How Sleep Deprivation Derails Your Life

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

The other day, I decided to stay up and binge-watch some TV.

I rarely watch TV, so this desire came out of the left field. 

Yet, I decided to give in to my temptation.

"Screw it, it's Friday night," I told myself. This justification was BS of course. I was lying to myself. I did not need to stay up. Yet, I stayed up anyways… Bad idea, Cam.

I had fun staying up. The show was great, I was hooked and wanted to finish the season before going to bed. I don’t enjoy being left on a cliffhanger. It makes me anxious to see what’s going to happen next. This is the way TV shows keep you hooked. They use anticipation and suspense. And this is why I don’t watch TV regularly. I don’t have enough restraint yet to be able to withstand my anticipation of what’s going to come next in the show. 

So, I avoid having this problem by not watching TV. I never feel as if I’m missing out. I love my life. I’m always weightlifting, walking, playing music, and more when I’m not working. I don’t need TV to keep me entertained.

The next morning

After hitting the hay rack around midnight, I woke up around 7 the following day.

I did get up a couple of times in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. So I got somewhere between 6-7 hours of sleep.

I usually get at least 8, but I feel better when I get 9 hours of sleep.

I woke up with a migraine, which persisted throughout the day. I also woke up feeling foggy, my brain wasn't as sharp as it usually is when I wake up. And I felt tired as if I needed a nap immediately after waking up. Not fun.

As a result, I didn't feel good that Saturday.

I wasn't as productive as I could have been. My judgment was off... I decided to watch more TV during the day before my work was done. 

Granted, one day of unproductiveness isn't going to kill me. But I hadn't lived up to the standards I had set for myself. I had deceived myself.

And it was all thanks to deciding to prioritize instant gratification over my sleep. I had learned this lesson before, but this was a good opportunity to reinforce what I had previously learned. 

Sometimes I need to get reminders of what I’ve learned in the form of feedback. We can all benefit from reminders. In this case, my reminder was the symptoms I experienced after making one poor decision.

Wrapping up

The point here is to prioritize your sleep. This blog showed you how just one day of sleep deprivation can be a problem. 

Sleep is essential to your well-being. It’s how your body recovers from the stressors of the previous day. Your body needs time to recharge so you’re feeling fresh and rejuvenated when you wake up in the morning.

Make sure you get enough sleep EVERY night you can. 

Sleep deprivation can cause problems, even if you're only sleep-deprived for one day.

Over an extended period of time, sleep deprivation compounds. It can lead to a ton of negative health consequences. Heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more are all far more likely when you’ve been chronically sleep-deprived.

In the short term, sleep deprivation can affect your entire day.

A couple of TV episodes at night aren’t worth the consequence of wasting the next day’s productivity.