LIFESTYLE

Study: Most people know if their day is ruined by 8:36 a.m.

Aug 23, 2024, 2:28 PM | Updated: Oct 8, 2024, 10:50 am

Image: Most people say they know whether their day is ruined by 8:36 a.m. (AI-created image generat...

Most people say they know whether their day is ruined by 8:36 a.m. (AI-created image generated by Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer)

(AI-created image generated by Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer)

How much misfortune does it take to spoil someone’s day? For many of us, a bad morning can throw everything off track.

According to a survey by Avocado Green Mattress and Talker Research, the average American can tell by 8:36 a.m. if they’re going to have a “bad day.” The poll found that people typically experience four “bad days” each month. 26% of the 2,000 surveyed said that if something goes wrong in the morning, the entire day feels ruined.

The top five reasons for a bad day?

  1. Waking up feeling sick (35%)
  2. Sleeping poorly throughout the night (31%)
  3. Waking up with a headache (29%)
  4. Losing keys (26%)
  5. Forgetting phone at home (25%)

“How many of you listening right now actually get a good night’s sleep? When was the last time you had uninterrupted eight hours of sleep?” Ursula Reutin asked on The Gee & Ursula Show. “I cannot remember ever, even while on vacation, when the last time was it explains why I have bags under my eyes.”

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Gee Scott said he knows whether he is going to have a good day or not is when he checks his schedule first thing in the morning. “Mine is very simple,” Gee explained. “If things aren’t lining up, oh my goodness, overbooked here. I messed this up. I get mad at myself when I’m not on my schedule. That messes me up. Sure, okay, and I have a bad day and I can’t turn it off.”

Ursula said her personal reason for starting her day off on the wrong foot is not making her bed. “I like to leave my house, and I like to have the bed made. I like to have time to get dressed and feel like I feel good in what I’m wearing in the morning, but the bed unmade. I just feel off for the rest of the day.”

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Some of the other reasons in the study include forgetting your wallet, sleeping through the alarm, and waking up to a mess from your pet.

Andrew “Chef” Lanier, the show’s producer, said, “The number one thing that will ruin my morning is when the kids are screaming, oh my God, and fighting, yes, like you haven’t even gotten dressed yet, and they’re already fighting.”

Ursula said another thing on the list is running out of toilet paper. Enough said.

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here. 

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Study: Most people know if their day is ruined by 8:36 a.m.