This article originally appeared in Psychology Today.
Most of us have had the experience of getting home at the end of a long day at work, taking care of the chores, being with family, and then realizing it is time for sleep. But what if you just don’t feel like going straight to bed after being focused and productive all day? It is very easy to start watching videos or scrolling endlessly through social media. Before you know it, bedtime has long passed and there are only a few hours left to catch some sleep before the cycle begins again.
You may have seen the term “revenge bedtime procrastination” in popular articles. It is not immediately clear what it means but it is the resistance to going to bed in order to have some time for oneself after a long and draining day at work followed by doing all the things that have to be done. It can seem that there are just not enough hours in the day.
People are often reluctant to go to bed even when they are dead tired as they just want to have a few more minutes to relax without having to respond to the demands of the job or take care of family responsibilities. While understandable, this is an ineffective method of stress control and can easily result in daytime sleepiness and fatigue.