Ritika Jain sleeps by midnight and clocks a full seven hours, but still wakes up foggy-headed most mornings. “I don’t get it. I’m not staying up till 3 am, I’m not binge-watching shows, but I still feel like I’ve been hit by a truck when I wake up,” says the 29-year-old content editor from Hyderabad.

She’s far from alone. According to the Wakefit Great Indian Sleep Scorecard 2025, nearly half of urban Indians say they wake up tired even after what seems like a full night’s rest. In fact, 58% reported going to bed after 11 pm, and over 88% experienced multiple interruptions in sleep through the night. Meanwhile, a separate survey by Bayer last year found that 85% of Indians between 25 and 35 wake up fatigued—higher than any other age group.

So, why are so many young adults waking up exhausted even when they technically get enough sleep?

Sleep specialists say the issue lies not just in the number of hours slept, but in the quality of those hours—and what’s happening in the 2–3 hours before bedtime. “People often forget that sleep is not a switch—it’s a transition. If you’re replying to work texts, watching reels, or having a carb-heavy dinner late, your body’s sleep cycle is already compromised,” says Dr Harini B, a consultant physician and sleep specialist.

Late meals—especially those high in sugar or starch—can spike insulin levels and lead to a crash in the early hours of the morning, disturbing deep sleep and causing blood sugar fluctuations. “When your glucose drops at 2 or 3 am, your body releases stress hormones to correct it. That’s why you may not wake up fully, but you don’t get the rest your brain and body need,” she adds.

Additionally, many young adults experience what’s called ‘revenge bedtime procrastination’—a tendency to delay sleep to reclaim personal time after a long day. Scrolling endlessly through social media or binge-watching till exhaustion sets in further fragments sleep.

Twenty-six-year-old Karthik Rao, a architect from Hyderabad, says, “I started tracking my sleep, and realised I was waking up multiple times, even if I didn’t remember them. Once I stopped checking my phone after 10 pm and added a short walk post-dinner, I actually started waking up fresh.”

Experts recommend simple changes: eating at least two hours before bed, avoiding caffeine after 2 pm, walking after dinner, and keeping the phone away 30 minutes before sleep.

Because in the end, eight hours of low-quality sleep will always leave you more tired than six hours of restful, deep sleep.