Bedrotting
The darker, colder months are upon us, and it’s tempting to flop in bed, or on the couch, and just be cozy and lazy all day. But is “bedrotting” really restorative self-care?
What Is Bedrotting?
“Bedrotting” (some say “bed rotting”) is a newer term for an old activity: hanging out in bed, or on the couch, for long stretches of time. Popularized on social media, bedrotting is sold as a form of self-care, to mentally check out from stress and overwhelming routines. Bedrotting isn’t necessarily sleeping (although there may be naps mixed in) but doing passive, low effort activities. Think: phone scrolling, binge-watching TV, snacking, ruminating, or just doing nothing.
Trends and surveys on bedrotting
A 2024 survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine revealed that 1 in 10 people have tried bedrotting, and bedrotting is especially common among Gen Z, where 1 in 4 reported trying bedrotting. In my experience as a sleep doctor though, it’s not just young people being "lazy,” it’s that they have a name for it.
Tens of millions of posts on social media use hashtags #bedrot or #bedrotting, creating a performance out of lingering in bed. While young people might know to call it bedrotting, people of all ages tell me about staying in bed all day to “take a mental health day,” “recharge my batteries,” or “get some me-time.”
Bedrotting is not the same as a sick day, when fever and other immune responses make you sleepy so that your body can heal better. Bedrotting is choosing to stay in bed.
When done right, bedrotting can be helpful in small doses (scroll to bottom). But a big concern from a sleep science perspective is how bedrotting might interfere with good nighttime sleep.
The Science Behind Sleep Drive and Naps
To understand the risk of turning to bedrotting as rest, it helps to know how sleep works.
Sleep Drive (Homeostatic Sleep Pressure)
Our brains build up a sleep drive (also called homeostatic sleep pressure) the longer we're awake. This is tied to adenosine, a chemical that accumulates in the brain during wakefulness and promotes sleepiness. The longer you are continuously awake, the higher the sleep drive builds up.
Sleep drive is the force that puts you to sleep, and as soon as you fall asleep, sleep drive rapidly dissipates. During normal nighttime sleep, we can measure sleep drive by the amount and intensity of slow wave sleep—the deep, restorative part of non-REM sleep. Slow wave sleep is critical for brain waste clearance, memory consolidation, and other crucial restorative sleep functions.
Think of sleep drive as gas in the car tank — the longer you are continuously awake, the more builds up.
Slow wave sleep is homeostatic, meaning that our bodies and brains have compensatory mechanisms to keep things even keel. So if someone is sleep deprived, their sleep drive will be very high, so they will fall asleep faster, and have more intense slow wave sleep compared to a regular night.
Naps Aren’t Equal to Full Sleep
On the other hand, if someone has already used up some of their sleep drive by napping earlier in the day, even if they can fall asleep at night, they will not get deep, intense slow wave sleep.
Even taking multiple naps throughout the day are not as effective as one continuous night of sleep. In a research study, people got more cumulative slow wave sleep in one night of continuous sleep, compared to when they took six naps. (Tarokh et al. J Sleep Res. 2021 Oct;30(5):e13295. Fulltext).
To explain: It takes a little while (around 30 minutes) of continuous sleep to build up to intense slow wave sleep. So in the car example, think of sleeping as a car that can only accelerate slowly — it takes some time to get to a high speed where you’re really covering the miles quickly. This explains why drifting to sleep off and on, or taking multiple naps during the day, simply doesn’t feel as restorative as a good night of sleep — with naps, the car never gets up to a speed where it can cover much ground, despite using up gas (sleep drive).
Even worse, if someone has napped during the day, they’ve used up some of the gas in the tank… so that night, when they go to bed, they can’t quite get the same deep sleep they would have if they hadn’t napped.
Other Reasons Why Bedrotting Is Bad for You
While bedrotting can feel restorative in the moment, it comes with potential downsides (in addition to less than ideal nighttime sleep), especially when done regularly:
Physical discomfort: Staying in bed too long can lead to stiffness and aching
Mental health risk: What starts as intentional rest can quickly morph into avoidance or isolation. Some mental health experts warn it could exacerbate depression or anxiety. Studies show that scrolling on social media passively, especially, worsens anxiety. (Lai et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(4):3657. Pubmed).
Metabolic / weight concerns: Physical inactivity for long periods burns very little energy and makes your muscles atrophy. And for most people, snacking in bed usually means calorie-dense, low-nutrient foods.
Reinforcing poor habits for productivity & motivation: If bedrotting becomes a regular coping mechanism, it builds poor habits and makes engaging with daily tasks harder. Bedrotting may also become an all-too-easy escape from real-life responsibilities, where it gets harder and harder to get back to a productive daily routine.
Better Bedrotting
Being in bed isn’t bad, and it’s not lazy to need time to relax and recharge. But there’s a better way to bedrot. If you find yourself wanting to bedrot often, or if it’s starting to feel more like avoidance than rest, here are some healthier strategies to try:
Take intentional naps:
Set aside a time to nap on purpose, rather than dozing off. In one study, splitting sleep between the night and one afternoon nap helped memory task performance while reducing sleep pressure. (Cousins et al. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):5275. Full text.)
Don’t nap too long, because if you get into really slow wave sleep you may have sleep inertia — grogginess when you wake up. The sweet spot is around 20-40 minutes.
Keep the nap early enough so that you can re-build sleep drive for the night. Naps should be done by 3pm at the latest, earlier if you have trouble falling asleep at night.
Set boundaries
Give yourself a time limit to bedrot. Set an alarm that you will need to leave the room to turn off.
Avoid bedrotting in the bed where you sleep at night. The bed should not be a default zone.
At the absolute least, don’t eat in bed.
Even in rest mode, get up every hour or so to stretch, walk, do a few squats, or at least reposition to avoid stiffness.
Choose restorative activities
Do something active and relaxing with your brain: reading, journaling, listening to music or podcasts.
This is a perfect time to practice meditation, breathing techniques, and other strategies to focus yet relax your mind
Address underlying stress or burnout
If you’re bedrotting to escape stress, anxiety, or depression, please take action to get help. It might take time, effort, big changes, therapy, medications, or all of the above, but things can get better if you take action.
If you have thoughts of suicide or harming yourself, call 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
What to do Instead of Bedrotting
Seek bliss, not bedrot: Instead of getting into bed, try other mental health boosts for a little bit of bliss.
Get outside: nature, fresh air, and sunlight are powerful!
Spend time with loved ones: Whether in person or electronically, social connection is an amazing brain boost!
Create something: Draw, knit, write, cook, woodwork, sing… make something.
Move: Stretch, walk, run, do 5 jumping jacks, do yoga, lift some weights, dance. You’ll feel better afterwards, guaranteed.
Final thoughts
Bedrotting is a modern cultural phenomenon that resonates with many in a society of burnout and constant digital stimulation. It can be a form of self-care, in moderation and with intention. We all need mental breaks and physical rest. But building in small mental breaks into our daily lives, and getting high-quality sleep each night, is a much more sustainable and healthy way of balancing our needs for restoration.
