One in three adults are now waking up in the middle of the night to check their phone

Shawn Knight

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Staff member

One of the first things that many people do when waking up in the morning is reach for their smartphone. Whether checking the latest developments in the news or catching up on social media, we’ve created a culture in which FOMO – or the fear of missing out – is a very real thing.

For some, waiting until the morning is no longer sufficient.

A new study from Deloitte that analyzed the mobile phone habits of more than 4,000 people indicates that one in three adults in the UK – and half of those between the ages of 18 and 24 – wake up in the middle of the night to check their smartphone. Of those surveyed, one in 10 said they reach for their smartphone as soon as they wake up with a third admitting they do so within 15 minutes of waking.

Paul Lee, head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte, noted that what smartphones enable people to do is to keep tabs on what's happening, what people are saying and what people are posting. You can already do that throughout the day and now, smartphones are encouraging people to do the same at night.

The results shouldn’t be all that surprising given our love affair with mobile devices. This past summer, if you recall, nearly a third of survey-takers said they would rather give up sex for an entire quarter instead of having to trade in their smartphone for a feature phone for just one week.

Fortunately, such focused smartphone use may lessen over time.

Lee said that when we have something new, we tend to overreact to it, adding that we’re just now getting used to technology that’s only nine years old at this point.

Image courtesy Adam Hester, Blend Images

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The only time I get up in the middle of the night to check my phone is if I think I slept through my alarm since my phone is my alarm. I get up thinking I missed it, I check it see that I did not and go back to sleep that is all.
 
If anyone calls me in the middle of the night I hope their life doesn't depend on my answering, because they're probably going to die.
 
My sleep is way too valuable to be bothered with my phone... also I'm just generally a very sound sleeper.
 
Phones and social media are ruining lives everywhere.
People get what they deserve.

I blame the parents and lack of will power ...
 
Phones and social media are ruining lives everywhere.
People get what they deserve.

I blame the parents and lack of will power ...
most places they dont have anymore will power, bc they need to fight the kids over shops who starts xmas sales. they are slowly starting it in denmark now.
 
Once I fall asleep im dead to the world until my alarm goes off. Cant even check my phone if I wanted to.
 
I'll play a little bit of devil's advocate on this one. It does show that 22% (of the 1/3) is just checking the time. I don't use my phone at night, but I will look at my little alarm clock or our cable box in our bedroom to see what time it is. Waking up to see how much more time we have to sleep is something most of us has always done, even before smartphones. The other people though are just a lost cause.
 
I know plenty of adults that do this because they are working on projects are getting work emails from another region or out of country.

If are actually doing this to check facebook or instagram then you really need to get a life.

As I get older I cherish sleeping more and more. Those FB and insta post will be there in the morning when I wake up.
 
Yes, the 3 am urine call is never ending, but why check my phone? Nobody in their right mind is going to call me and since the phone has a "quiet time" mode, I wouldn't hear it anyway. I suppose there are people out there that are terribly insecure they might miss the next tweet or some silly snap chat junk but seriously? It can't wait until morning? You know, when phones are obsolete and we are simply communicating by ESP or some similar built in device, nobody will ever get any sleep .... I suppose then the world population will go through the roof! I mean, what else are these young people going to do at 3 am?
 
In the end, who cares? I couldn't care less if someone checks their phone at night....

Why some people care about others actions that have nothing to do with them is beyond me.
 
Do people not have clocks in their rooms anymore? My phone may be my alarm but I certainly don't reach for it to check the time at night, that's what a clock is for... Heck I usually don't even have time in the morning to check anything on my phone let alone be bothered by it in the middle of the night, that I end up doing at work during down time not usually before that unless I'm expecting something important.

This still isn't as bad as people checking their phones in movie theaters or while driving, one is a nuisance to everyone around you, the other is endangering everyone around you, both of these types of people are far worse.
 
Do people not have clocks in their rooms anymore? My phone may be my alarm but I certainly don't reach for it to check the time at night, that's what a clock is for... Heck I usually don't even have time in the morning to check anything on my phone let alone be bothered by it in the middle of the night, that I end up doing at work during down time not usually before that unless I'm expecting something important.

This still isn't as bad as people checking their phones in movie theaters or while driving, one is a nuisance to everyone around you, the other is endangering everyone around you, both of these types of people are far worse.

I use my phone for an alarm but I also keep a tablet in my bedroom for Streaming from my HTPC which also does double duty as a clock so I don't have to look at my phone at all.
 
It has long been known by mankind that most people wake up for about 0.5 - 1 hour in the middle of most nights. This has been documented since medieval times. Now we have phones, so we check them.


What a completely useless fact. Hey can we cure cancer now?
 
People are married to their phones. When I go to bed I turn my phone off. Simple as that. this should be placed in the useless fact forum.
 
Shows us our priorities. And how much we need them to get straight. No personal life or social life whatsoever, everyone's on their smartphones and that's just baffling.
 
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