Revenge bedtime procrastination is the phenomenon of intentionally delaying sleep in order to engage in activities for which one feels there is no time during the day.
The glow on his mobile phone screen often signals the end of Mohammad Daniyal Shahid’s day.
The final year MBBS student, who is busy preparing for exams, says that evenings are the only moments when he truly feels himself. “There are lectures, wards and studies scheduled throughout the day,” he says. “Evenings are the only time I feel like I have time to myself.”
In between lectures, clinical rotations, and the constant pressure of becoming a doctor, Daniyal dedicates his time to his passions: travel, fitness, and photography.
But when I looked at my screen time reports, I noticed that it was often more than 4-5 hours. “I decided to scroll for a few minutes and before I knew it, it was 2 a.m.,” he says. “That’s when I realized I was falling asleep again.”
Late night hours are both comfortable and expensive. For Daniyal, they are a means of gaining control, a quiet rebellion against his hectic schedule and constant responsibilities. “I feel like I’m getting my time back,” he says. “But the next day it’s terrible.”
He says you’ll feel extremely tired the next morning, lack motivation, and one bad night can ruin your whole week. “You wake up tired and irritable and the cycle repeats,” he added.
Daniyal has tried small solutions, like drinking water before touching his phone, trying supplements, and imagining a future where he might rest better with a sleep tracker and clean air. Still, he admits that scrolling before bed is a habit he’d like to break.
“I know it’s unhealthy, but it’s hard to quit,” he says. “It’s become a habit.”
Daniyal is not alone.
Amna Aslam, a second-year university student, describes her relationship with her cell phone as disciplined and forgiving.
“I use my phone most of the time during the day, but I limit my use when I’m using blocks or modules,” she says. “Avoid using any kind of content during the exam, even YouTube shorts.”
“But at night, it’s different. At night, I reward myself for the day’s work. I use my phone for 30 to 120 minutes to get that dopamine hit,” she explains.
Instagram is her main source of entertainment, which she admits is very appealing. “I limit my use of Instagram to weekends because it’s time-consuming. In everyday life, I only use it for WhatsApp, YouTube Shorts, and Netflix.”
Amna prefers shows with multiple short episodes and watches them at a faster speed. “As a college student, I developed the habit of watching everything at 1.5x to 2x speed to cope with the workload,” she says.
But she admits that the habit sometimes had consequences. “Excessive cell phone use at night could lead to serious problems, such as missing classes or lectures the next day or feeling very sleepy,” she says.
Recover time after dark
What Daniyal and Amna experienced is known as “revenge bedtime procrastination,” which refers to the phenomenon of intentionally delaying sleep in order to engage in activities for which one feels they don’t have time during the day.
These activities may include scrolling through social media, watching videos, chatting online, or simply staying awake and enjoying some uninterrupted personal time. It’s often seen as relaxation and “me time,” but it comes at the expense of getting enough sleep.
The term “bedtime procrastination” was first introduced in an academic paper published in 2014. The paper described it as going to bed later than intended for no external reason.
The word “revenge” was later added in China. In China, long working hours (sometimes up to 12 hours a day) forced workers to sacrifice sleep as a way to regain control of their lives.
The concept gained widespread attention with a viral post by journalist Daphne K. Lee. He described this behavior as “what happens when people who don’t have much control over their lives during the day refuse to go to bed early in order to regain some sense of freedom late at night.”
From tiring routines to daily habits
Although this phenomenon is closely related to China’s harsh “996” work culture, its influence is no longer limited to one country. a BBC The report, citing a 2018 national survey, found that around 60 percent of people born after 1990 in China, especially those living in big cities where technology-driven work environments dominate, don’t get enough sleep.
Experts say similar patterns are now being seen around the world. Increased screen time, blurred boundaries between work and rest, remote employment, and academic pressures have all made sleep delays more common, especially among young people.
When sleep delay is a clinical problem
talk to dawnDr. Bilal Saleem, a general physician at Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) in Bahawalpur, said patients who seek medical help for sleep-related problems often already have psychological or psychiatric symptoms.
“Most patients who come to us already have a medical condition, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, or a manic episode,” Dr. Saleem explains. “In a manic state, there’s the pressure of thinking, and in an anxious state, you wake up thinking too much and feeling restless.”
He added that people who don’t have a diagnosed mental health condition rarely visit their doctor simply to explain why they’re sleeping late.
