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Tired but Can’t Sleep? How Revenge Bedtime Procrastination Sabotages Your Rest

22 Aug 2025

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You collapse into bed after another exhausting day, promising yourself just a quick scroll to unwind. Suddenly, what was supposed to be a 30-minute break turns into hours of either binge-watching or endless social media scrolling. Sound familiar? Well, you’re not alone! It’s called Revenge Bedtime Procrastination (RBP). That frustrating habit where we stay up late, sabotaging our own sleep in an act of silent rebellion against the day’s demands. It’s like stealing back a little bit of “me time,” but at what cost? Why do we do this to ourselves? And how do we break the cycle before we’re running on caffeine and regret? Let’s unpack the science and psychology behind this exhausting habit and reclaim those precious, restful nights.

Why does this happen?

  • Loss of Freedom During the Day

One major reason behind RBP is the feeling of loss of control during the day (Godoy & Nguyen, 2022). When your schedules are packed, and your responsibilities feel overwhelming, it’s easy to feel like your time belongs to work, family, or other commitments. As a result, the evening becomes a rare and only opportunity to reclaim a fragment of that personal freedom (Khou et al., 2024). Staying up late becomes the only escape before the dreaded tomorrow comes yet again.

  • Instant Gratification

Another culprit is our desire for immediate pleasure. When we’re exhausted and our willpower has been drained by the day’s challenges, easy sources of happiness become incredibly tempting. Social media platforms or television shows promise quick hits of dopamine, a chemical that temporarily but instantly boosts our mood (Suni, 2025). These distractions provide immediate relief from stress and boredom. But while this instant gratification feels good in the moment, it often leads to regret in the morning when we realize we’ve sacrificed our precious sleep for fleeting pleasures.

Health Impacts of RBP

According to Stanford Student Affairs, consistent and prolonged RBP may result in sleep deprivation. Because both the body and the mind can not fully recharge, it will be difficult to perform our tasks efficiently. Lack of sleep also degrades our cognitive functioning, health, and mental well-being. This means that our thinking processes, memory retaining, and decision-making ability can be hindered severely.

As said before, our physical health can certainly be affected by RBP in the long term. Serious physical disorders like cardiovascular issues could arise, or even worse, metabolic diseases, like diabetes (Cleveland Clinic, 2025). Not only that, insufficient sleep also degrades our immunity system.

How to Overcome RBP?

Because RBP is often associated with the increased use of electronic devices to access entertainment in the form of social media platforms, streaming apps, and others, one of the most suitable sleep hygiene habits would be to have an electronics curfew. By setting a curfew, you are committing not to use your electronic devices 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed. This encourages mindfulness of your own body without the endless hits of dopamine that otherwise you would get from using your phone.

The last solution—and equally as important as the others—is creating a conducive sleep environment. The common methods are turning on the air conditioner to make cooler temperature, putting on night lights or blackout curtains to minimize overstimulation, and developing your personal sleeping ritual, such as reading a book and breathing exercises. 

Conclusion

So, here’s the deal: Revenge Bedtime Procrastination (RBP) isn’t just some random late-night scroll; it’s our exhausted brains trying to grab back a piece of the day. When our schedules are packed and “me-time” feels non-existent, hitting up social media or binge-watching shows becomes our rebellious act. Still, this “revenge” actually backfires. All that extra screen time messes up our sleep, which can seriously tank our focus, memory, mood, and leave long-term physical health problems.

The good news is, we’re not stuck in the cycle. Beating RBP means getting smart about our sleep habits. Something like setting an electronics curfew, then setting our room to be a total chill zone. You can also experiment with simple bedtime routines. Like reading physical books, stretching, whatever helps you wind down. It’s all about taking control of your nights so you can actually crush your days.

 

References

Kelompok 4 CP H&E - KMG 25'26