Of the untold number of Americans who no longer have to leave home to go to work, half sometimes don't even bother to leave their beds. It's called "bed-rotting" and for only the fourth time in my 20-plus years as VodkaPundit, I find myself with nothing to say at first except "I can't even."
And yet they say it's good for you.
A firm called Sleep Doctor, which sells specialty bedding, CPAP machines, and the like, surveyed more than 800 remote or hybrid workers and found that more than half—55%—admitted to bed-rotting at least once a week. Of those who do, they spend three-plus hours of each working day in bed. Even more, nearly two-thirds, say they have spent time in bed-rot, but less often than every week.
Men were two times more likely to say they bet rot than women, with 44% saying they’ve engaged in the practices versus just 20% of women. Additionally, workers ages 25 to 34 were the most likely to indicate they bed rot (47%), followed by workers 35 to 44 (46%). Interestingly, only 18% of the youngest group of workers, ages 18 to 24, say they bed rot, and only 18% of workers 45 to 54 and6% of workers over 54 say they do this.
Nearly 10% of bed-rotters said they do it the entire work week. What do they do on weekends, put on a suit and tie?
What surprised me most were the benefits bed-rotters claim they enjoy. Half of them said that working from bed actually improved their performance at work, and many said that it "positively impacts their sleep, mental health."
I'm not saying people can't be productive working in bed. I am saying that hanging out in bed all day would be an unmitigated disaster for my mental health.
I have some experience with this one, having worked from home for a quarter century. I'm not one of these newbs who has only been at it for a couple of years, and, at least for me, getting up and out of bed is vital.
For me, that means shaving every day. It means wearing a decent shirt and real pants. My wife, who is apparently much better at remote work than I am, thinks I'm insane for wearing real pants every day. Otherwise, it would be far too easy to let myself go until I no longer recognized that guy in the mirror.
This was all doubly important when I had younger children at home in terms of setting their expectations for work in the real world — and what kind of person dad is. When my wife still had an office job and I took care of the boys' morning routine, I made sure I was showered, shaved, and wearing a pressed sports shirt before waking them up for school.
Maybe I'm a weird case. Maybe I'm naturally so slovenly or lazy that the best thing for me is to go to the other extreme. But I don't think anybody who knows me in real life would believe that. Maybe I just got carried away. Everybody who knows me in real life would buy that one.
This is all highly personal, and results will vary widely from person to person, although I do wonder if those Sleep Doctor respondents will feel the same way after five years or ten years of bed rot.
But if you can be a happy and productive person while indulging in bed rot, then more power to you. Just don't ask me to clean your sheets. But maybe you want to ask me how I've spent two decades writing for a company called PJ Media while wearing my real pants.
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