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WHY YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BED, AND WHY YOU SHOULD

April 30, 2021 3 Comments

What was your bedtime routine last night? A well-planned wind-down and lights out on schedule? Or a drawn-out process of reading just one more chapter/email/text message followed by putting a wash on, talking to the dog and prepping breakfast? All of which I did last night after the time I’d planned to go to bed.

If this resonates, you may – like me – suffer from Revenge Bedtime Procrastination. It may sound like a random string of words, but it’s worth examining because it may explain why many of us don’t get the sleep we need to age well. The term Bedtime Procrastination was coined by researchers in the Netherlands in 2014 to explain a failure to go to bed at the intended time, even though there’s no external circumstances preventing it. In an article published in Frontiers in Psychology, they reported – unsurprisingly – that people afflicted with bedtime procrastination failed to get enough sleep and had lower levels of wellbeing as a result.

Revenge at bedtime, really?

How does ‘Revenge’ come into Bedtime Procrastination?  The term seems to have originated in China and refers to the idea of ‘taking revenge’ on a hectic and stressful day by reclaiming time for leisure activities at night, even if that comes at the cost of our own sleep. It creates a vicious circle of sleep deprivation, more procrastination because we’re tired, then more sleep deprivation, and so on. It seems that the less self-determination we get in the day due to a stressful job or other responsibilities, the more we want to reclaim our own time.

The issue of Revenge Bedtime Procrastination has been exacerbated in the last year by the even greater blurring of divisions between work and homelife, additional responsibilities such as caring and home-schooling, and the general stress of living through a global pandemic. The time we have for leisure is even more squeezed, so we try to fit it in past bedtime. Added to that is the issue of Covid-somnia, the term coined by sleep neurologists to describe the increase in reported sleep disturbances. We’ve had over a year of unprecedented stresses, reduced daylight exposure and upended routines. It’s no wonder we can’t sleep.

It may not surprise you to learn that researchers from the University of Krakow found women are more likely to procrastinate at bedtime than men. That’s certainly true in my house, where my Mr Age-Well will be happily snoozing away while I faff late into the night.

What can we do about it?

I know so many people are sleep deprived because of anxiety, insomnia and illness. But if Bedtime Procrastination sounds like a description of your evening, think about what you can do about it. Identify the time between when you want to go to bed and when you actually do. What are you doing in the time? What’s driving you to these activities rather than going to bed? The chasm between what we want to do, and what we actually do, has been labelled the Intention-Behaviour Gap by psychologists. And it makes a lot of sense: we’re full of good intentions about healthy living, but following through can be more difficult. We’re hard-wired, cognitively-speaking, to seek out immediate reward (the enjoyment of reading another chapter of a  gripping book or bingeing another episode on Netflix) rather than wait for the delayed gratification of waking up feeling rested.

A simple way to focus on this, and to start to move past it, is to track bedtimes, sleep hours and how you feel the next day. Jot down the time you intend to go to bed, the time you actually do and how rested you feel in the morning. Try it for three days then review your results. What could you do differently? Visualise how good you’ll feel the next day after a decent night’s sleep rather than a too-late night of faffing around. I’m going to start tonight! Let me know if you’re doing it too and let’s all try to beat the procrastination.

…And why we need to go to bed

We probably don’t need to remind you how important sleep is for ageing well. We’ve written about it many times, including expert tips, the best foods for sleep and solving sleep problems.

What happens in our brains when we sleep is endlessly fascinating. When we are in deep sleep, the brain effectively shrinks so its ‘housekeeping team’, the glymphatic system, can get to work cleaning out toxins which have accumulated during the day. There’s more here. We can support our glymphatic system by getting regular exercise, adequate omega-3 fatty acids (from oily fish, walnuts, flax seeds etc) and, most importantly, enough sleep.

If we needed more reminders of the importance of a good night’s sleep, research undertaken at Harvard and published a couple of months ago in the journal Aging highlighted a link between poor sleep and increased Alzheimer’s risk. Almost 3000 people aged 65 and over were tracked for five years. They answered questions about sleep quality, how long it took them to nod off, sleep duration, and snoring. Participants getting less than five hours sleep a night were twice as likely to develop dementia as those getting seven-eight hours. Taking a long time to fall asleep (more than 30 minutes) correlated with a 45% increased dementia risk. It’s a stark reminder of how important sleep is, how much we need to prioritise it in our lives and why we should seek help if we’re not getting enough.

