Having a bed that looks like it has never been slept on is not the only sign that you didn’t get a good night’s sleep. When your body is sleep-deprived, the effects will slowly but surely show up, and it won’t be in the places that you think it will.
The fact is we need to give our bodies the right quantity and quality of sleep so that we can function as our best selves the following day. However, there are really times when we can’t sleep well for one reason or another, and this will really show. Below are 7 surefire signs that you’re not getting enough sleep:
1. You’re sick all the time.
Maybe it’s the sniffles today and a persistent cough tomorrow. Then you find yourself sneezing the following week, and as you bring your hand to your forehead it feels like you’ve caught a fever. You’re lucky if it’s just the common cold, but it could be far worse than that. If you find yourself sick all the time, this means your immune system is not working as it should.
There are many reasons for a poor immune system, but lack of sleep definitely won’t help it function better. Adequate sleep boosts your body’s tiny warriors, helping your ward off diseases the natural way.
2. Your emotions are everywhere.
If your emotions are all over the place, it may very well be because your sleeping pattern is all over the place as well. Our hormones help control our emotions and make us more rational. When there’s an unhealthy spike here and there because you’ve deprived your body of sleep, you should definitely not expect yourself to be rational.
If you lack sleep, your reactions to emotional stimuli tend to be more pronounced, and you have a hard time controlling these emotions no matter how rational you try to be. So warn your loved ones beforehand.
3. You’re always hungry.
Ah, the cravings. Think of it this way. You just deprived your body of sleep, so it lacks the energy it needs to sustain you throughout the day. Because it didn’t get energy from sleep, your body will seek this energy elsewhere – food. Aside from that, sleep deprivation messes with the hunger and satiety hormones, so you feel like you’re always hungry.
4. The weighing scale has become a mystery.
If you feel like you’ve gained weight for no reason, and the weighing scale has become a complete mystery to you, then it’s time you review your sleeping patterns. Because lack of sleep messes with your hunger hormones and eventually your metabolism, you will tend to overeat and have less energy for exercise.
In the long run, this messes with your body’s ability to keep healthy. It also makes you give in to irrational food cravings, and your risk for diabetes, obesity, heart attacks, and other diseases shoots up. If you’re on a weight loss journey especially, you must include sleep in your list of priorities.
5. Your memory is not as sharp as it used to be.
If you feel like your brain is giving up on you, sleep on it. Lack of sleep impairs your brain’s ability to function normally, so this is probably why try as you might, you’re having a hard time remembering where you put your car keys or that one piece of jewelry you need to complete today’s outfit.
The effects of sleep loss on your brain’s sharpness is almost immediate, so if you didn’t sleep the night before a long test, don’t be surprised if you can’t remember things you thought you’ve memorized so well. Instead of penning a well-organized and insightful essay, you might find yourself writing gibberish. So it’s better to get proper sleep and let your brain do the work for you.
6. You’re either too impulsive or too indecisive.
When you’re exhausted and sleep-deprived, you’ll have a hard time making rational decisions. Decision-making requires thinking, so if your brain is not functioning properly because you didn’t sleep, then don’t count on it to make the decisions for you.
Sleep-deprived people tend to act without thinking things through, so you become more impulsive just to get it over with. Now imagine being like this while taking a multiple choice test or faced with a buffet table. There are also times when instead of acting on impulse, you take too long to decide because your brain processes things so slowly.
7. Your motor skills are tragic.
If you think a drunk driver is more dangerous than a sleep-deprived one, think again. Both are not in the right condition to drive, because when you lack sleep, your motor skills are seriously impaired. You react to things slower, and you probably can’t walk in a straight line without tripping.