7 Tips To Curb Bedtime Procrastination (Find The Eight Episode #2)

Imagine it’s 10PM.

You know you should get to bed on time, but you finally have the freedom to do what you want and destress—watch some shows, scroll online, talk to your friends, play video games.  

You say to yourself that you’ll just relax for an hour or two but then but then next thing you know it’s 1AM, 2AM, 3AM...  

The following morning when you wake up, you’re kicking yourself for staying up too late yet again. You don’t even know how you spent all that time. 

Bedtime procrastination. It’s so hard to avoid. So, what can you do about it?

Here are 7 tips to curb bedtime procrastination.  

This one is deceptively simple but powerful. Setting clear intention makes it so much more likely that you’ll actually be ready for sleep when you want to be.  

Aiming to get to bed on time without aiming for a specific time is like being told to ‘be on time for school’ but not actually be told what time classes start for the day.  

Consider writing out the time and posting is somewhere to remind you. Tell someone else you are aiming for this bedtime. The accountability and social pressure helps.

There is one trap to avoid and that’s choosing a time that is before your body is ready for sleep…leading to you lying in bed frustrated that you cannot sleep. If this is a problem for you, then take a listen to Find the Eight Episode 1: The #1 Sleep Trap You Need to Avoid.

TIP#2: ONCE YOU'VE CHOSEN YOUR TARGET TIME FOR SLEEP, SET AN ALARM FOR THIS TIME AS WELL AS 30-60 MINUTES BEFOREHAND TO START WINDING DOWN

I cannot tell you how many times I have burned things in the oven because I’d thought that I’d just keep track of the time.

Just like tip #1, this one takes little effort but can make a huge difference.

TIP #3: MOVE ANYTHING YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE SLEEP TO AN EARLIER TIME IN THE EVENING SO THAT THESE THINGS DON'T TRIP YOU UP AT THE END OF THE NIGHT 

Have you ever found yourself ready for sleep—maybe you’re even in bed—but then you remember that you have to make your lunch or brush your teeth?

Then after you’ve done these tasks, you find you’re no longer sleepy?

Or have you ever found yourself putting off bedtime because you’re too tired to bother brushing your teeth or get changed so avoid it and it takes less energy to just keep doing whatever it is that you’re doing?  

To avoid this, brainstorm all the stuff that has to be done before you can go to sleep and schedule these things earlier in the evening so they don’t end up tripping you up at the end of the night.  

Ideally, put what you can on autopilot by scheduling what you need to do earlier in the night, setting an alarm to remind you, or tying the task to an existing habit.

For example—your bedtime routine.

Set an alarm to get changed into your PJs, brush your teeth, and wash your face at 9PM. Or you can just make it a rule that you will always do your bathroom routine right after you finish dinner.

For stuff that comes up day-to-day like random things your parents ask you to do or things that you have to do for school the next day, keep a list on a pad of paper on your phone notes and get this stuff done right after you do your bathroom routine earlier in the evening.  

This way, when you feel sleepy towards the end of the night, you can’t just get into bed and catch that wave of sleepiness.

TIP #4: GIVE YOURSELF A SMALL TREAT ONCE YOU'RE READY FOR SLEEP

Set aside a magazine, a book, a podcast episode, or another activity that you’re excited for and only allow yourself to have it once you are ready for sleep.

TIP #5: DEFINE WHAT YOU'RE UP AGAINST

Take a moment to reflect on the top three thing that suck you in and are big time wasters for you.

Is it Netflix? Scrolling on your feeds? Organizing and reorganizing your schoolwork?

In future episodes, we’ll cover how to safeguard yourself against these activities. For now, whenever you start these activities, set a timer for 10 minutes so that when the alarm goes off, you can make a conscious decision about whether you want to continue or not.

TIP #6: DEFINE HOW BEDTIME PROCRASTINATION IS COSTING YOU

We often have a vague sense that procrastination is not a good thing but making the costs really obvious can give you the motivation you need to actually do something about it.

Is bedtime procrastination causing you to feel awful when you wake up?

Is it leading to fights with your parents and they’re hover over you because they’re having a hard time trusting you?  

Are you late for school or missing a lot of school and this means that you’re falling behind?  

Are you not performing or learning as well as you could?  

Or you just don’t feel in control over your time?

Instead of just thinking about the costs, take 5 minutes to write them down—there is something about writing that allows you to really clarify your thinking and you find costs you didn’t even know existed.

TIP #7: SCHEDULE SATISFYING ACTIVITIES

Bedtime procrastination is often fuelled by this sense that we need more of a break. Unfortunately, what we do when procrastinating doesn’t tend to be all that restorative. It can then be helpful to schedule some time to do something that truly rejuvenates you.

This may be playing guitar for 30 minutes, taking a bath, or having a relaxing conversation with someone important to you.

This stuff is just as important as work and will help you be more productive. To operate optimally, your body and mind need real rest—not just mindless scrolling. 

Ideally, you schedule a regular time in the evening. If the time isn’t carved out and protected, it is much less likely to happen. The pull of social media or the stress of getting school work done is just too strong in the moment.

ACTION

Decide on your target bedtime for tonight and then set an alarm on your phone for 30-60 minutes before that time.

When you set this alarm, save Future You the effort and put it on repeat every night.

This should take you no more than 1 minute but may give you back hours of time and I'd suggest you do this right now otherwise it’s so much less likely that you will remember to do it later on.

SUMMARY

If you want to avoid staying up late doing things that don’t actually matter to you and then paying for it the next day and you want to be more in control of over how you spend your time, then use the following strategies:

1. Define your target sleep time

2. Set alarms for this target sleep time as well as for your wind-down time 30-60 minutes earlier

3. Move things you need to get done earlier in the evening

4. Give yourself a treat at the end of the night

5. Define your top three time wasters and set a timer for 10 minutes to keep yourself from getting sucked in

6. Define the nitty-gritty costs of bedtime procrastination

7. Schedule satisfying activities

One last thing—no guilt! You don’t have to try all of these tips at once but just try something. And, remember, you’re trying to change your habits and initially this can be really challenging.

Stick with it, make tweaks as you go, figure out what works for you and it will become easier with time.