The RBP is among us, yet we do not know it
If something has a three-letter name, you already know it’s going to be something bad. For example, here’s GDP, BMI or VAT. Things that constantly remind us how we should live our lives. Now it’s my turn to come up with RBP. Thank goodness it’s not a disease, but it is a notable symptom. Put simply: what do you do at night?
RBP is an abbreviation for revenge bedtime procrastination. More interestingly, if you type the Slovak equivalent of the term into Google, the first result is: road to hell. You might be asking why we are talking about this when this is a marketing blog. A very good question, but the phenomenon may be commonplace among entrepreneurs. We all know the symptoms. When you can’t or don’t want to fall asleep and instead of sleep you look for something to do. 24 hours is not enough for you, so you want a longer active period.
Who gets up early...
Sleep is not a positive thing in our culture. If I sleep too much, I’m lazy. It’s as simple as that. And life offers plenty of options that are trendier and more fun. The entrepreneur doesn’t even have time to die. As long as RBP gives you the opportunity to be more active, it’s fine. You might improve yourself, read something extra, maybe use this time to get active. The problem comes when you can no longer relax. You don’t have the recharge phase and you’re getting more and more tired, but at the same time you want to get through more and more in a day. You need to pay attention to this because you are not a machine and you need a passive phase.
Is RBP the silent killer?
It’s worth looking at RBP as a signal. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s worth catching yourself before it’s too late. It’s manageable for now. You don’t suffer from pathological insomnia, you don’t have panic attacks and you haven’t reached total burnout. However, you’ve started down the wrong road, you’re doing something wrong. It’s just like when the fuel gauge in your car drops below a quarter. You can go on like that for a while. You’re capable of delivering peak power, but you might want to refuel soon. RBP is one such exclamation mark.
Do I organise badly?
In many cases, people misunderstand the freedom of entrepreneurship. Especially those who are at the beginning of their entrepreneurial life. I have no boss, no one to tell me when and how to work. Indeed, all this is true, but entrepreneurship also comes with responsibilities. Certainly towards yourself. Just because my computer is open doesn’t mean I’m working. You are distracted or simply doing work that cannot be done continuously for eight hours. You can’t be creative sitting in front of a computer for eight hours in a marketing agency. However, more creative tasks followed by more monotonous ones can complement each other perfectly. I’m not saying to get stuck in, just to think in mixes so that you always have another part of your brain to work and rest. You’ll be more efficient.
Lesz, aki az orromra koppint
If you feel you’re having trouble controlling yourself, don’t worry. But start using task lists, time management software and CRMs during the working day. Keep track of your tasks and how much active time you are spending on them. Some days you may find that only a quarter of your eight-hour working day is active. I can even call someone, read that article, really look at a post and it’s noon. And you haven’t done anything. Or you forgot and no one tells you to do it. All this can be prevented with software. Personally, I believe that if you can calmly close the office door behind you at the end of the day and not be weighed down by the pile of tasks you failed to do, RBP won’t show up either. Simply because you won’t need it. You’ll get all the impulse you need between the end of the working day and bedtime.
Are you sure it's RBP?
No, you do not have to accept this label. It has symptoms, but it is not a disease, it is a phenomenon that is present in your life. But you can also change today and it will disappear tomorrow. You don’t even need medication, you just need to change your attitude a little. You might even consider that your ‘private’ self needs to be more proactive. You can’t allow the “office” self to impose itself on you. You can say that as an entrepreneur, the workday ends at 4:30. Or whenever you say. The important thing is that you can stick to it. This may not be feasible right now, because you are an accountant and it is VAT closing time. But as a general rule you can start to implement it. And then you can have the evening series between 8 and 10 pm, you don’t have to start at midnight.
Is work eating my life?
A generational fear is FOMO, or fear of missing out. Yes, everyone struggles with this. There are so many impulses we want to experience that it’s impossible to be everywhere at once. My favourite football team has an important game, my partner reminds me because of our night out together, I’d like to read my book, I should be playing sports, but I also have work to do. Can that happen to you? I’m sure it could. When my work day ends (at 5pm) I turn myself into a dad. I’ve talked about this before. A friend asked me recently, when I was worried about all the tasks I had scheduled for the next day, if they would run away from me? Of course, they all waited for me. It’s also worth weighing up what kind of work you can do the next day if the RBP hits you and you wake up tired. It might take a lot longer. You may have watched your series or played some more today, but tomorrow you’ll finish at 5pm instead of 2pm. Is it worth it?
Just one more
Will you watch one more episode of your favourite TV show tonight? And then one more because that’s the end of the season? Or do you need to play a game because your brain needs other kinds of tasks? Yes, these are all symptoms of RBP. We do similar things very often and no one thinks they’re sick. Before you think I’m just preaching, often my light doesn’t go out until well after midnight and I’m up at 5am the next day. If it happens once or twice, that’s okay. But if you need something like that every day, you’re addicted. And if it’s an addiction, you’re suffering from RBP. That’s a harsh way of putting it, isn’t it?
I want everything
We only do this because we’re terribly busy. Our “official” and “private” selves are in conflict. I know someone who always tells me that he is watching shows that are hot in the 2010s. He was busy then because he was building a business. Now he watches series when you or I are working. Maybe you feel you have no choice. You have to work to get ahead, but of course you are only human. You want to live your life too and not bury yourself in work. You want to become a successful entrepreneur, but you also need the impulses that life offers. You are right, but you also need to prioritise. What is more important?
