Revenge Bedtime Procrastination…
Picture this…you look at the clock and it’s 10:30. You’re pumped because you know after one episode of your favorite show, you’ll be in bed at 11:00 which is perfect. It’s exactly what you planned.
One episode comes and goes…and the dreaded “next episode starting in 15 seconds” pops up on the screen. Without having to move a muscle, you get to give yourself that reward of another 30 minutes of relaxation and leisure with…just…one more episode.
It’s now 12:30 and after binging half a series, you start doing the math.
“If I get to bed right now, I can still get 5 and half hours….that’s not too bad”….
You go to set the alarm on your phone and want to just quickly check how many likes you got on your recent post on instagram. All of a sudden, as if awakening from a coma, you realize it happened again. You fell down a social media rabbit hole and it’s 2:00 in the morning.
Another crappy night of sleep.
So why does this happen? With all the best intentions of getting to bed on time, all we seem to want to do is stay up as late as possible. It’s a problem in our mind because we don’t consciously want to stay up but subconsciously there is a different conversation happening.
This is a problem that has come to be known as “Revenege Bedtime Procrastination”
It’s when your conscious, responsible self knows the benefits of getting a good nights rest and intends to do so but your emotional state is in need of more.
We’re simply trying to avoid having to start the very next day and if we stay up as late as possible, then in a way we can achieve that. It’s actually getting revenge on ourselves for either an over worked schedule, or something worse.
Today I’m going to break down a very simple 5 step framework that will help you finally overcome Revenge Bedtime Procrastination teach you how to finally get to bed at a reasonable hour.
Once you go through this process, take action immediately. Stay in the emotional moment, know you can do this and put systems into place fast.
Don’t be hard on yourself but be hard on the journey. What I mean by this is that most likely it will take some time to really figure out what’s going on and how to dial it in.
And that’s totally ok.
So instead of being hard on yourself, be hard on the consistency. Don’t give up and eventually you will finally wake refreshed….and happy!
If you’re interested in learning more detail regarding how to put together a PM routine, check out this episode.
And if you’re looking to better track your routines, the Ritual Design Planner might be for you.
Thanks for being here!