Why Some U.S. Cities Lead in “Bed Rotting”, and What This Reveals About Burnout and Workplace Culture
When I first reviewed the research from Sudoku Bliss titled “Cities with the Most Bed Rotters” I found more than just a quirky lifestyle insight. It holds a mirror to how rest, recovery, stress and culture interact at work and at home. Here is a breakdown of the findings, their implications for burnout and culture, and what leaders (and individuals) should act on.
Key Findings of the Study
The study looked at residents in 40 large U.S. cities and calculated a “bed-rotting score” (0-100) based on how much time people spend in bed outside of sleeping (e.g., scrolling, texting, watching), what they do while in bed, and how they feel about it. Sudoku Bliss
Some standout take-aways:
The top cities are: San Antonio, Texas (score ~98.21) with about 225 minutes (~3.75 hrs) per day in bed outside sleeping, Indianapolis, Indiana (~97.38) and Houston, Texas (~97.14). Sudoku Bliss
The national average reported was about 3 hours per day in bed outside of sleep. Sudoku Bliss
1 in 3 Americans say they are very likely to retreat to bed when feeling stressed. Sudoku Bliss
About 75% say they consider themselves “bed rotters”. Sudoku Bliss
High percentages report scrolling social media (91 %), texting/emailing (89 %), watching TV/streaming (84 %) while in bed. Sudoku Bliss
Why This Matters for Burnout and Workplace Culture
It might seem like just a lifestyle oddity, but from a leadership and culture lens there are several deeper implications:
1. Bed rotting as a stress-coping mechanism
When a significant fraction of people say they retreat to bed when feeling stressed, we are seeing a default coping strategy. For individuals and teams, this signals that recovery or detachment from stress may not be happening healthily. Without intentional recovery, burnout risk intensifies.
2. The blur between rest and passive escape
Time spent in bed outside of sleep often turns into passive escape (scrolling, watching) rather than something restorative. The research on recovery and work shows that mere “down time” isn’t always enough if it lacks psychological detachment. For example, the review “Recovery from Work” outlines how meaningful recovery affects motivation and job performance. annualreviews.org
In a culture where people spend 3+ hours in bed not sleeping, the question becomes: are they truly recovering, or simply hiding from stress?
3. Workplace culture signals around rest, shame and normalisation
The study notes that while a majority think this “bed time” is valid self-care, a sizeable portion also feel embarrassed about how much time they spend in bed. Sudoku Bliss
In workplace culture terms, that means even something as basic as rest is laden with shame, guilt or hidden behaviour. This ties to earlier insights I’ve shared around the “always-on” culture where rest is undervalued. For instance, our article “Avoid Burnout: Rethinking the ‘Always-On’ Mentality” on the Breakfast Leadership blog points out how being constantly connected undermines the ability to unplug and recharge. Breakfast Leadership Network
4. Location as metaphor for culture, not cause
The fact that specific cities top the list doesn’t mean geography causes the behaviour—but rather they reflect local lifestyle patterns (commutes, climate, norms) that support the behaviour. In organisations, the equivalent might be certain “culture zones” or sub-cultures within the business where workloads, expectations, or boundaries are looser, making “bed rotting” or passive recovery more likely.
Five Leadership Actions to Shift the Trend
If you’re leading a team or shaping culture and you want to reduce burnout risk and shift from passive recovery to proactive renewal, here are five actions:
Define “active rest” and recovery intentionally – Make it clear what healthy recovery looks like (disconnected, restful, recharging) rather than just “go do whatever”.
Promote recovery as strategic, not optional – Embed recovery into your work-norms: ensure people take breaks, disconnect, and have real boundary time. Recovery is an asset not a luxury.
Track recovery behaviours alongside performance – Ask not only “what did you produce?” but “how did you recover, how many hours of true rest, how many passive hours in bed?”.
Create a zero-shame rest culture – If people feel guilty for taking downtime, they’ll either hide it or engage in recovery that doesn’t recharge. Model rest, normalize it, speak about it.
Align systems and structures to support recovery – If meeting times, communication patterns, deadlines force people into bed-time passive recovery, you must redesign those structures (flexible scheduling, asynchronous work, real deadlines, no after-hours expectations).
Conclusion
The Sudoku Bliss study might seem light-hearted on the surface, but when we dig into what it signals about stress, recovery, culture and rest, the implications are significant. Whether you are a founder, executive, team leader, coach or member of a team: look at how your people recover (or don’t), how culture treats rest, and how default behaviours like “spend three hours in bed outside of sleep” may point to deeper issues. Recovery that counts doesn’t just happen—it’s designed. And when rest becomes purposeful, burnout risk goes down and culture elevates.
If you are ready to lead your organisation toward a resilience-based culture, let’s talk about how to redesign your norms, systems and rituals so recovery becomes a deliberate strategy.
