Sleep procrastination: a habit many families practice (even though they shouldn't)

BarcelonaYou get home at dusk, tired from a double shift if you have children, and you promise yourself that, considering how hard it was to get up in the morning—as you do every day, in fact—you'll go to bed early tonight. But, one more night, when everything stops and the kids are finally asleep, you just can't manage it: that book you're reading, that series you're hooked on, taking the time to check social media and interact with the people you follow and who follow us, having time to chat with your partner after dinner, preparing for the next day... And you're back at the end of the day... And the next day, at work, at school, or at college, you remind yourself again that you have to go to bed earlier because the accumulated tiredness is starting to affect you. Does this situation sound familiar? Do you recognize it? Sleep procrastination –revenge bedtime procrastination, as it has been dubbed in English—is a situation that, to a greater or lesser extent, young and old, we have all experienced.

As Dolors Liria, psychologist and vice-dean of the Official College of Psychology of Catalonia, explains, most of us have very long days with many compressed activities that generate a lot of mental workload. And when we get home, especially in the case of mothers and fathers with children, this day is longer. "With all this, we get to bedtime with our heads full of things and we look for a moment to disconnect and be calm, which is logical. The conflict arises when these moments come late at night and for this we have to sacrifice part of our time to sleep, which is also very necessary to be able to repair."

This situation does not only occur in adults; it also happens in children and young people. In this regard, Liria points out that, normally, adults don't adapt to children's schedules; rather, it's the children who must adapt to theirs. "That's why they're also overloaded with activities, which doesn't mean they aren't positive, but rather they do them because there's no other option, since parents get home late as a result of these long hours." Liria states that, in any case, everyone should consider, within their own capabilities, how to ensure that creatures can sleep a minimum number of hours necessary and keep in mind that there are more of them than adults need.

But in the case of young people, as Dr. Pilar Santacana, co-director of the Sleep Unit at the Girona Clinic, explains, postponing bedtime is compounded by another factor. "They also have a biological factor: their internal clock naturally shifts to later hours. This makes it harder for them to go to bed early. If we add screens, social media, or homework, it's easy for them to end up going to bed much later than they should." The effects of this sleep procrastination in adolescents are quite visible, as it affects their academic performance and memory. "Sleep is essential for consolidating learning, and if they don't get enough sleep, what they've studied isn't properly recorded. They also experience more mood swings and irritability, and other long-term risks can arise, such as increased fatigue and lack of concentration," says Santacana.

Advancing Self-Care

"We can't think that we should relegate self-care to the last moment of the day, therefore, we must do things throughout the day so we don't arrive with so much mental overload at night," says Liria. She recommends finding creative ways to "relieve pressure," such as taking advantage of an outing to run some errands and getting some exercise before returning to work or home. "This little extra two-minute walk helps us breathe, so we're more productive and focused on work later, and, at the same time, it helps us release that overload."

These "small satisfactions" that can help us decompress, ward off the need to do it at the last moment of the day. "If we relegate it until then, what happens is that the pleasures we seek at the last moment of the day are usually linked to very short-term satisfaction, such as social media." In this case, Liria acknowledges that they can help us disconnect, but that if the time spent on social media is prolonged, we increase the risk of anxiety. "At all times in history, humans have had to set limits on themselves in relation to different things. And now the challenge is to set limits on ourselves in the use of certain technologies, which are very useful, but if we abuse them, they can backfire on us."

It's important to note that, aside from the reasonable discomforts due to fatigue, sleep procrastination can lead to other long-term problems. "When it lasts for a long time, it increases the risk of cardiovascular problems, metabolic disorders, and mental health disorders. Getting a good night's sleep is essential for the proper functioning of the brain and body," says Dr. Inés Galofré, co-director of the Sleep Unit at the Girona Clinic. Furthermore, taken to the extreme, it can also lead to very serious anxiety attacks that can eventually lead to depression.

"If we feel that the situation is getting out of hand, that we have a hard time setting limits, and that it's affecting our emotional or physical health, or that it's limiting our daily lives, we should seek professional help to change our habits and discover the resources we have to make it happen," Liria emphasizes.