Have you ever found yourself staying up long past your intended bedtime because you were busy scrolling through Youtube, watching Tiktoks, texting friends, or reading a book even though you knew this behaviour would negatively affect your rest and sleep habits? This common phenomenon is “revenge bedtime procrastination”. It refers to the experience of delaying sleep to make time for leisure activities that you did not have time for during the day. The “revenge” part, taken from the phrase “bàofùxìng áoyè”, is in reference to Chinese workers who worked 12 hours a day, 6-days a week ( the 996 system), and attempted to “get back” at their busy day by engaging in leisure during the night. The phrase “bedtime procrastination” was initially coined in a 2014 research article - in the Frontiers in Psychology Journal - to reflect the experiences of people who go to bed late even though nothing is stopping them from sleeping on time and their overall sleep time will be affected. Someone might play around with their phone while in bed or delay getting in bed altogether. The people engaging in this behaviour typically know that they will be worse off because of it. According to the Sleep Foundation, this is an “intention-behaviour gap”, the people procrastinating their sleep don’t want to lower their sleep time, but they do so anyway. If you have already heard of revenge bedtime procrastination, it is likely due to a Twitter post by Daphne K. Lee who wrote, “ Learned a very relatable term today: “報復性熬夜” (revenge bedtime procrastination), a phenomenon in which people who don’t have much control over their daytime life refuse to sleep early in order to regain some sense of freedom during late-night hours.” This tweet seems to have resonated with hundreds of thousands of people.
Why do people procrastinate their bedtimes?
Technology has had a massive impact on people staying up late at night. Streaming services like Netflix enable people to binge entire seasons of addictive TV shows. Social media platforms are available 24/7. The existence of smartphones means that these technologies are literally in the palm of your hand any moment you want them. Generally, procrastination behaviours are associated with poor self-regulation and a lack of good time-management habits. Technology exacerbates these issues.
However, this is not the whole story. There are individuals, such as the aforementioned Chinese workers, who do not have much control over their workday. Lacking control of our lives has gotten a lot worse during the global pandemic, resulting in multiple lockdowns, serial unemployment, and the increasing necessity of work-from-home jobs. Nowadays, it is much harder to manage our work and personal lives. There is also a rise in mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression, which strongly overlaps with procrastinating behaviours. A study from the National Library of Medicine showed that students are more likely to procrastinate during the pandemic, though their findings were not universal.
Having an out-of-control life is also associated with the hardships of balancing work, caregiving and domestic duties. If your day consists of preparing kids for school, drop-offs and pick-ups, and cleaning up after them, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and like you do not have time for yourself. Unfortunately, it is still women who bear the brunt of caregiving and domestic tasks, even if both adult members of a household are working full-time.
Some people are naturally inclined to stay up late. If you are a night person, you may be more prone to late nights than the average morning person. People with ADHD may also be more likely to postpone sleeping.
What are the consequences of delaying sleep?
As earlier mentioned, revenge bedtime procrastination is not without its consequences. Having too little sleep and poor quality sleep often results in tiredness and irritability throughout the day. Consequently, a person with poor sleep habits is likely to have a hard time at work or school. They may find themselves yawning excessively, feeling sleepy, taking micro naps, experiencing fatigue and responding irritably to colleagues. Moreover, they may have difficulty concentrating, thinking clearly and retrieving memories. Stimulants such as coffee and energy drinks are not enough to restore your body's balance. On the contrary, overconsumption of caffeine may end up reinforcing the cycle of poor sleep. In the long run, sleep deprivation poses a significant risk of impairing your mental abilities and negatively affecting your physical health. According to the NHS, consistent sleep deprivation increases the risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, weight gain, a weakened immune system, loss of libido, heart issues, mood disorders and a shortened life expectancy. Your mind and body have an inherent need for good quality sleep to maintain good health.
How to fix it?
Here are some ways to curb the habit of revenge bedtime procrastination:
Have a consistent sleep schedule.
Create a specific bedtime and stick to it, even on weekends and holidays. Humans are creatures of habit. The more you stick to a routine, the easier it gets to maintain it. If you initially have difficulty getting to sleep earlier than you were used to, you may use sleep aids like taking a relaxing bath, doing yoga, counting sheep or getting a white noise machine. It also helps to establish a specific time to wake up every morning. With time, your internal clock will catch up to your schedule. Track your sleep and wake up times using a sleep diary. I created a printable sleep tracker which you can get on my gumroad here. This tracker acts as a sleep log for your sleeping patterns including your sleep time, wake time, the number of hours slept, sleep quality, and a nighttime checklist.
Keep your smartphone and tablet away from you.
If your device is out of sight, it's out of mind. It's a bit of a cliche but a helpful one. Using your devices before bed will undoubtedly result in late nights and low-quality sleep. Avoid this by keeping your phone and tablet as far away from you as possible. Either keep them across the room or in a different room altogether. If you are particularly addicted to your electronic devices, involve an accountability partner. Have a trusted roommate or family member keep your devices during the night and only hand them over to you the next day. For those accustomed to using their phones as alarms, get yourself an actual alarm clock and avoid hitting the snooze button in the mornings. A general rule is to keep away from screens at least an hour before bedtime and aim for 7 - 9 hours of sleep each night. My printable sleep log worksheet will help you track your progress on both of these fronts.
Plan your day ahead of time.
Keep a daily to-do list, planner or bullet journal to write down your schedule. Don’t leave anything out that will take up a significant portion of your time. Alongside your to-do list, keep a chore chart to plan out your domestic tasks and how they’ll be shared by all the members of your household.
Be aware of your priorities.
Some daily tasks undoubtedly take precedence over others. Neglecting to recognise this is one of the reasons people feel out of control during the day. While writing your to-do list, take note of the high-priority tasks. Describe these tasks clearly and break them down into actionable steps.
Take regular leisure breaks throughout the day.
Depending on your specific career, this may or may not be possible for you i.e doctors and nurses in the ER have incredibly hectic schedules. If your workday is a little bit more flexible - and you don’t have a boss constantly breathing down your neck - set aside regular time for breaks during which you engage in the activities you would have otherwise done during your revenge bedtime procrastination. One possible way of doing this is by using the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro time-management technique, created by Francesco Cirillo, is a system by which a person delineates their work or school day into “pomodoros”; 25-minute lengths of continuous work interspersed by 3 - 5 minute breaks. After four or five of these pomodoros, you take a 15 - 30 minute break. These break periods could be used for leisure activities such as social media scrolling, reading a fiction book or taking a short nap. After you complete each task, review the work you’ve done, take note of the distractions you encountered and plan the next Pomodoro block. This technique not only increases productivity but also reduces the likelihood that you will feel forced to engage in leisure during your bedtime.
Create a separation between your workspaces and leisure spaces.
If you are doing remote work from home, set up an office space exclusively for work. This space should not be the same room used to carry out tasks unrelated to work, such as eating, sleeping or watching TV. Having such distractions only increases the likelihood that you end up distracted, which throws off your schedule and leaves you feeling more hectic toward the end of the day. You will also have more rewarding leisure time if you have a dedicated space.
Forgive yourself.
The process of breaking a habit and forming new ones is non-linear. Failing every once in a while is inevitable but not permanent. Beating yourself up in response to failure isn’t going to get you anywhere. It is better to acknowledge your mistakes, forgive yourself and continuously strive to do better.
Conclusion
Revenge bedtime procrastination is a common experience of people who put off sleep for the sake of catching up on leisure. This habit has negative consequences for mental health, physical health, productivity and time management. Accordingly, it is crucial to break this habit and prioritise a well-managed day and good quality sleep.
Woow, interesting
Interesting Read