The Cost of A Broken Sleep Schedule

I’ve heard lot of people talk about how if you want to be rich, you don’t have to sleep more than 4 hours. And I’ve also heard people saying sleeping less than 4 hours will break you down. Honestly, it’s sometimes confusing because should we sleep or not?

Well, maybe I should change the “we” to “you” because I’m definitely not following that narrative after having my own share of a terrible sleep schedule. Some months ago, I wrote about a work trip I embarked on with my dad and since our destination had different time zone from what I’m already used to, my sleep schedule got messed up real bad.

I thought I could get away with it until we returned to our motherland. I would sleep during the day and wake up at night. It was kind of fun in the beginning because I didn’t have anything to do during the day. But as time went on and I had to juggle a lot of things, it started being unbearable.

I tried everything I was told. I began by making sure I don’t sleep during the day so that my body automatically goes to rest at night. Jokes on me, that never happened. I mean, I did make sure not to sleep during the day but I was never able to sleep at night. I tried adjusting my diet, making my room dark but I still found my eyes wide opened throughout the night. I even tried staying away from my phone during evenings but that didn’t work.

I was also very tired every day and could barely do anything. Another thing I realized was that I couldn’t eat well and no amount of food I ate could satisfy me for long hours. Oh and my eyes always hurt each and everyday.

The very first time I fell asleep at night was after a very hectic day. That particular day, I couldn’t even feel my legs after getting home and I remember writing about it because I was just so proud of myself for all that I achieved that day. The second time I was able to sleep at night was also after a long day. The third time was after traveling for long hours.

Finally, my body started adjusting to night time and I started sleeping each night. Now, my sleep schedule has been fixed and I’m so happy. Anytime I look back to recall how I could go from 12am to 6am watching my ceiling because I couldn’t sleep, I feel like sleeping is something we underrate.

With what I’ve experienced, I think that unless you have something very important doing at night, try and get a good night rest. Comparing those days to now, I can say I’m very productive, stronger and even happier. And that’s all thanks to my sleep schedule: something I won’t trade for anything.