What Is Bedtime Stacking

The whole idea behind bedtime stacking, otherwise known as “sleep stacking,” is to go to bed early, but — and this is a big but, one cannot lie — it doesn’t necessarily mean going to sleep early. Instead, you then do different things from bed, such as working on your laptop, journaling, reading, answering emails, applying beauty products and, yes, even eating. It’s called stacking because you are piling or layering on different things over what was the original purpose of bedtime — namely to go to sleep — and essentially turning your bed into a work cubicle, bathroom, kitchen or whatever else as well.

Why Are People Bedtime Stacking

So, why would you jump on this trend, so to speak, assuming that where you live has at least an operational bathroom, kitchen and other places to do such things? Well, this is part of the whole habit-stacking argument — that layering or compressing different behaviors and actions together can make them easier to remember, do and maintain than if you were to continue to do them separately.

Say, for example, you had to remember to smear moisturizer all over your body, clip your toenails, apply hemorrhoid cream, answer all your messages and, most importantly, eat a hot dog each night. Keeping them as separate activities may make it easy to forget to do at least one of them. But linking them all together with getting into bed could help you remember to do all of them, hopefully in an order that makes sense.

This trend also might be akin to the whole “bedrotting” thing that I described in Forbes back in 2023. Bedrotting is about staying in bed during your waking hours and doing other things — like working, talking on the phone and, of course, eating — that go beyond just sleeping or having sex there. The argument for bedrotting is that it can be another way to practice self-care, putting you in a more comfortable environment to do things. Of course, the argument against bedrotting is that it can be a euphemism for being lazy.

Bedtime Stacking Could Affect The Hygiene Of Your Bed

Bedtime stacking could also mean doing something dirty in bed. And we’re not talking about the sexy time kind of dirty. If you are bringing your laptop, for example, which has been at your workplace, coffee shops and other locations, into bed, it could be bringing dirt and microbes with it. And eating in bed could leave food particles that could turn your bed into even more of a petri dish and attract insects and rodents.

Therefore, if you are going to bedtime stack, be extra careful about keeping your bed clean. Wipe down items before bringing them into bed with you. When eating, use trays or some kind of bed covering to catch the fruitcake crumbs and béchamel sauce drippings. Launder your sheets and pillow cases often. Check for insects and rodents, because being careful who you sleep with applies to non-humans as well.

Bedtime Stacking Could Affect Your Sleep Hygiene

The other big hygienic concern is your sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene consists of the various habits that help promote sleep that’s of good quality and duration. Sleep, of course, is pretty darn important for mental and physical health. But bedtime stacking kind of goes against all of the recommendations that sleep specialists have for being able to fall asleep and get a good night’s sleep, such as:

• Reserving the bed for only sleep and sex: This is supposed to get your brain to associate your bed with sleeping or sexy time so that you well tend to get either sleepy or horny there. However, bedtime stacking could break down this association and get your brain to start associating the bed with other things like getting hungry.
• No eating right before bedtime: Speaking of hungry, eating right before sleeping can keep you awake in different ways, ranging from the different stimulants that you may ingest like spices and caffeine to the burping, farting, heartburn and potential pooping that may result. If your bedtime stacking includes a stack of pancakes, for example, feeling full in and of itself can keep you awake.
• “Powering down” in the hour before sleep: Unless you are one of those people who can immediately fall asleep when your head hits the pillow, it can help to ease into sleep. This entails progressively relaxing your body and mind so that you don’t have elevated brain, nervous system, cardiovascular system and other system activity to keep you awake. Bedtime stacking could do the opposite, keeping you wired, literally and figuratively, even when you are in bed.
• Having a consistent bedtime: Going to bed at the same time each day can train your brain and body to feel sleep at the same and right time. But that means actually going to sleep and not just going into bed. Adding other activities to your time in bed can add more variability to when you actually fall asleep. Say, for example, you see a comment on social media and feel compelled to respond about how stupid that comment was, and the person then comments on how stupid your comment on his or her comment was. Who knows how long this could progress and then delay your actual falling asleep.

So, you may want to put this whole “bedtime stacking” idea to rest. In general, it’s a good idea to keep sleep and sex separate from other activities such as journaling, work and yelling at others on social media. And if you want to have your cake and eat it too, just don’t do so while in bed.