It has been suggested that this article be split into a new article titled Revenge bedtime procrastination . (discuss) (October 2023) |
Bedtime procrastination is a psychological phenomenon that involves needlessly and voluntarily delaying going to bed, despite foreseeably being worse off as a result. [1] Bedtime procrastination can occur due to losing track of time, or as an attempt to enjoy control over the nighttime due to a perceived lack of control over the events of the daytime; this latter phenomenon has recently been called revenge bedtime procrastination, a term which originated on the Chinese social media platform Weibo in 2014. [2] [3] [4]
Bedtime procrastination has been linked to shorter sleep duration, poorer sleep quality and higher fatigue during the day. [5] One of the main factors in bedtime procrastination is human behaviour. [6] [ which? ]
The "revenge" prefix is believed to have been added first in China in the late 2010s, possibly relating to the 996 working hour system (72 hours per week), since many feel that it is the only way they can take any control over their daytime self. [7]
The term "bedtime procrastination" became popular based on a 2014 study from the Netherlands. [8]
Writer Daphne K. Lee popularised the term in a Twitter post using the term "revenge bedtime procrastination" (報復性熬夜), describing it as "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." [9] [10]
Now, defining bedtime procrastination is shown in multiple ways like "going to bed later than planned" and "delaying sleep." [6]
An individual may procrastinate sleep due to a variety of causes. The person may not consciously be avoiding sleep, but rather continuing to complete activities they perceive as more enjoyable than sleep (such as watching television or browsing social media). There are many distractions in the 21st century; obtaining distractions to delay sleep is much easier than in earlier decades. [8]
Problematic smartphone use directly causes bedtime procrastination. People who extensively use a smartphone are more likely to delay their bedtime because they find it hard to stop using the phone and keep getting distracted by it before going to sleep. [11] These people enjoy the temporary satisfaction of smartphone use and want more time to entertain themselves. In addition, bedtime procrastination plays a mediated role between smartphone addiction and depression and anxiety. Habitual smartphone overuse results in bedtime procrastination, and shorter sleep duration and lower sleep quality may trigger many negative emotions responsible for depression and anxiety. [12]
Statistics show that disturbed sleep patterns are increasingly common. In 2013, an estimated 40% of U.S. adults slept less than the recommended amount. [13] In Belgium, where data was collected for the study, 30% of adults reported difficulty sleeping, and 13% reported taking sleeping pills. [14]
A 2014 study of Dutch individuals concluded that low self-regulation could cause bedtime procrastination. [8] Due to COVID-19, 40% more people have experienced sleeping problems. [15] A 2021 study found that boredom also leads to bedtime procrastination. Boredom increases inattention,[ clarification needed ] which leads to increased bedtime procrastination. [16]
Another 2014 study consisting of 145 people found that 43% of the self-labelled bedtime procrastinators did not have a set bedtime or routine. This study suggests and emphasizes that inattention is a big factor in bedtime procrastination because it is not necessary for explicit awareness to be active when procrastinating. People do not procrastinate intentionally, but as a result of poor self-regulation. [6]
A 2018 study of 19 people identified three bedtime procrastination themes: deliberate procrastination, mindless procrastination and strategic delay. Deliberate procrastination results from a person consciously believing they deserve more time for themselves, causing them to intentionally stay up later. Mindless procrastination results from losing track of time during one's daily tasks and consequently staying up later without intending to. Strategic delay results from purposely staying up late in order to fall asleep easier. Strategic delay has also been found to be linked with undiagnosed insomnia. [17]
In a 2022 cross-cultural study evaluated 210 employees in the United States and 205 employees in China. The results show that off-time work-related smartphone use may provoke bedtime procrastination. The negative impact of smartphone use on bedtime procrastination is more significant in the United States than in China. The research shows that employees in the United States have a more resistant attitude than employees in China when it comes to work after hours, resulting in a higher self-control depletion and a higher possibility of bedtime procrastination. [18]
Researchers have also found that bedtime procrastination's main causes are low-self control and increased stress. [19]
Bedtime procrastinators engaged in more leisure and social activities in the three hours before bedtime. High and low procrastinators spend similar amounts of time watching TV and using computers. In the three hours before bedtime, high bedtime procrastinators spent 79.5 minutes on their phones, while low bedtime procrastinators spent 17.6 minutes on their phones. People who stayed up late reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety, lower sleep quality, and a higher risk of insomnia than those who went to bed earlier. [20]
Research from a survey of 317 participants in 2022 has shown that people's subjective perception of time is associated with bedtime procrastination. Sleep time perceived as the end of the day prompts people to think about the rest of their time. In the research, people who procrastinate before sleep often use their evening time to enjoy their favorite activities as a reward for the hard work of the day, focusing on immediate rewards and immediate benefits. Bedtime procrastination causes people to feel that time is passing quickly, which can lead to anxiety and stress. [21]
For people who do not sleep well, bedtime is an abominable time. Sleep can become a task and a burden that increases people's worry about getting enough sleep, leading to nervousness, and increases their psychological stress. This can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes, including fatigue, mood swings, and difficulty concentrating. [22]
