‘Rest has quietly been equated with laziness’: How ‘guilt sleeping’ is reshaping lives of corporate professionals and working moms

An expert recommends a healthy work-life balance to avoid feeling guilty about sleeping

For Kopal Bhandari, a finance student from Pune, feeling guilty after waking up from a slumber stems from a sense of being productive “all the time.” “Personally, in the past, on a long day, which by definition may not have been productive, I would feel like I needed to end the day with a sense of productivity before I could reward myself with a good night’s sleep. It came from a place of taking the reward system too far and tapping into excessive hustle culture, especially when it came to being ambitious about a lot of things I was working on,” she tells indianexpress.

But have you ever wondered why a wave of emotions overwhelms you as soon as you wake up? A strange guilt creeps in, and you pause. In that quiet moment, you rewind. Analyse everything that was left unfinished the night before. It could be a pending office task, an incomplete household chore or a college assignment. You begin questioning yourself for sleeping a little extra. And, gradually, you start wearing that guilt like a badge of honour.

But where does this guilt stem from?
A good 7-8-hour sleep, an essential component for a holistic well-being, is being mistaken for “unproductivity.” And it has stopped bothering us, because hustle culture is taking over. From corporate professionals to working mothers, guilt sleeping has hijacked ways of being across age groups.

So, feeling guilty for sleeping becomes your autopilot response, as if your existence depends on it. Performance pressure becomes your armour on days when your body nudges you to get a healthy sleep. In the process, you begin to glorify a lack of sleep. Phrases like “Oh, I am a night owl” become your convenient escapes to glorify a lifestyle that is unhealthy and toxic.

“Rest has quietly been equated with laziness or lack of ambition, especially in high-pressure work and academic cultures. Many grow up internalising the idea that productivity equals worth, so any time spent resting feels like wasted time,” says Dr Vishal Ghule, dean and associate professor, psychology, The School of Liberal Arts at MIT WPU.

However, for Riddhi Garg, resident officer at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, basic survival and well-being cannot be secondary to responsibilities.

Decoding hustle culture
Bhandari feels the perception is more rooted in hustle culture, whereas working professionals like Garg find healing in sleeping. “Guilt sleeping assumes that rest needs justification, but I don’t believe that rest should come with explanations. We were born to live, eat, sleep, and repeat—this is the most natural human rhythm,” the latter reiterates.

The same sentiment may not hold true for working moms. Jacqueline Mahadik, a PR professional, echoes her dilemma. She shares, “Every extra minute I sleep feels guilty as I miss making breakfast for my family at times. I have multiple alarms set so I can make use of every extra minute I can to sleep.”

Laxmi Panwar, a seasoned teacher, feels the brunt too. She doesn’t feel guilty about sleeping, but she feels guilty about waking up late. “I have to complete all the household chores before I leave for work. So, waking up late is not an option.”

However, for Krishnakali Kanjilal, who juggles life coaching and a corporate job, sleeping is like a safety net to brush off problems. “When something is not going as per my expectations, I find the psychological safety in my bed to take a break from the world.”

Is staying “busy” a proof of value?
Anshika Arora, Assistant General Manager, Department of Higher Education Counseling, FLAME University, agrees. For a single woman in her 30s like Arora, sleeping interrupts the work narrative. She believes that doing is valued more than simply resting or being.

“Especially when you’ve spent years holding yourself together and building a life on your own, deep sleep can feel like letting go, and guilt steps in to keep you vigilant. Sometimes, especially over the weekends, sleeping feels wasteful because solitude already carries judgment. So, stepping out of bed every day feels victorious, and ‘staying in bed,’ as my friends say, ‘rotting in bed,’ seems like a feeling I may never experience,” she points out.

Echoing the same sentiment, traveller and marketing professional Mithi Singh opines that the constant pressure to stay “productive” is unsettling. “Sometimes, instead of feeling recharged, I wake up feeling heavy, like I wasted time or I could have utilised it for something else, like editing my vlogs, researching a career or studying brands.

When rest is associated with laziness rather than necessity, then, indeed, staying “busy” is a proof of value, Singh affirms. “Social media and hustle culture make it seem like everyone else is always working while I’m pausing. It makes me feel like I am escaping reality (read: hustle culture), my thoughts, and my responsibilities, instead of facing them.”

In a culture that glorifies staying busy, sleeping can feel undeserved or indulgent, says PR professional Adhiraj Sinha. “For me, the guilt often stems from unfinished work, constant digital interactions, and the corporate stigma that correlates busyness with success.”

Reasons why you shouldn’t feel guilty for sleeping
Dr Ghule emphasises that sleep is not a luxury; it is a biological necessity. So, if you think that sleeping less will make you productive, then think again. “From a psychological perspective, chronic sleep deprivation actually reduces productivity, increases irritability, and heightens anxiety and burnout.”

Moreover, adequate sleep supports emotional regulation, memory, decision-making, immunity, and mental health, Dr Ghule adds.

When you rest, the brain can consolidate learning and reset its emotional balance. Therefore, Dr Ghule explains, sleep is an investment in efficiency, not a withdrawal from it. Feeling guilty for sleeping is like feeling guilty for breathing; both are essential for functioning well.

Coping mechanism
While Arora has not reached the extreme stage of feeling guilty about sleep, she has chosen to treat rest as non-negotiable in a culture that celebrates exhaustion. Her approach? A well-planned routine that revolves around work-life balance. “My nights are structured with intention: by 8 pm, everything is shut down. I enter bed with a book, not a screen, and read until around 9. This small ritual softens the residue of the day—its thoughts, anxieties, and emotional noise—and allows me to sleep deeply, without resistance.”

For Sinha, a coping mechanism is reframing sleep as essential self-maintenance rather than lost time. “I set clear boundaries and protect my sleep routine like an important commitment. This helps me stay focused, emotionally balanced, and far more effective.”

As a student still learning the ropes, Kopal has revised her definition of productivity. “ I change my mindset whenever I feel guilty for sleeping. Taking one step at a time is my approach because we are all works in progress.” Aren’t we?

Therefore, sleep is not lost time; it’s the time that makes everything else work better. And as Dr Ghule recommends, a quick list of mindful tips will help you sleep without guilt. Here’s how:

• Reframe sleep mentally: Tell yourself, “Sleeping is part of my work, not an escape from it.”
• Set a ‘shutdown ritual’: Allocate a fixed time to mentally close the day, write tomorrow’s to-do list so your mind doesn’t carry unfinished business to bed.
• Practice self-compassion: Notice guilt without judging it. Remind yourself that rest is a human need, not a reward to be earned.
• Limit productivity comparisons: What works for others may not suit your body or mind.
• Focus on quality, not control: Instead of forcing sleep, create calm conditions such as dim lights, slower breathing, reduced screen time and allow sleep to arrive naturally.

This article has valuable insights of Ms. Anshika Arora, Assistant General Manager, Department of Higher Education Counseling, FLAME University.