Revenge bedtime procrastination; Delaying sleep even when we’re tired

Manasi Zalte

“Everything feels better at night.” Your daily show feels catchier, cleaning your room at 2 am feels more productive, midnight reading, music, everything just feels right when done post bedtime, right? Well, this is a way for our mind to claim its ‘me- time.’ But then, why is this a problem? Psychologists call this habit ‘Revenge bedtime procrastination’, a fancy term for delaying sleep just to reclaim personal time.

‘Me- time’ at night directly affects our sleep cycle. Poor sleep weakens immunity, slows digestion, dulls focus, and fuels mood swings and anger outbursts. This is actually our mind trying to gain control over its ‘lost’ freedom during the day. Our body is constantly working, travelling, studying or doing one thing or another to keep our mind busy. There is no designated time to do things that we like. At night, when everything else is done and everyone else is asleep, we try to use our time to spend it with ourselves. And this time is used by scrolling through reels, watching Netflix, cleaning up our rooms, or eating.

While it is great to give yourself some time, doing this even when your mind and body are tired and begging you to sleep, is harmful. We put off going to sleep to steal some extra time for ourselves, even when our eyes are drooping of sleep.

This is exactly why it is important to give yourself that much needed ‘me- time’ during the day. Taking 10 minutes out of our schedules to walk, read, sit in silence with your coffee will make our brain believe that we care about ourselves and have spent time to our own satisfaction. This way, there will be no stolen time at night to reclaim our freedom!