Sleep Deprivation and the Functioning Human Being

"Although we look awake, inside we're all still sleeping"
-Rise Against, Under the Knife (The Sufferer and the Witness, 2006)


Spring time; there's a lot to love about this time of year. New lambs, daffodils and the joy of knowing that Summer is just around the bend. On the flipside however, there are things not to love. Things like hay fever, or the end of the ski season. Then there is the start of Daylight Savings...
Who would've guessed that one hour removed from an otherwise 168 hour long week could screw with us to such an extent.

Daylight Savings aside, every day is another chapter in the ongoing war that is the relationship with my alarm clock. Every time I hit the snooze button, it's a mortar shell aimed for reality's awful 4:30am song. Five minutes later, fire is returned. After 20 minutes, the white flag is waved as I drag my sleep loving self from the horizontal position to face another day.
Once you factor Daylight Savings into the equation, suddenly the battle becomes an even harder fought affair. After two arduous awakenings this week, it was the alarm that finally won this morning.
By the time I realized I should have been at work, or at least arriving through the gate, it was 5:55am.
After breaking the world record for dressing myself and a 30 second long panic phone call later, I was on my way...
Once at work, my day wasn't getting much better. The workload was surprisingly heavy for a Wednesday, and I was only 40% awake. Consuming three bottles of Red Bull within your first 90 minutes of consciousness (to no effect) is a fair indication that your day isn't going to get better anytime soon.

    "Consuming three bottles of  Red Bull within your first 90 minutes of consciousness is a fair indication that your day isn't going to get better anytime soon"  

One of the fantastic elements of Daylight Savings (yes, that's an oxymoron) is that the first few days after the forward shift generally pass you by in a flash - when you are busy. Within the hour proceeding the polishing off of my final bottle of Red Bull, things had petered off. When not a lot is happening in my line of work, it's all too easy to look at the clock. It's an unscientific fact that days are longer when you are looking at the clock every two minutes. It's also a notable point that two minutes is the equivalent of 15 minutes in that scenario.
The worst thing about being in my sleep deprived situation is that it is always the worst when nothing much else is happening, and today was one of those day. Or I was too tired remember. Either way it was torture...

Amazingly, I managed to survive a 60 (eight) hour long epic.
Even more amazingly, I have managed to write this blog post.
Bedtime now methinks...