By Editor,Poppy Atkinson Gibson

Copyright dailymail

Margaret Thatcher was famously said to get by on just four hours’ sleep.

And half of Britons now say they regularly survive on the same amount – with more than four in ten getting less than three hours.

Researchers surveyed 2,000 adults and discovered the majority are not getting the amount of sleep needed to function properly.

They found the average person is running on just six hours and 50 minutes, well below the eight-hour minimum recommended by the NHS.

This results in a sleep deficit of 426 hours every year, the equivalent of 18 full days’ worth of sleep.

Almost seven in ten (69 per cent) of those polled insisted they simply don’t get enough sleep, with one in five (19 percent) saying they are constantly tired.

Half (47 percent) admitted a lack of sleep makes them irritable, according to the findings by Dyson, while 44 percent say they function poorly and are unable to concentrate.

Mood swings (37 percent), lack of motivation (33 percent), getting annoyed easily (33 percent) and feeling anxious (28 percent) are also side-effects from not getting enough shut eye.

A further 12 percent admit they lose their temper with their children when sleep deprived, while a further 12 percent get angrier with their nearest and dearest.

And this exhaustion is spilling into everyday life with eight in ten (81 percent) regularly struggling through the working day – at least twice a week – and more than a third (37 percent) calling in sick simply because they were too tired to face the day ahead.

A lack of shut eye is also straining relationships, with a quarter (26 percent) of couples now admitting they now sleep in separate beds in a bid to get more rest.

Sleep expert James Wilson, said: ‘It’s clear that being a nation of poor sleepers is really impacting our day-to-day.

‘Dyson’s research shows that people are getting by on less than four hours and even an hour at times is really worrying and it’s making us snappy, unproductive and getting in between our relationships.

‘But luckily there are some things we can do to help get better sleep and manage these side effects. I have recently introduced a consistent wake up time, getting ready for bed and watching something funny or trashy an hour before I want to go to sleep, and lowering my body temperature , to my personal sleep routine and the results have been great in terms of improving my sleep experience.’

To aid drifting off, 45 percent of Brits use fans to cool the room, 42 percent put on a relaxing playlist, 37 percent read, 35 percent flip the pillow to the cold side, 31 percent take a bath, and 17 percent wear an eye mask or listen to a podcast.

One in ten use supplements, masks or ear plugs to help them sleep, while another 10 per cent deliberately avoid technology before bed.

Bradley Fishwick, Senior Design Engineer at Syson, said: ‘The research shows that many people are looking for ways to sleep better, especially during the colder, darker months. We’ve found that people are making changes to improve their quality of sleep, like building a better night time routine, avoiding screens before bed and altering their sleep space.