Written By: Shreya Jain
Consider this: It’s 11 pm, and you’re watching your favourite web series. You want to sleep, but you can’t get yourself to shut down the laptop, turn off the lights, and go to bed. You know you’ll probably regret it the following day; still, you keep telling yourself it’s the last episode. Soon you realize it’s 3 am with little time left to get sufficient sleep! Does this sound familiar? This phenomenon of purposely delaying or postponing the act of going to bed undeterred by the saliency of its negative consequences is known as bedtime procrastination. Studies suggest that it is linked with insufficient sleep and daytime fatigue.
Research points towards several reasons people choose to procrastinate sleep, some of which include:
Self-regulation failure, which means it could be due to an inability to control one’s actions, such as quitting an ongoing activity to go to bed
Low mental energy or self-control strength towards the end of the day,
A feeling of “entitlement” for “me time” or time for leisure at night due to much of the day time being spent fulfiling obligations or doing hard work,
A need for autonomy, or more control over one’s night time because of a perceived lack of control over their daytime hours (also known as revenge bedtime procrastination)
losing track of time, and
choosing to turn in late due to “surplus energy” experienced at night
If you’re able to relate and feel that you too experience bedtime procrastination, we’ve got you covered with some actionable tips to beat this habit and build a healthier sleep schedule!
Set implementation intentions, or “if-then plans”. It is the conscious setting of intentions by narrowing down on target behaviour and the situations in which such behaviour presents itself. They take the form of “I intend to achieve x, and if situation y occurs, then I will do the z goal-oriented action.” For example, “I intend to go to bed by 11 pm, so when it’s 10:15 pm I will switch off all my gadgets and do breathing exercises for 15 minutes.” You can set such implementation intentions according to your own preferences and convenience.
Maintain an activity monitoring diary: To become more aware of your bedtime routine and sleep schedule, maintain a diary with two separate columns. At the beginning of each day, use the first column to write an activity (which does not involve the use of gadgets) that you intend to do before bedtime, such as doing sleep yoga. Then, mention the exact time you’d like to go to bed. The next day right after you wake up, in the second column, write the activity you did the previous night and the time you went to bed. Doing this consistently will help you identify the discrepancy between your actions and your intentions and motivate you to develop a healthier routine.
Remove all temptations: As it’s easy to lose track of time while using our phones, scrolling through social media, watching online videos, or returning texts, a smart way to avoid engagement in these activities before bedtime would be to remove these gadgets from the bedroom. Alternatively, you can keep your phone away from you so that it's not easily accessible.
Write in a journal: If you procrastinate sleeping because you want to avoid the worries, thoughts, or concerns which run through your mind during bedtime, you may try journaling your feelings and thoughts before going to bed. This will give more room to your feelings and worries for expression, bringing your mind to ease and calm while sleeping.
We hope you consider reflecting on your sleeping habits to recognize if you’re a bedtime procrastinator, and if you are, try making active efforts to improve your sleeping habits!