Kritika Ahuja (name changed) a Bengaluru-based housewife, complains that her husband, a banker, has fallen prey to ‘revenge bedtime procrastination’. He spends nearly two hours on his phone or tablet before going to bed. “It starts with reading or watching news videos and progressing to mindless videos and stories,” she quips. Divakar G, a city-based professional admits that he too is in the same situation, and is unable to break the habit despite knowing that it is not adding value to his life.
Revenge bedtime procrastination, say experts, is something that overworked people resort to, creating a sleep deficit that does a lot of harm. “It results in profound loss of sleep, sleep rhythm and sleep architecture. There is plenty of evidence that sleep deprivation can lead to side effects including affecting rational thinking and human reflex and can also lead to mood swings,” says Dr Satyanarayana, head of pulmonology and sleep medicine at a city-based
hospital.
YOU CANNOT MAKE UP FOR LOST SLEEP“Many think that they can make up for the lost sleep. But the sleep debt created cannot be compensated after two or three days,” warns Dr Satyanarayana, adding, “Since device luminescence emits light of 400 nanometer wavelength, it affects the pineal gland of the brain that is the center for sleep hormone production, so, patients are advised to take sleep hygiene measures.”
HABIT ON THE RISE IN THE PANDEMICHolistic lifestyle coach - Integrative Medicine, Luke Coutinho says, “This habit of purposeful delay of
sleep time in order to carve some time out for social media and mindless scrolling has always existed, but increased during the pandemic. Late night scrolling is one of the reasons most people are sleep deprived today.”
BREAKING THE CYCLE“Take frequent micro-breaks and macro-breaks, as they give a healthy dissociation from pressure, monotony and boredom, which leads to better performance and better mental health,” says Akansha Pandey,
consultant clinical psychologist. Luke adds, “I encourage people to take out eight hours from their 24 hours of the day for sleep, and then plan their day with the remaining 18 hours. Sleep should never bear the brunt.”
EXPERT SPEAKThe mind strives for an internal equilibrium. Most part of the day is goal and achievement driven, which is largely regulated by external variables and a sense of achievement. But that is not enough to lead to equilibrium. A sense of contentment and satisfaction is also essential, which encompasses innate and non-goal driven activities to feel a sense of control. Hence, at the end of a busy day, people engage in mobile phones to achieve that control, even if it is at the cost of disturbed sleep, poor sexual life, and reduced quality time with a partner
— Akanksha Pandey, consultant clinical psychologist
Here's what you need to do
- Divide your day for work, family/partner, me-time and friends. Invest adequate time in all four.
- Maintain sleep hygiene through a consistent sleep and wake time.
- Replace phones with books during bedtime.
- Practice mindfulness to deal with distracting thoughts during bedtime.
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