Why ‘bed rotting’ can be bad for you – and how to avoid it
Videos around the term ‘bed rotting’ have surpassed over 130 million TikTok views, making it the latest sleeping trend we should become aware of.
The term ‘bed rotting’ involves people spending an excessive amount of time from their bed avoiding their responsibilities. When someone lays in bed, usually scrolling through TikTok or binging TV shows for hours on end without doing anything productive, that is often what is being referred to as ‘bed rotting’.
While the media has portrayed that the term is extremely negative, as the term ‘rotting’ has negative connotations, Dr Deborah Lee, a sleep expert working alongside Bed Factory Direct, discusses whether it really is as harmful as we actually think.
When bed rotting can be positive
Bed rotting can be positive if it’s done as a genuine stance of needing to recover and rest, however, the term ‘rotting’ does have a negative impact.
Perhaps renaming it as ‘intentional rest’ will put a bit more of a positive spin on this rather than the use of the term ‘to rot’ – it shifts the focus from being lazy and unproductive to purposeful relaxation, which we all need to get over our busy modern-day lives.
When bed rotting is bad for you
However, some people who take up ‘bed rotting’ are actually doing it for the wrong reasons. People who ‘bed rot’ are often ignoring their day-to-day activity which can seem overwhelming. A lot of people are physically and emotionally overwhelmed with trying to balance everyday life.
Some people will take to ‘bed rotting’ to avoid real-life work, but in reality, the to-do list will still be there when they finally take themselves out of bed. It’s very much an ‘ignorance is bliss’ approach to important admin tasks.
Exercise is important in everyday life, even if it’s just walking around the house to do some cleaning or going on an actual walk to the shop. Avoiding these will be damaging for mobility and general health, especially if neglected for long periods of time.
Three tips to help you avoid bed rotting
To avoid ‘bed rotting’ for long periods of time, Dr Deborah Lee has put together three steps on how to get yourself out of bed in the morning and avoiding the slump.
1) Eat breakfast
It might be easy to just grab a breakfast bar or put some bread in the toaster, but a breakfast that is rich in both carbohydrates and protein should make you feel more alert quickly, and should avoid you getting back into bed. Avoiding sugar in the mornings is a great way to feel more alert.
2) Start the day with some exercise
There aren’t many people that wake up in the morning and get excited by the thought of morning exercise. However, research has shown that doing a 30-minute workout with a medium effort will help you wake up a lot quicker than if you weren’t to reduce sleepiness. Doing some morning steps will help you stay out of the bedroom later on in the day!
3) Let natural daylight in
When your eyes see light in the morning, it gives signals to your brain that it’s time to wake up. If you have blackout curtains, then this can be really confusing for the mind and you’ll naturally want to stay in bed for long periods of time.
Invest in a night lamp so that you can put it on first thing in the morning. However, if you can use natural light by opening the curtains and getting outside as soon as possible then that’s a better option.
