Some people are skipping parties. Others are ditching their phones, caffeine, and even their partners after 10 p.m. All in the name of a better night’s sleep.
Welcome to sleepmaxxing—where blackout curtains, smart rings, diffusers, and $500 mattresses are part of the new nightly ritual. According to a recent Amerisleep survey, nearly half of Americans are now actively trying to optimize their sleep.
Gen Z leads the pack, with 48 percent saying they’ve made changes to sleep better. That includes redesigning bedrooms, tracking sleep with wearables, and spending actual money to get more rest.
And people are definitely spending. While the average American drops around $75 a year on sleep gear, 8 percent have shelled out $500 or more in the past 12 months. Women are a little more likely to sleepmaxx than men, and they also spend more time on bedtime routines—about four minutes longer at night, and seven more in the morning.
Sleepmaxxing Is the New Grind, and Everyone’s Doing It in Bed
But chasing a perfect night’s sleep comes with trade-offs. More than 40 percent of Americans say they’ve cut back on scrolling, caffeine, and late-night drinks. Another 24 percent have canceled plans completely just to stay in bed. And for Gen Z, that FOMO is real—40 percent of them say they’ve felt guilty for skipping out on people to keep their sleep on track.
Sleep tech was supposed to make us feel better about our habits. But for some people, it’s doing the opposite. Of the 28 percent of Americans using sleep trackers, nearly a third said seeing a low sleep score actually made them feel worse—because nothing says “refreshed” like waking up already disappointed in yourself.
Still, sleepmaxxing seems to work—for some. People who do it report higher life satisfaction than those who don’t. Maybe it’s the rituals, or maybe it’s just knowing that you did one small thing for yourself that didn’t involve a screen.
It’s not about unlocking some secret to sleep mastery. It’s about finding one part of the day you still have control over, even if that means skipping dinner plans, downing magnesium, and curling up in a perfectly chilled bedroom with a sound machine and zero shame.
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