Lights out and off to bed: combining implementation intentions and nudging to combat bedtime procrastination

Abstract

Background: Many people get insufficient sleep because they needlessly delay going to bed despite expecting to be worse off as a result (bedtime procrastination; Kroese et al., 2014). Implementation intentions (ii’s) may be a useful strategy for combating bedtime procrastination, but has proven ineffective in previous research (Kroese et al., in prep). We hypothesize that the ineffectiveness can be traced to individuals’ reliance on time-based cues (e.g., “if it’s 11 o’clock, I will go to bedâ€) when forming ii’s, since these cues will be ineffective whenever bedtime procrastinators “lose track of†the time during immersive activities such as playing video games or watching television. Method: In the present study (N = 46), we investigated whether the effectiveness of ii’s could be improved by adding a nudge (i.e., a subtle change in the environment that cues the desired behavior). Participants in the intervention-condition formed an ii and had lamps installed in their living room that changed color and dimmed at their intended bedtime. In the control condition, participants did not form an ii, and had lamps installed that did not dim or change color. Expected results: We expect that participants in the intervention condition (compared to those in the control condition) will be less likely to engage in bedtime procrastination, as measured by the difference between their intended and actual bedtimes. Current stage of work: We are analyzing the data. Discussion: If proven effective, this intervention may provide a low-cost, easy-to-use way to improve sleep quantity in the general population.