THE AGE-WELL PROJECT’S MINI-ME!

Our book, The Age-Well Project, turns two next week! If you’ve got a copy, a huge thank you for your support, it means so much and makes us so happy to see the book out in the world. Our publishers, Piatkus, are celebrating the two-year milestone by bringing out a new version (with the same content). It’s a smaller, and dare we say – cuter, version of the book in paperback size and with a lower price point. It’s released on Thursday May 6th and we’ll be celebrating that day by giving away copies on our Instagram and Facebook pages. If you’re not on social media send a quick email  to theagewellproject@gmail.com with BOOK in the subject line and tell us why you’d like a copy of The Age-Well Project! The giveaway closes at midnight on Sunday May 9th 2021.

 

Susan

 

Main photo: Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

  • Conditions: Ageing
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Comments

  1. Laura says

    June 3, 2021 at 6:34 am

    Thank you for this. I’m 55 now and need to hear this, especially as I have a 12 year old daughter who needs me to be on top form! I’m going to start going to bed at my target time…Can’t wait to feel better! 😴

    Reply
    • Susan Saunders says

      June 10, 2021 at 8:09 pm

      Hi Laura, that’s brilliant! Let us know how you get on

      Reply

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    September 3, 2021 at 8:22 am

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Welcome to The Age-Well Project

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Everything we’ve learnt about ageing well points Everything we’ve learnt about ageing well points to a time (for women at least) in their mid-60s when the chronic conditions of ageing, like diabetes, heart disease and dementia, are - statistically - more likely to kick in. 

And we know that our reproductive hormones do so much more than prepare us to have periods and babies, we have receptors for them throughout our bodies and brains. 

Oestrogen, in particular, helps keep bones strong, blood vessels flexible, brains firing and inflammation levels low. Essentially, it wraps us up in a cosy protective cloak to keep us safe and healthy while we're able to reproduce, but once the eggs have run out - we're on our own! 

Between the average age of menopause at 51, and that time in our 60s when the chronic conditions of ageing are more likely to kick in, we have a decade or so in which it’s vital to focus on our health.

And how to do that? It’s on the blog - link in bio

#longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #menopause #menopausehealth #postmenopause #postmenopausefitness #postmenopausal #oestrogen #hormonalhealth
If you’re lucky enough to have good metabolic he If you’re lucky enough to have good metabolic health you might want to thank your Mum today. Recent studies have found that women who move around during their reproductive years and during pregnancy and then breastfeed for a bit pass on a compound in their milk called 3SL which provides lifelong protection against poor metabolic health. The offspring of moving, breastfeeding Mums appear to have a lower lifetime risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic metabolic disease. Even gentle strolling during pregnancy and while nursing can produce this compound. So today we thank our Mums for that - as well as everything else.  Susan’s mum in the hat. Annabel’s mum in the pony tail. 

#mothersday #mothers #move #agewell #goodhealth #longevitylifestyle #longevity #walk
There’s been lots of good news for walkers recen There’s been lots of good news for walkers recently. A study published last month found that over-60s who walked between 6000 and 9000 steps a day cut their risk of heart disease (including strokes and heart attacks) by 40-50 percent, when compared to a more typical 2000 steps a day. In fact this study found that for every additional 1000 steps walked, the risk fell still further. 

How far are you walking to age well? Let us know in the comments and there’s more on the power of walking on the blog - link in bio

#longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #walking #womenwhowalk #womenwhohike #reversewalking #backwardswalking #walkingbackwards
A big hug from us to you to mark International Wom A big hug from us to you to mark International Women’s Day! 

The campaign this year reminds us to embrace equity as a way to recognise that each of us has different circumstances, and we need different resources and opportunities to reach an equal outcome. Of course, this is as vital in ageing and health outcomes as in every other field.  

So we’re embracing our age and hoping to grow older in a more equitable society ❤️

#internationalwomensday #embraceequity #embracequity2023 ##longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #iwd2023 #madformidlife
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If you’re not sure how to start or are worried about looking silly (we were) - there are lots of tips on the blog, link in bio. 

If you’re a backwards walker, let us know in comments below! 

If you’re planning to start, save this post for when you’re ready for some reverse walking 

#longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #walking #womenwhowalk #womenwhohike #reversewalking #backwardswalking #walkingbackwards
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