of time.

Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Berkshire Blanket & Home Co. (https://berkshireblanket.com/) for National Lazy Day on Aug. 10, the poll found that almost three-quarters (72%) are likely to fly under the radar and won’t tell others they’re taking a day to relax at home.

Looking closer at lazy day trends, Americans are most likely to take lazy days on Sundays (39%) and Saturdays (27%). 

And the most unpopular lazy day turns out to be Tuesday, according to findings, with only 5% labeling Tuesday as their go-to lazy day.

When it comes to lazy day activities, or lack of, respondents shared how much time they spend attached to their phones, lounging around and soaking in the self-care. 

On a typical lazy day, the average person spends two hours lying in bed, an hour eating, three hours binge-watching movies and TV, an hour reading and two hours scrolling. 

Three hours are spent doing literally absolutely nothing, two hours are spent napping and a full hour is generally devoted to dreading the next day.

“In honor of National Lazy Day, we wanted to see how Americans rest and rejuvenate during a much needed-lazy day,” said Mei Higgins, vice president of merchandising of Berkshire Blanket & Home Co. “Everyone deserves a rest day here and there, maybe even a bit more often, and days like these are so important when it comes to wellness. The study even found that almost three in four people (74%) said lazy days are crucial when it comes to self-care.”

The study revealed the top feelings that prompt Americans to take lazy days are low mood and energy (55%), burnout (39%) and feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities (34%). 

A third even admitted they’ll take a lazy day if they want to avoid people and one in ten (9%) said an existential crisis is enough to warrant a lazy day. 

Uncovering where people like to hang out on a lazy day, most (58%) will kick back on the couch. Although some (4%) said they spend most of their time lying on the floor. 

Most people (75%) are more likely to spend the day lounging around if the weather is cool and gloomy and top essentials for do-nothing days, according to respondents, are a comfy outfit (47%) and a cozy blanket or throw (40%), along with a clean home (40%), a shower (40%) and ample junk food (39%). 

Respondents aligned to classify the ideal lazy day comfy outfit and said it’s breathable (51%) and lightweight (50%). And the perfect cozy blanket is fluffy (66%) and big enough for two (31%).

“If you weren’t planning to already, we encourage everyone to spend some time simply resting and relaxing on Aug. 10,” said Higgins. “Giving yourself time to do nothing will go a long way towards health and happiness. And cultivating the perfect cozy space to relax in is key. Gathering cozy essentials and designing a relaxing space is part of self-care.”

AMERICA’S IDEAL LAZY DAY CONSISTS OF:

3 hours watching movies and TV

3 hours doing absolutely nothing

3 hours simply sitting and enjoying one’s living space

2 hours in bed

2 hours scrolling on one’s phone

2 hours napping

1 hour eating

1 hour reading

1 hour listening to an audiobook or podcast

1 hour dreading the next day