We’ve been on the subject of sleep for quite some time now and I am sure you have come across the term sleep debt. What is it exactly? Remember in one of my posts, I mentioned that for every person, there is a certain amount of sleep that you need every night? Well, if you do not get this amount of sleep, then you incur sleep debt. Just like financial debt, sleep debt accumulates over time.

So, take my example – I am used to sleeping at least 10 hours a day. For the past 3 weeks, I have been sleeping 2 to 3 hours. That gives me sleep debt of 7 to 8 hours every day. This adds up to 49 to 56 hours per week! And just like financial debt, we all have to pay back sleep debt or otherwise pay the consequences.

What happens when you have sleep debt? The more hours you “owe,” the more tired you will be during the day and the more chances that you will fall asleep when you are not supposed to. This is why, for the past few days, I have been falling asleep at odd times during the day. More so, when the body cannot handle it anymore, you will simply sleep in later – there is nothing you can do about it. Of course, we can drink as much coffee and other stimulants as we want. They will help keep us awake. However, this simply means that we are not treating our bodies right.

The solution to sleep debt? Catch up on this weekend.