DEAR DOCTOR…

HEALTH QUESTIONS DEALT WITH BY SCIENCE FOCUS EXPERTS

I ALWAYS FIND THINGS TO DO LATE AT NIGHT AND IT’S STOPPING ME FROM SLEEPING. HELP!

Life is busy and there are usually multiple things that we could be doing at any particular time. In this case, perhaps chipping away at an endless to-do list is leading to a late bedtime. An alternative possibility is that a hectic day can result in the desire to take time out for ourselves once the working day has finished. Perhaps we call friends or catch up on TV shows rather than sleep. This latter possibility has been referred to as ‘revenge bedtime procrastination’, which stems from a Chinese saying reflecting an absence of free time due to our hectic and stressful working lives. This is not a phrase used widely within scientific literature – although there are studies focusing on bedtime procrastination more generally – which suggests that this is associated with poor self-regulation and missing out on sleep.

Given this, it might be worthwhile considering different techniques that can be used to reduce procrastination. A review of the literature highlighted different interventions for reducing procrastination more generally, including those focusing on developing self-regulation (for example, setting a bedtime and developing time management skills) and cognitive behavioural techniques (challenging those thought patterns that could be maintaining the procrastination). These techniques now need to be further tailored specifically for sleep procrastination to be most effective for those who are missing out on their Zzzs. AG