Revenge bedtime procrastination is staying up later than you planned, with nothing forcing you to, because the evening is the only time that feels like yours. Researchers use the plainer term bedtime procrastination, defined as failing to go to bed at the intended time while no external circumstances prevent it [1]. It is common, it is linked to getting too little sleep, and it responds best to small changes: a protected hour for yourself earlier in the day, a wind down cue, and a phone that charges outside the bedroom.
Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. We make it, and we mention it briefly near the end. Nothing here is medical advice.
What revenge bedtime procrastination means
The popular name describes a feeling: a busy day took your time, so you take it back from your sleep. The research term leaves out the revenge and keeps the behaviour. Going to bed later than you intended, for no outside reason, is the core of it [1].
It looks like this:
- You plan to be in bed at 23:00 and you are still scrolling at 00:30.
- You know you will be tired tomorrow and you stay up anyway.
- Nothing is wrong with your sleep once you finally lie down.
- The late hour feels good while it is happening and bad the next morning.
That last point is why it counts as procrastination. You choose a short term reward and push the cost onto tomorrow, the same trade described in our guide to why you procrastinate.
How common is it?
In a survey of 177 adults, bedtime procrastination was related to reporting insufficient sleep, even after taking demographics and self regulation into account [1]. A later survey of a representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 2,431) found that a large share of the general population regularly goes to bed later than they would like and gets insufficient sleep [2]. That study also found that the link between weaker self regulation and insufficient sleep ran through bedtime procrastination [2].
These are surveys, so they show associations and not proof of cause. A systematic review and meta analysis has since pulled together the research on what goes with bedtime procrastination and what it does to sleep [3]. The paper is paywalled for us, so we cite it for its scope and not for any numbers.
Why we do it
Three kinds of late bedtime
A qualitative study interviewed 17 frequent bedtime procrastinators who had no diagnosed sleep disorder or shift work. It found three patterns [4]:
Seventeen people is a small sample, so treat the categories as a useful way to sort your own evenings, not a diagnosis. The third pattern matters most. The authors noted that strategic delay may be linked to undiagnosed insomnia [4]. If lying in bed awake is your main problem, a doctor is a better first step than a habit change.
Mood and self criticism
Bedtime procrastination also connects to how people handle bad feelings. In two surveys of community adults, people who were more self compassionate reported less bedtime procrastination, partly because they had lower negative mood and used healthier ways of reframing it [5]. This is correlational data and the authors call the evidence preliminary. It fits a pattern many people recognise: being harsh with yourself about a bad day makes the late night feel more necessary.
7 steps to stop it tonight
1. Name which kind it is
Look at last night. Did you stay up on purpose to have time for yourself, lose track of time, or avoid lying awake? Each has a different fix, and the next steps are ordered with that in mind.
2. Give yourself time earlier in the day
If the late hour is the only time that feels like yours, move some of it. Put 30 minutes of something you like into the afternoon or early evening and protect it as you would a meeting. The goal is that the night stops being your only window.
3. Set a stop time and a start time
"Go to bed earlier" is vague. Choose two clock times: when you stop screens, and when the light goes out. Writing an if then plan helps, for example: "When my phone hits 22:30, I plug it in across the room and start brushing my teeth."
4. Move the phone
For mindless evenings, the phone is usually the cause. A survey of adults linked bedtime mobile phone use with worse sleep [6]. Charge it outside arm's reach, and buy a cheap alarm clock if the phone is also your alarm. Our post on doom scrolling has more on breaking the night time loop.
5. Shrink the wind down
A long routine you cannot keep is worse than a short one you do. Try three steps: dim the lights, do one low effort thing (a shower, a few pages of a book), and get into bed. Do this for a week before adding anything.
6. Handle the unfinished list before the evening
Part of the late night is the tasks you did not do. If your list is still open at 22:00, write the first step for tomorrow on paper and close it. Our guide to how to stop procrastinating covers ways to get the day's work done earlier, which leaves the evening freer.
7. Go easy on a slip
One late night is not a failure. Given the link between self compassion and less bedtime procrastination in the research above [5], a calm restart tomorrow probably beats a harsh one. Try the same steps again.
When to see a doctor
Get advice from a doctor if you cannot fall asleep even when you go to bed on time, if you feel unrefreshed after a full night, or if tiredness affects your work, driving or mood. Those can be signs of a sleep condition that habit changes will not fix. Our post on why you can't focus lists sleep among several common causes.
Where Roomie Cafe fits
Roomie Cafe is a timer you share with friends. You start a focus session and see who else is focusing, so the work that tends to spill into your evening can happen during the day with company. It is free, and you can try it at roomie.cafe. If you want to know what we believe about working alongside others, read our manifesto.
Frequently asked questions
What is revenge bedtime procrastination?
It is going to bed later than you planned, with no outside reason, to get time for yourself. The research term is bedtime procrastination [1].
Is revenge bedtime procrastination the same as insomnia?
No. In bedtime procrastination you delay going to bed. In insomnia you struggle to sleep once you are in bed. They can overlap, and some people who describe themselves as procrastinating may actually be delaying bedtime because of undiagnosed insomnia [4].
Does revenge bedtime procrastination affect sleep?
Surveys link it to getting insufficient sleep [1][2]. These studies show association, not that one causes the other.
Is it linked to ADHD?
We did not find a study we could verify for this post, so we make no claim either way. If you suspect ADHD and your evenings are out of control, a clinician can assess that.
How do I stop doing it?
Make the evening feel less like your only free time, set a clear stop time, move your phone away from the bed, and keep the wind down short. See the seven steps above.
References
- Kroese, F. M., De Ridder, D. T. D., Evers, C., & Adriaanse, M. A. (2014). Bedtime procrastination: introducing a new area of procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 611.
- Kroese, F. M., Evers, C., Adriaanse, M. A., & de Ridder, D. T. D. (2014). Bedtime procrastination: A self-regulation perspective on sleep insufficiency in the general population. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(5), 853 to 862.
- Hill, V. M., Rebar, A. L., Ferguson, S. A., Shriane, A. E., & Vincent, G. E. (2022). Go to bed! A systematic review and meta-analysis of bedtime procrastination correlates and sleep outcomes. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 66, 101697.
- Nauts, S., Kamphorst, B. A., Stut, W., De Ridder, D. T. D., & Anderson, J. H. (2018). The Explanations People Give for Going to Bed Late: A Qualitative Study of the Varieties of Bedtime Procrastination. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 17(6), 753 to 762.
- Sirois, F. M., Nauts, S., & Molnar, D. S. (2018). Self-Compassion and Bedtime Procrastination: an Emotion Regulation Perspective. Mindfulness, 10(3), 434 to 445.
- Exelmans, L., & Van den Bulck, J. (2016). Bedtime mobile phone use and sleep in adults. Social Science & Medicine, 148, 93 to 101.