It’s 11:30 p.m. on a Wednesday night. You’ve spent the whole day either in class or doing homework, and you’ve finally finished everything you needed to do today. Now, you’re absolutely exhausted. The question is, do you go to sleep right away or do you do something to help you relax, like watch television or play video games? My answer is to go to sleep, but many people may disagree with me.

This question has been plaguing young workers in China for a long time, but has recently spread to young people around the world, and it’s known as “revenge bedtime procrastination” (from the Chinese “bàofùxìng áoyè”). In this phenomenon, people know that staying up late is bad for them, but they do it anyway because it helps them take some time for themselves. Unfortunately, putting off sleep has some incredibly detrimental effects on one’s health.

Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night, and as students, we need even more. In the short term, sleep deprivation can lead to feelings of tiredness, slower thinking, trouble focusing, poor memory, worse decision-making and increased feelings of stress. Usually, people cope with these effects with caffeine. In moderation, caffeine can be good for you, but it’s important to remember not to drink too much of it. Generally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine daily for adults. With that being said, many experts suggest not drinking even that much caffeine every day. Some suggestions for controlling caffeine intake include paying attention to consumption, avoiding energy drinks and cutting caffeine intake over time rather than all at once.

Unfortunately, caffeine does not help reduce the long-term effects of sleep deprivation, which include increased risk of health conditions like heart disease, obesity, diabetes and certain mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety. These are the effects people should be most wary of when purposely depriving themselves of sleep.

I interviewed some first-years in my dorm building, and they had all experienced revenge bedtime procrastination. “I don’t put off sleep to get my homework done, but I usually stay up kind of late to play games on my phone or scroll through Instagram,” said Aubree Wu, FCLC ’29. However, Addison Featherstone, FCLC ’29,puts off sleep not to scroll, but to finish her homework, compensating for her scrolling during the day. “I do put off sleep to get work done, but I always aim to get at least six hours of sleep. Sometimes, if it’s getting too late, I go to sleep, but then I wake up earlier the next morning to finish my work from the day before,” said Featherstone. Wu only has class a couple of days a week, so most mornings she wakes up late to compensate for the late bedtime. Featherstone has 8:30 a.m. classes most mornings, but she’s found that she feels fine the next day as long as she’s had her daily Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino.

College students should be making more of an effort to manage their sleep schedules. I’ve been writing about circadian rhythms in school papers since middle school, and as a result, I’ve been working on optimizing my sleep schedule for years. Here are some of my personal tips and tricks on how to minimize revenge bedtime procrastination.

First of all, don’t do any school work after a designated time. Pick a time to stop doing school work, and stick to it. My time is 9:30 p.m. because I’ve that found it gives me enough time to get ready for bed (including showering, flossing and brushing my teeth), watch an episode of whatever show I’m watching (right now, it’s “Seinfeld”) and read a little bit of my book before I go to sleep at about 10:45 p.m. The reason people aren’t going to sleep earlier is because they want to “reclaim” their time and do something they enjoy. If you put room to do something you enjoy into your daily routine, you’ll have no reason to stay up too late.

Secondly, don’t look at your phone after your designated bedtime … and maybe shut off most of your lights, too. Melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle, is produced in your brain’s pineal gland when your environment gets dark. Unfortunately, environments rarely go dark anymore. Not only are people almost always on their phones, which decreases melatonin production, especially in adults, but also, bright overhead lighting in most college dorm rooms suppresses melatonin onset. Of course, as previously mentioned, I watch an episode of something on my iPad. Still, I put it far from my face and shut off most of the room lights.

Third, go “dark” right before you go to bed. For about 30 minutes before going to bed, I’ll read my book or write in my journal. I have a little reading light that I’ll clip onto my book, and I’ll turn it on to its lowest and warmest setting. The first 45-ish minutes of my routine are dedicated to me — showering, brushing my teeth and watching a show — but these activities go on with bright lights directed at my eyes. Reading a book before bed is relaxing and gives my brain half an hour of blue-light-free time. Similarly, journaling is a great way to get your thoughts from the day out of your head so that when it’s time to lie down and go to sleep, your mind isn’t racing at 100 miles per hour.

Lastly, it’s all about consistency, consistency and more consistency. The most important part of your bedtime routine, whatever it may look like, is consistency. You’ll be fine as long as you go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day (within about an hour) and get a reasonable amount of sleep.

If you take anything away from this article, it should be that sleep is essential, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to your bedtime woes. It may take some time, but if you work at it, you’ll definitely find the routine that works for you. That routine will help you reap the rewards of activities you enjoy without having those activities take away from how much sleep you get.

Emma Kelner, FCLC ’29, is an undeclared major from Staten Island, New York.