Do YOU engage in bedtime procrastination? Indeed, this question is especially relevant for those of us with sleep problems. This post builds on our prior articles on sleep.
Losing Sleep — Do YOU Engage in Bedtime Procrastination?
Like many of our readers, I almost always have trouble sleeping. Although my problems don’t involve procrastination. Since I take a sleeping medication, I quickly fall asleep. But, I’m up several times overnight and feel exhausted when I finally do get up.
With that in mind, this unfamiliar phrase seems worthy of today’s post: “revenge bedtime procrastination.” As Megan Marples reports for CNN:
After a long day of working from home, Hadly Clark spends her evening hours mindlessly swiping through her phone. She powers through her usual scheduled 9:30 P.M. bedtime in favor of online shopping and social media scrolling. Before Clark knows it, the clock reads 1 A.M. She eventually dozes off and wakes up the next morning exhausted, her phone on her nightstand blaring her alarm at 6 A.M.
This cycle of staying up late and regretting it the next day is all too familiar for many people, even before the pandemic. In recent years, the phenomenon has been dubbed “revenge bedtime procrastination.” Revenge bedtime procrastination may be a newer term, but the type of sleep schedule it describes is not, said Dr. Rajkumar Dasgupta, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. “Revenge bedtime procrastination is just a cry from overworked people, and they’re actually trying to put off bedtime just a little bit so they can reclaim something for themselves,” Dasgupta said.
Dasgupta recommends that people transition to sleep both physically and mentally. Most people like their bedrooms “quiet, dark and cool.” He also suggests people engage in an activity they enjoy like meditation that helps them fall asleep. Turning off electronics and not bringing them to bed is another strategy to fall asleep. In addition, a 15-minute nap could also reduce a person’s sleep debt. A nap any longer could lead someone into deeper stages of sleep, he said, which could cause longer sleep inertia, the sleepiness someone feels right after waking up.
Now, check out the CNN video.