There is a TikTok trend that has been going around long enough now, and gaining enough interest, that Time Magazine has weighed in on the subject: Bed Rotting.
(Here’s the link to the article: Is Bed Rotting Bad for You? | TIME)
The idea behind bed rotting is that you go to bed for the whole weekend, and basically live there. It’s more than just a sleep-in, or a nanna-nap. It’s intentionally choosing to NOT leave your bed for hours on end.
In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono protested for an end to the war in Vietnam with a one-week-long bed-sit-in. They effectively were ‘conscientious objectors’ to everything and anything beyond the serenity of their shared bed.
Bed rotting is similar, but less photographed… and less ideologically motivated.
[Image source: Taking photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-In for 1 hour every day – MAX Today (maxvandaag.nl)]
The upsides of bed rotting are:
+ you prioritize self-care,
+ you catch up on all the sleep you’ve missed out on,
+ you reduce the chance of burnout by having a break from life’s stressors,
+ you get to have a mini-vacation at home (a stay-cation).
As such, spending a couple of days in bed sounds pretty cool. The trick is, it can’t go on and on, and if the tendency to stay there gets too strong, then you might want to consider that there could be an underlying issue for your reluctance to join the real world, such as depression.
The downsides of bed rotting include:
+ a risk to personal hygiene (are you still showering and brushing your teeth?),
+ a risk to physical wellbeing (you’re missing out on exercise if you stay in bed all day),
+ a risk you’re not eating properly (I’m guessing snacks are the preferred food for bed rotting and that can’t be good long term),
+ if you’re watching TV or phone-scrolling in bed and not just sleeping, there is a risk that your bed stops meaning “sleep” in your brain and you ruin your normal sleep patterns.
TIME magazine suggests short-term ‘couch rotting’ is a better way to go; you’re more likely to move about, and your bedroom stays a haven for sleep.
As someone who loves a good weekend sleep-in, BUT spends way too many hours in bed doing nothing, bed rotting sounds hideous to me… but for stressed out people, I can see how ‘sleeping it off’ can be a form of escapism.
Curious to know if any of you (or your kids) are into bed rotting.
Take care, Linda x
PS – I asked AI to show me what ‘bed rotting’ looks like, and it went next level to ‘room rotting’! It would have been a beautiful room in its time – and I love the look of Mother Nature creeping in through the skylight and stone floor… I just don’t get what all the deflated pumpkin-blueberry-basketball-things are about? Hmmm… I wonder if John and Yoko would have approved?!
Leave a Reply