The Importance of Sleep

I consider myself a relatively intelligent person. I don’t get straight A’s, but I’m not that far off from the mark and any class that I can devote more time to fares better.

I’m pretty intuitive when it comes to reading people, and I am working on my emotional intelligence.

My personality is typically fairly enthusiastic, but it would depend on who you ask. Boyfriend would probably disagree with that sentiment. At work, I’ve been called enthusiastic more than any other term. I’m a pretty energetic person, in that lethargy and a lack of motivation doesn’t really get to me that much.

But, oh how I change without a decent sleep. The thing is, if you are normally an insomniac, you might assume that your personality just the way it is when you’re running on no sleep. Sometimes, people can actually thrive on a lack of sleep – they get almost good at functioning that way.

I used to think I was one of those people until the last week or so. I’ve had trouble sleeping, despite being exhausted at the end of the day. My schedule is too crazy not to be wiped at the end of the day. I typically wake up around 5:30 AM, scramble to get ready for work, leave at 6:30 AM, get to work by 7:45 AM, work from 8:00 – 4:00, work out from 4:15 – 5:15, drive to school from 5:15 – 6:45, and sit in class from 7:00 – 10:00 PM. My night is capped off by driving home, and getting there at about 10:30, after which I try to get a shower in and write a post and email or two before going to bed.

You’d think I’d be asleep right away, but when I get to bed around 11:30, I’m laying awake with a billion different things going through my mind.

Last week I functioned from Monday to Thursday with less than 10 cumulative hours of sleep, and that made me really realize the importance of it. Here’s what I found out.

Your Memory Depends on It

Last week, I could have made forgetting things my profession. I forgot everything. I typed out an interview for Cait, and forgot to send it to her. I came to work on pizza day, and forgot my change. I forgot my supervisor’s name after three days of being trained by her.

The worst bout of forgetfulness happened when I was verifying my credit card number for an online purchase. I had the company on speakerphone because I was also driving. I was on hold for almost 20 minutes, and when they finally picked up the phone, they asked me for the order number. After giving them the number, they told me they were going to be a second while they looked it up.

The associate was quiet for less than 30 seconds, when somebody cut me off while trying to get through a yellow light. Forgetting that I was on the phone with a sales associate, I swore out loud at the person. I didn’t remember that I was on the phone with somebody until almost 40 seconds after I swore, at which point I was so, so embarrassed. I apologized and reassured them that I wasn’t talking to them, of course, but I almost died of embarrassment.

I normally have a great memory, but memory thrives on sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, you can’t expect your brain to be functioning as efficiently as normal.

Your Reaction Time Depends On It

I know I shouldn’t have been driving on such little sleep, but I see it as a necessary evil. I’m usually a very defensive driver. but there are always some pretty sketchy drivers, and the last thing I need is to get into an accident in my dad’s car. So I make sure to be extra defensive, to make up for the crazies.

With such little sleep, I almost got rear ended and sideswiped, all in one week.

I didn’t react as fast as I normally would have – luckily, I reacted just fast enough to avoid those two incidents, but what if I hadn’t? What if I were the one to cause an accident?

Your Professionalism Depends on It

It was a terrible week last week for me to be an insomniac. I started my internship, school, and met with my new mentor all in a matter of days. I don’t think I made the best impression that I could have at all.

I should have known that. I mean, really, how can somebody come across as professional when they’re forgetting everything, reacting to things slowly, and falling sleep at their computer screen?

Your Health Depends on It

There are studies that show that people who run on less sleep crave less healthy foods and eat almost 20% more in general. They are more likely to reach for the candy bar rather than the apple, they are less likely to exercise, and more likely to adopt an irregular sleep schedule.