Summary

Emily DesRoches
Staying up late is familiar for college students, no matter the reason for it. Yet, why do they choose to stay up late when there is no reasoning for it? Well, it could be “revenge bedtime procrastination”, also known as RBP.

Emily DesRoches

Staying up late is familiar for college students, no matter the reason for it. Yet, why do they choose to stay up late? Well, it could be, “revenge bedtime procrastination”, also known as RBP.

According to Eric Suni, a science writer, and Alex Dimitriu, a board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine, revenge bedtime procrastination is, “the decision to sacrifice sleep for leisure time that is driven by a daily schedule lacking in free time.”

Like procrastination in daily life, RBP is delaying the act of going to sleep without a valid reason to do so. For instance, sacrificing sleep to watch TV, scroll through TikTok or any short, formed content, or playing video games is procrastination. While staying up to study or get important work done would not be.

What Does “Revenge” Mean?

The “revenge” portion of revenge bedtime procrastination became popular on social media. A post by Daphne K. Lee, a journalist, on X, deriving from the Chinese expression, “報復性熬夜” (translation: “revenge bedtime procrastination”) tied with the long stressful, work hours with little free time. The concept grew even more during the Covid-19 pandemic as working from home extended working hours.

It stems from the retaliation of the 996-work schedule in China, where one would work from 9am to 9pm for 6 days a week. This schedule ended up being ruled illegal by the Chinese government on 26 August, 2021. Having that little free time made it so workers were taking revenge on the little daytime hours they had.

Who Is Most Likely to Have RBP?

Students are most likely to have RBP, especially ones who work alongside doing their studies. A study by Radoslawa Herzog-Krzywoszanska, a Polish psychologist, that students and women scored higher on a Bedtime Procrastination Scale (BPS) than non-students and men.

Another group is people with high-stress jobs that take up a lot of time. The main correlation for having RBP is the amount of free time one has. However, there is not much research to fully confirm the groups of people most affected by RBP.

RBP and Sleep Deprivation

The result of RBH is sleep deprivation which leads to daytime fatigue. There is an affect on cognitive functions such as attention, memory and information processing. These negatively correspond with academic performance from a study by Dr Farhat Ijaz, a professor at CMH Lahore Medical College. Some more consequences are listed below:

• Increases drowsy driving
• Irritability
• Troubles regulating emotion
• Mental disorders such as depression and anxiety
• Worsens physical health
• Possible long-term health problems

How to Prevent RBP?

Firstly, having a set schedule before going to bed is important, including the time to go to bed and the time to wake up. This allows for the process of going to bed to seem automatic rather than not knowing when the body is going to sleep.

A prevention method that many struggle with is not using electronics before bed. However, that is a good method to be able to fall asleep. The blue light from electronics suppresses melatonin, a hormone that plays a role in one’s circadian rhythm.

Relaxation methods are also very useful. So, instead of watching something on a phone, reading a book may be a more desirable choice. There is a study done by researchers at University of Sussex, that participants who read for 6 minutes resulted in lessened muscle tension and a slowed heart rate.

Other options could be meditating or stretching before bed. This meditating eases any racing thoughts before bed, as the focus is put on breathing and the body instead. It also, lessens the fight-or-flight response to stress as it brings a physical relaxation response.

A bedroom should be a comfortable and inviting environment to fall asleep in. Having a comfortable mattress in a quiet, dark room is ideal for falling asleep.

In the instances, where one cannot fall asleep in this environment, Lauren Whitehurst, a cognitive neuroscientist and sleep researcher, says, “go ahead and get up out of bed.” Instead of trying to lay down and force the sleep, get up and do something else, such as chores, walk around the house, or some of the relaxation activities stated above.