How to guard your brain like the secret-service when you're sleep-deprived?
What if your brain isn't only responding to reality, outside-in, but creating reality in real-time from the inside-out?
When you wake up without that restorative “on top of the world” feeling after a lack of good sleep—be wary of your thoughts, be gentle with yourself, and if your mind starts to spiral into a never-ending blackhole of self-doubt (I’ve been there), remember—you’re experiencing what I call “sleep-deprivation psychosis” (a totally made-up term, but you get the vibe!).
So how can you navigate through such painstaking days?
Guard your brain like the Secret Service. Because without proper sleep, the brain will need serious TLC, even if it’s not making it obvious.
Three habits I try to maintain, especially on sleep-deprived days:
Start with room-temperature water (my Asian grandma insists—avoid temperature shocks), your brain and body is in a fragile state. Especially essential if you’re a caffeine person like me. Your brain missed it’s crucial glymphatic deep-clean and will now struggle to regulate proper hydration and hormone regulation. So if in doubt, hydrate!
Watch what you eat vigilantly, like Marlin protecting Nemo (in Pixar’s Finding Nemo). Your body will crave sugar and quick fixes because sleep deprivation disrupts leptin and ghrelin—the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety. to compensate for it’s lack of energy. But, these foods will destabilize your mood in stealth mode—you’ll only notice once it’s too late when the insulin crash hits. Ever notice how patience disappears after a sleepless night? Stick to whole foods, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and fresh fruit instead.
Take a walk outside. Natural light resets your confused circadian rhythm by regulating melatonin production, while gentle movement activates your lymphatic system and increases blood flow to the brain, helping clear the adenosine build up that’s making you feel foggy.
Which brings me to some fascinating questions: ever wondered how your brain constructs reality? How does the brain comprehend the world beyond itself based on what it observes? How does the brain interpret and processes incoming information and make sense of it?
György Buzsáki’s “How the Brain ‘Constructs’ the Outside World?” on Scientific American completely shifted my perspective this week—especially relevant as I sooth myself through some sleep-deprived nights, when everything feels off-balance and a little wonky. Honestly, some week’s it’s just hard to get good sleep every night, so maybe understanding how our brain works can help?