“People don’t come and say, ‘Doctor, I’m using my phone so much that I’m going to bed late,'” he says. “They usually never report it because they think this is normal behavior and not a medical problem.”
“For the general population, common reasons are lifestyle-related factors such as excessive mobile usage, social media, daytime sleeping, work stress, and night shifts,” he says.
Dr. Saleem points out that people who come to their doctors with complaints related to late bedtime complaints usually do so when they are already sick, and are often related to underlying mental health conditions.
“The average person does not consider sleep delay to be a health problem,” he added. “They only seek help if their symptoms are affecting their work, schoolwork, or mental health. Otherwise, they adjust their routines themselves and assume it’s just part of modern life.”
She said the main reason people don’t report symptoms is a lack of awareness that what they’re experiencing is a behavioral or health problem.
“Most people don’t even know there’s a term for this. They think sleeping late is normal in modern life,” he says. “They don’t realize that this habit is secretly harming their health, productivity, and mental well-being.”
He explains that many young people have become accustomed to fatigue and irregular sleep patterns as part of academic pressures, work culture and digital lifestyles. “They say, ‘Everyone goes to bed late, so what’s the problem?'” But over time, their lives become difficult. They feel tired, lose focus, become irritable, and their mental health suffers. ”
Doctors say people usually seek help only when the consequences become serious. “You realize something is wrong when it starts to affect your studies, work, and relationships. Before that, you just adjust and accept it as normal.”
He added that awareness is key. “If people understood that sleep deprivation is a health problem, not just a habit, they would seek help sooner and make lifestyle changes.”
Psychology of control and autonomy
From a psychological perspective, retaliation for bedtime procrastination is closely related to autonomy and control. Kulchak Alam, a graduate student and psychologist at the University of Karachi, explains that people who spend their days following a schedule imposed by work, study, or family often use the night to regain their personal freedom.
“Late hours are the only time children can choose what to do without being interrupted,” she said. dawn. “While this can provide a temporary sense of security and control, this coping mechanism can be counterproductive if practiced regularly.”
She added that over time, disrupted sleep patterns can lead to physical fatigue, emotional instability and broader psychological problems.
Youth, self-esteem, and emotional regulation
Dr. Farah Iqbal, a psychologist and professor of criminology at Karachi University, explains that sleep procrastination in young people is strongly associated with emotional dysregulation and unresolved psychological stress.
“Fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, especially those intensified during the pandemic, are compromising young people’s ability to effectively manage their emotions.”
She noted that low self-esteem also plays a central role. “In the real world of work and education, young people often feel undervalued and unable to compete. Constant comparison to seemingly more successful peers creates a sense of deprivation and undermines self-esteem.”
Social media becomes an alternative space where individuals can construct identities, play with self-image and escape feelings of inadequacy, she said.
Dr. Iqbal added that such behavior is neither innate nor natural. This problem develops over time due to early childhood exposure to gadgets, changing work patterns, and lack of healthy leisure time during the day, leading young people to treat nighttime as their only personal space.
“Retaliation for later bedtimes is also a reflection of resistance. When young people are unable to express injustice, frustration and lack of control during the day, they retaliate by staying up at night.”
“This can also serve as a subtle act of defiance against authority figures, such as parents or guardians, who insist on early bedtimes and allow adolescents to assert control over their time,” she says.
Why does FOMO put young people to sleep?
Fear of missing out (FOMO) often reinforces that behavior. Teens watch shows, scroll through feeds, and respond to messages without getting up, not necessarily out of interest, but out of fear of being excluded from conversations, trends, and shared experiences. The need to stay connected outweighs physical fatigue, pushing sleep further into the background.
“You don’t want to be the only one the next day who doesn’t know what everyone is talking about,” Daniyal says. “That’s why you keep scrolling even when you’re tired.”
For Daniyal, the quiet defiance of staying awake feels temporary, coupled with the pressures of medical school and the uncertainty of a demanding career path.
“This is my way of taking back control,” he says. “But it’s a control that drains your energy the next day.”
But he knows the irony of sacrificing sleep while training to become a doctor.
“Sleep is one of the most underrated pillars of health,” he says, recognizing the impact that adequate rest has on mood, productivity, and physical health.
Although he hopes that once exams are over and life settles down, he won’t be chasing time through endless scrolling at night, he believes it’s essential to regain time through deep, restorative sleep, not just for his patients, but for himself as well.
Header image: Young man using mobile phone while lying in bed late at night. — Canva AI