Women, students, and "night owls" (later chronotypes) are most likely to experience bedtime procrastination. [23] [24] People with high daytime stress levels are more prone to bedtime procrastination. [2]
Bedtime procrastination comes in many other forms as well, such as delaying going to sleep (sleep procrastination) and delaying the time trying to fall asleep (while in bed procrastination). [3]
One third of Chinese students showed signs of sleep procrastination. [25]
According to researchers, there are three key factors that differentiate between bedtime procrastination and staying up late:
People with higher cell phone use report more signs of bedtime procrastination. [26] The media environment creates the atmosphere for sleep procrastination by providing plenty of fun pastimes before lights out. [27]
A person who experiences bedtime procrastination is likely to face effects related to the delayed sleep. A meta-analysis found that greater bedtime procrastination was associated with poorer sleep quality, shorter sleep duration, and increased fatigue throughout the day. [5]
Bedtime procrastination results in poor sleep quality and can be a sign of poor self-regulation. [26]
Bedtime procrastinators are more likely to lose willpower, lose control of themselves, and fidget all the time. It is easy to cause a state of low interest, high dissatisfaction, and high distraction. [28]
Bedtime procrastination can cause sleep deprivation, which leads to slow thinking, low attention levels, bad memory, bad decision making, stress, anxiety, and irritation. If sleep deprivation is not treated quickly, long-term consequences can include heart disease, diabetes, obesity, weakened immune system, pain, hormone issues, and mental health issues. [19]
Bedtime procrastination can lead to short sleep, which can increase psychosis and may cause people to suffer from depression. [29]
People who have bedtime procrastination suffer from sleep disturbance and need medication to fall asleep. [29]
Bedtime procrastination can cause naps throughout the day to help lack of sleep. [30]
Media use interventions as treatment strategies for sleep insufficiency have been targeted mainly at reducing the volume of media use. [31] This might not be a feasible scenario for the contemporary and future media user, given the immense proliferation of media and the experience of being connected 24/7. Using a self-control perspective on electronic media use and bedtime procrastination could provide novel ways of approaching this issue. As the endpoint of media use (which often implies getting ready to go to bed) is dependent on the level of self-control, strategies aimed at improving self-control could be a valuable avenue for future exploration. [32]
It is highly important to prevent bedtime procrastination because getting the right amount of sleep is essential for the human body to function properly. Most common consequences of lack of sleep are grogginess, lack of concentration, mood swings, and there are some long-term detrimental effects to both physical and mental health.
Here are a few ways to prevent bedtime procrastination:
Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with the surrounding environment. While sleep differs from wakefulness in terms of the ability to react to stimuli, it still involves active brain patterns, making it more reactive than a coma or disorders of consciousness.
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, irritability, and a depressed mood. It may result in an increased risk of accidents of all kinds as well as problems focusing and learning. Insomnia can be short term, lasting for days or weeks, or long term, lasting more than a month. The concept of the word insomnia has two distinct possibilities: insomnia disorder (ID) or insomnia symptoms, and many abstracts of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews often underreport on which of these two possibilities the word refers to.
Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there could be negative consequences for doing so. It is a common human experience involving delays in everyday chores or even putting off tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner. It is often perceived as a negative trait due to its hindering effect on one's productivity, associated with depression, low self-esteem, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy. However, it can also be considered a wise response to certain demands that could present risky or negative outcomes or require waiting for new information to arrive.
Delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD), more often known as delayed sleep phase syndrome and also as delayed sleep–wake phase disorder, is the delaying of a person's circadian rhythm compared to those of societal norms. The disorder affects the timing of biological rhythms including sleep, peak period of alertness, core body temperature, and hormonal cycles. People with this disorder are often called night owls.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry about events or activities. Worry often interferes with daily functioning, and individuals with GAD are often overly concerned about everyday matters such as health, finances, death, family, relationship concerns, or work difficulties. Symptoms may include excessive worry, restlessness, trouble sleeping, exhaustion, irritability, sweating, and trembling.
Sleep hygiene is a behavioral and environmental practice developed in the late 1970s as a method to help people with mild to moderate insomnia. Clinicians assess the sleep hygiene of people with insomnia and other conditions, such as depression, and offer recommendations based on the assessment. Sleep hygiene recommendations include establishing a regular sleep schedule, using naps with care, not exercising physically too close to bedtime, limiting worry, limiting exposure to light in the hours before sleep, getting out of bed if sleep does not come, not using bed for anything but sleep and sex, avoiding alcohol in the hours before bedtime, and having a peaceful, comfortable and dark sleep environment.
