Name: Bedtime stacking.
Age: Of the moment.
Appearance: Like a full workday for a consumptive 18th-century novelist.
The name makes me think TikTok is involved. Correct: the term is credited to the TikToker Linnéa Pham, who coined it in January.
And now it’s a full-blown thing? It is. People – mostly young women – have been extolling the virtues of bedtime stacking in social media posts since.
What does it involve? It means going to bed early – like, 8.30pm – but with a whole stack of stuff to do.
What kind of stuff? That’s up to you, but a typical bedtime stack includes bringing a laptop, an iPad, an e-reader, moisturiser, some kind of snack, the TV remote, a planner and a gratitude journal.
When do you sleep? When you’ve worked your way through the pile. Some call it a bed-based form of habit stacking.
But habit stacking is the practice of linking a desired habit to an established one – taking your medication just before you brush your teeth, for example. This is just slothful. Fine, then it’s a form of bed rotting, but productive – you get stuff done.
What’s the point of going to bed early if you’ve still got jobs to do? The point is to do it all in the same place, without moving.
Is this a good idea? No, it’s a terrible idea. Everything we know about sleep suggests that bringing a heap of chores to bed with you is not conducive to a good night’s rest.
Even I know you’re not supposed to take screens to bed. Exactly – the light can interfere with your body’s circadian rhythm, which leads to poor sleep hygiene.
And eating in bed is poor regular hygiene. Of course it is: it can attract insects or even rodents.
Is there anything else wrong with bedtime stacking? One facet of sound sleep is a regular bedtime. Retiring at 8.30 just so you can bed-stack isn’t going to help.
I can see that it might be cosy, though. It might look cosy, which is crucial: this is self-care as a style choice. Newsweek says it “leans into maximalism and the resurgence of the ‘messy cool girl’ trend”.
So it’s just interior decorating? It also promotes an unrealistic goal – of being relaxed and busy at the same time – which is not even desirable, much less plausible.
Could there be a stupider way to spend a Friday night than bedtime stacking? Yes: spending it watching other people bedtime-stack on TikTok.
Do say: “Reserve your bed for sleep and nothing else, except maybe sex.”
Don’t say: “Then I tried lawn stacking, where you pile all your stuff up in the garden and set it alight.”
