Bad Revenge

When I first saw the term mentioned on social media, it instantly resonated.

Revenge bedtime procrastination

It's late; you are exhausted from the day. Instead of allowing yourself to drift off to sleep, you jump into some "leisure" activity.

Binge-watching Netflix, podcasts, doom-scrolling, or any number of other things that your Grandmother won't recognize as leisure.

Revenge bedtime procrastination is when you delay your bedtime without having any reason to do so. It's an attempt to create a small pocket of control to compensate for the lack of control you feel throughout your day.

It feeds a sad cycle of late nights and early mornings. Your sleep is ruined, and you aren't really in control of much of anything.

Some of the causes of revenge bedtime procrastination are stress, busy days, and anxiety about tomorrow.

COVID and remote working makes things worse, creating a blurred line between home and work. After all, working from home sounded great until you realized that it meant that you were living at work.

Paying attention and practicing good sleep hygiene setting a bedtime and sticking to it, and setting aside some leisure time that you fully control before your bedtime are all ways that you can start to break the cycle.

Once you become aware of this pattern, it's easier to break. As you step back, it becomes evident that you are doing more harm than good.

Remember: "No revenge is more honorable than the one not taken."  —Spanish Proverb

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