The Ferber method, or Ferberization, is a technique invented by Richard Ferber to solve infant sleep problems. It involves "sleep-training" children to self-soothe by allowing the child to cry for a predetermined amount of time at intervals before receiving external comfort.
Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user's actions by presenting content such as text, moving image, animation, video and audio. Since its early conception, various forms of interactive media have emerged with impacts on educational and commercial markets. With the rise of decision-driven media, concerns surround the impacts of cybersecurity and societal distraction.
Circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSD), also known as circadian rhythm sleep–wake disorders (CRSWD), are a family of sleep disorders that affect the timing of sleep. CRSDs cause a persistent pattern of sleep/wake disturbances that arise either by dysfunction in one's biological clock system, or by misalignment between one's endogenous oscillator and externally imposed cues. As a result of this misalignment, those affected by circadian rhythm sleep disorders can fall asleep at unconventional time points in the day, or experience excessive daytime sleepiness if they resist. These occurrences often lead to recurring instances of disrupted rest and wakefulness, where individuals affected by the disorder are unable to go to sleep and awaken at "normal" times for work, school, and other social obligations. Delayed sleep phase disorder, advanced sleep phase disorder, non-24-hour sleep–wake disorder and irregular sleep–wake rhythm disorder represent the four main types of CRSD.
Nomophobia is a word for the fear of, or anxiety caused by, not having a working mobile phone. It has been considered a symptom or syndrome of problematic digital media use in mental health, the definitions of which are not standardized for technical and genetical reasons.
Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary widely in severity. All known animals sleep or exhibit some form of sleep behavior, and the importance of sleep is self-evident for humans, as nearly a third of a person's life is spent sleeping. Sleep deprivation is common as it affects about one-third of the population.
Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impairing ability to function in at least some aspects of daily life. These fears can be triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others. Individuals with social anxiety disorder fear negative evaluations from other people.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a therapy technique for treating insomnia without medications. CBT-I aims to improve sleep habits and behaviors by identifying and changing thoughts and behaviors that prevent a person from sleeping well.
Screen time is the amount of time spent using a device with a screen such as a smartphone, computer, television, video game console, or a tablet. The concept is under significant research with related concepts in digital media use and mental health. Screen time is correlated with mental and physical harm in child development. The positive or negative health effects of screen time are influenced by levels and content of exposure. To prevent harmful exposure to screen time, some governments have placed regulations on its usage.
Problematic smartphone use is psychological or behavioral dependence on cell phones. It is closely related to other forms of digital media overuse such as social media addiction or internet addiction disorder.
Sleep deprivation – the condition of not having enough sleep – is a common health issue for students in higher education. This issue has several underlying and negative consequences, but there are a few helpful improvements that students can make to reduce its frequency and severity.
The relationships between digital media use and mental health have been investigated by various researchers—predominantly psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and medical experts—especially since the mid-1990s, after the growth of the World Wide Web and rise of text messaging. A significant body of research has explored "overuse" phenomena, commonly known as "digital addictions", or "digital dependencies". These phenomena manifest differently in many societies and cultures. Some experts have investigated the benefits of moderate digital media use in various domains, including mental health, and treating mental health problems with novel technological solutions. Studies have also suggested that certain digital media use, such as online support communities, may offer mental health benefits, although the effects are quite complex.
Behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) is a field within sleep medicine that encompasses scientific inquiry and clinical treatment of sleep-related disorders, with a focus on the psychological, physiological, behavioral, cognitive, social, and cultural factors that affect sleep, as well as the impact of sleep on those factors. The clinical practice of BSM is an evidence-based behavioral health discipline that uses primarily non-pharmacological treatments. BSM interventions are typically problem-focused and oriented towards specific sleep complaints, but can be integrated with other medical or mental health treatments. The primary techniques used in BSM interventions involve education and systematic changes to the behaviors, thoughts, and environmental factors that initiate and maintain sleep-related difficulties.
Sleep problems are found to be correlated with poor well-being and low quality of life. Persistent sleeping disturbances can lead to fatigue, irritability, and various health issues. Numerous studies have examined the positive impact of music on sleep quality. As early as 2000 B.C., lullabies were designed to aid infant sleep. For adults with sleep-related disorders, music serves as a useful intervention in reducing stress. Approximately 25% of the population facing sleep difficulties regularly use music as a tool for relaxation. This process can be either self-prescribed or under the guidance of a music therapist.
Sleep tracking is the process of monitoring a person's sleep, most commonly through measuring inactivity and movement. A device that tracks a person's sleep is called a sleep tracker. Sleep tracking may be beneficial in diagnosing sleep disorders. As sleep abnormalities are also symptoms of mental illness or relapsing psychotic disorders, it may also be beneficial in diagnosing mental disorders and psychotic disorders as well.