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| Mandie and husband Nick with their children Honor (left) and Pearl (right). Mandie thinks she must be more tired than her husband because she's been up every night looking after their baby |
The
argument has been raging between married couples for generations. Who is
the most tired? With sleep a valuable commodity in most relationships,
particularly those with young children, it seems men and women will
never agree.
The female claim to the ‘most exhausted’ crown
was bolstered this week by research which revealed that, over a year,
women get 15 days less sleep than they need, compared to the male
deficit of ten days. To settle the argument, we challenged three couples
to log their waking and sleeping hours using a Jawbone, an interactive
wristband that monitors wearers’ steps taken and quality of sleep.
It also
gives a figure for ‘total active time’ — moving and doing physical work,
rather than sitting down.
The couples:
Here, the couples say how hard they think
they work before each takes the Jawbone test. The results may surprise
you . . .
Mandie
Gower, 38, a magazine editor, and her husband, Nick Goodchild, 38, a
company director, pictured above, live in South London. They have two
children, Honor, ten months, and Pearl, three.
MANDIE
SAYS: Maybe it’s the hangover after months of being up every
single night with the baby. Whatever the cause, I’m convinced I must be
more tired than my husband, despite the fact I’m on maternity leave.
Even
though Honor mostly sleeps through the night now, while Nick is snoozing
on the bus to work at 9.30am I’m already three hours into my working
day, having woken with Honor at 6.30am. It’s also my job to get up
should either of the girls wake up in the night. From collecting Pearl
from nursery at 11.30am until her bedtime at 7.30pm, I juggle a constant
deluge of questions, demands and chores.
It’s
exhausting trying to be tolerant, entertaining and on time.
Evenings are
spent sorting laundry, filling in school forms or doing the online shop
right up until I go to bed, while Nick switches off in front of the TV
watching a boxset. Honor weighs an impressive 1½ stone, so just carrying
her is like a never-ending weight-training session, never mind doing so
while loading the dishwasher or helping a wriggly three-year-old off
the loo. The fact Nick has the energy to run home from work and play
squash proves I am definitely the most tired.
While Nick is snoozing on the bus to
work Mandie says she is already three hours into her working day
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Although Mandie is getting more sleep than her husband the results show that his sleep is more disturbed than hers
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MANDIE'S RESULTS:
Number of steps each day: 5,890
Distance travelled: 2.72 miles
Sound sleep: 4hrs
Light sleep: 2hrs 32 mins
Total slept: 6hrs 32 mins
Total time active: 49 mins
NICK SAYS: I run a busy
photography agency that employs 60 people and has the same number of
clients. It takes an enormous amount of energy and requires several
evenings out with clients a week — it’s rewarding but exhausting.
And that was
before our two daughters came along. Now, there is no respite at all.
Even at home, when I’m bathing, changing, feeding or reading stories to
the girls, I’m mulling over work issues.
Travel time
is for catching up on emails so I can get back home on time. And once
back after a draining day, I usually put at least one of our daughters
to bed before helping to clear up the day’s domestic detritus.
At night,
while I may not always be the one springing out of bed to deal with
nightmares or tummy bugs, I’m inevitably woken up.
Oh, and I
often run home from work as it’s quicker than the bus, so I’m physically
pretty shattered, too.
Basically, I deal with the demands of two
all-consuming roles and am constantly connected thanks to modern
technology.
My wife has only one role right now. I must be
the most tired.
NICK'S RESULTS:
Number of steps each
day: 8,609
Distance travelled: 4.32 miles
Sound sleep: 3hrs 21
mins
Light sleep: 4hrs 29 mins
Total slept: 7hrs 50
mins
Total time active: 69 mins
VERDICT: Most exhausted is Nick
MANDIE’S RESPONSE: I knew I
was getting less sleep than Nick, but it was a big surprise to see I am
actually getting more sound sleep. Perhaps that’s why he always seems
less refreshed.
I was also shocked at how few steps I took — I
thought running up and down the stairs and racing around the park after
the children would mean serious mileage.
This test
doesn’t account for the mental energy I expend. Even when I’m watching a
swimming lesson, I am on the phone to the bank.
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