I’m exhausted. I was up until 2:30 AM last night working on a redesign and re-implementation of this site, and I ended up getting less than four hours of sleep.
Usually, getting that little sleep would destroy me the next day. I’ve come to realize that I need a reasonable amount of sleep at night (at least 6 hours) to be functional, otherwise my ability to think and deal with stress decreases significantly. But today, even though my eyes were drooping, I found that my brain was alert and working fine.
Why is that? Why would today differ from than any other day after a poor night of sleep? I have a theory:
Accomplishment
The reason I stayed up so late last night was that I had started a big job, and I really wanted to see it through to the end. I could see the finish line by about 11:00 PM, or at least I thought I could, so I just kept pushing until the job was finally done three and a half hours later.
But I think that last part is key to why I’m feeling functional today: the job was finally done. I had accomplished something. It helped that it was something I felt was challenging, which makes it even more of a true accomplishment.
I’m certainly running on empty today in terms of rest, but I think I’m able to handle it because I’m getting a boost of energy from that good feeling of accomplishment. I’m sure scientists could tell me exactly what hormones my body is making that are helping me feel this way.
All I know is that without a drop of caffeine, I had a great day when I had no reason whatsoever to think that I would. Now it’s time to hit the sack.
Oh, and hey – how do you like the new version of the site?
Please note: I've moved my active blogging over to a new site, called Jason Clarke - Infinite Bass Line. I will leave this site up indefinitely, but if you're interested in my latest posts please consider visiting the new site.