The Health Chronicles: Well, I Got Sick
The 50 Plus Hour 6 Day Work Week did Not Help Either
Going into this week, I knew it would be a long one. Needing to cover for a coworker who was on vacation, I was tapped to take on the brunt of her hours. Plus, I would be getting up earlier. But as you all know, I don’t mind that too much. I am a morning kind of person.
So on Monday I got some reasonable sleep, the day was busy, but not impossible, and all relatively went off without a hitch. I even went to bed earlier in an attempt to continue to make sure I got adequate sleep with my shift in wake up schedule.
Then I woke up and didn’t get back to sleep, and my sleep chart looked like this:
By the time I was about to go back to sleep, I needed to be up for work. I did shave though, so the time was not completely wasted. But, this was the beginning of me feeling not myself, and that Tuesday I was struggling, for real. I knew I was sleep deprived, but I was also getting the onset of what felt like a 24 hour bug. I then had to go and meet with some potential roommates since I plan on moving soon. That went well, but I was SO DRAINED I could barely walk by the time I got home.
By that time, I knew I was full on sick, and some sleep would help. To be fair it did help alleviate the worst of the symptoms, but the sleep I got also looked like this:
I woke up on Wednesday well enough to get myself to work, but I also took an Uber to get in “extra rest”, not the only time I would do so this week and was not happy doing it. If it were any other time, aka me not having to cover because we were short staffed, I would have called out. I probably should have. But, I was needed. Thankfully, the office was slower that day and I was able to leave a little early thanks to one of the co owners being understanding and my coworker basically “yelling” at me to go home and rest.
She was yelling with her eyes and it was very caring I promise.
Wednesday night's sleep was not exceptionally great. I had a couple more calls about the potential living space. But I did somehow manage enough to feel a little more human by Thursday. The worst of the sickness seemed to be gone, and let’s just say my body was vigorously ridding itself of the…gunk inside. Here’s the thing though. Because I have been paying attention to my body so well recently, I knew Thursday night I would get sleep that resembled more of what was my normal pattern.
And so I did. Friday I was back to normal with the occasional remnants of coughing up a lung. But I was certainly more full of energy and feeling like I was planning on feeling doing this early shift. As I write this Sunday morning, first of the days off since I did work Saturday as well, I’d say I’m at about 95 percent.
Being sick sucks, and being sleep deprived on top of it sucks even more. Here’s hoping that with my continuing to pursue a healthier lifestyle that sort of situation can be avoided moving forward. If there’s anything I learned from this week it’s this. Brain fog from sleep deprivation is REAL.
And also, when your coworker says take a bus instead of walk because you’re not feeling well, do it. Doesn’t matter that something is walking distance. Don’t have a stupid *man* moment (because that’s just what it was, me being a stupid man haha).
Now, Let’s do some other check ins.
Did I drink last week? Lol. No. Funny.
Did I have junk food? Yeah I did yesterday. I needed some comfort after that hellish week.
Average Walk Distance: 5.5 Miles. Yeah that still happened despite being a zombie for the back end of the week.
Average Sleep Time: 6 Hours 26 Minutes. You have seen some individual days. Now look at the whole chart. Just an utter shambles. We’ll get it back on track this week.
Screen Time Average: 4 Hours 10 Minutes. I think the earlier work schedule helped. I also had no interest in looking at my screen while I was dying haha. I had very little interest in being social unless absolutely necessary.
There were enough pictures this week, so we can leave it there. The sun is coming up now and I have finished off my second tea of the morning. So, now I am off to do a little grocery shopping, prep cook, go for a walk later today, and hopefully pass out so I can get back on track with my sleep this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week. Mine can certainly only improve considering what happened last week haha.
Thank you for reading Preston’s Eclectic Musings. Any support whether that be a like, share, comment, or subscription is always appreciated.
Or, if you’d like to send me some sustenance in the form of a healthy beverage, consider buying me a “coffee” (Tea!) instead!
That was a tough week. I'm glad you're on the mend!