Your day has been jam-packed with high-stress jobs, caring for your kids, and keeping your home chaos-free, among other tasks. You may miss a chance to unwind appropriately throughout the day. This is where revenge bedtime procrastination comes in.

Revenge bedtime procrastination is a conscious (sometimes unconscious) decision to forgo your sleep to engage in an entertainment activity to unwind from the day’s activities. 

In other terms, it means doing anything that interests you at night at the expense of sleep.

For instance, you might decide to wrap up your day by watching an episode or two on Netflix or scrolling through your social media. Before you know it, it’s past midnight, yet you must wake up in a few hours.

Ideally, revenge bedtime procrastination involves:

• Not sleeping without a valid reason, like a health condition
• Staying awake, unaware of the consequences of insufficient sleep
• Reducing your sleeping time at the expense of leisure

This article will explain the causes, symptoms, and consequences of revenge bedtime procrastination.

Causes of Revenge Bedtime Procrastination

Generally, insufficient free time to engage in entertainment after a busy day is the dominant cause of sleep procrastination.

However, other factors can fuel it. They include:

• If you’re prone to postponing often, you can likely become a victim of revenge bedtime procrastination.
• According to a journal frontier of psychology study published in 2014, self-regulation is a direct cause of revenge bedtime procrastination. This means you engage in activities that don’t align with your motives.
• ‘Night owls’ – are more likely to experience revenge bedtime procrastination. Your sleep patterns dictate if you’ll be a revenge bedtime procrastination victim.

The ongoing world pandemic like COVID-19 also proved to fuel the revenge bedtime procrastination instances. In 2020, 40% of adults reported experiencing this problem.

Also, an increased blur of individuals finding themselves lonely at home after a busy day worsens sleep procrastination behavior. It makes many people squeeze their sleeping time and maybe watch a film to reduce loneliness.

Can Revenge Bedtime Procrastination Affect Your Health?

Before we can help you with this concern, ask yourself why sleeping is necessary. Of course, you’ll agree that sufficient sleep is healthy and directly affects your production.

Thus, denying yourself enough time to sleep puts you at risk of sleep deprivation. Adults require 7 to 9 sleeping hours per 24 hours. Kids and teens may require more than eight sleeping hours.

Furthermore, below are more health effects associated with insufficient sleep:

• Feelings of irritation, anxiety, and stress
• Slower thinking
• Poor concentration and attention
• Undefined decision-making
• Memory deterioration

Uncontrolled sleep deprivation at early stages may lead to complex health challenges such as:

• Obesity
• Heart disease
• Hormone-related challenges
• Deteriorating immune system
• Diabetes
• Mental health challenges like stress, anxiety, and depression

To some extent, sleep insufficiency or complete lack of sleep raises the odds of dying early.

Ways to Fight Revenge Bedtime Procrastination

So revenge bedtime procrastination has become a major challenge to you. While some might have advised you to take sugar and caffeine to boost your sleep, this won’t help. Remember, you can sleep; it’s only that you’re doing something else at the expense of sleep.

Here are some simple tips you can apply and get sound sleep in enough time:

Prioritize Sleep

Set a goal to have enough rest each day after your must-do list of activities. You can achieve this by prioritizing sleeping and reminding yourself of the benefits of sleeping on time.

If you do this, you’ll have constant changes and easy feelings. At this point, you’re even likely to get more tasks done within the stipulated time and create leisure time.

Recheck your Schedule

A busy schedule is the primary cause of revenge bedtime procrastination. As such, you should assess it again, taking a hard relook at it.

After a thorough check, you should identify the to-dos that aren’t so important but have been taking most of your time. At some point, you’ll forgo the daily routines that take away your happiness, leaving you feeling unfulfilled.

Replace Unimportant Activities with your Interests

After cutting off less essential activities in your schedule, it’s time to replace them with what you love. Although It’s hard to do this sometimes, especially for professionals and parents with fixed responsibilities and obligations, it’s necessary for this fight.

However, you can deal with it by creating alone time. Then find a close associate, maybe a friend, relative, or partner, and engage in an exciting activity to go through your break.

Go off Social Media Early

When you start scrolling on Facebook, Instagram, or any other social platform, you don’t realize how fast time is moving. That necessitates getting out of social media early, even 30 minutes before sleeping. Switch off your phone or browsing device – you can also deactivate the autoplay feature on your device.

Instead, use this time to practice relaxation habits like reading a book, meditating, and maybe doing some stretches. Learn more about social media and mental health. 

Establish Good Sleeping Behaviors

You’re the one to establish quality sleeping habits. Have a consistent time when you wake up and when you sleep. Avoid structuring yourself to take caffeine before you can sleep, and skip alcohol taking, among other activities. Focus on making a relaxed environment that is sleep-friendly.

Revenge Bedtime Procrastination – Conclusion

Often, revenge bedtime procrastination makes you believe that your daytime is ultimately not under your control. You’re automated to perform the to-do list and enjoy night hours, which are now under your control.

And thus, when used to sleep procrastination, you may find it hard to stop. But maybe you can break the habit after exhaustion and unproductivity after some time. However, the first and best way to overcome revenge bedtime procrastination is to reassess your daily activities.