Hello, everyone! I'm grateful that I have enough time to write an article today for #Hive and share what I have learned from this turn of events in my life. 

If a person sleeps only three to four hours a night, how harmful can it be for him? I am an aging woman, and I thought that sleeping less at my age was just normal.
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A few months ago, I was in a similar situation where I only managed to get about 3-4 hours of sleep each night. I was juggling a full-time online job as a writer cum assistant editor to the CEO of the publishing company and a personal virtual shopper to the COO, and on top of that, I was still taking online classes sponsored by the company to upgrade my writing and editing skills. My to-do list never seemed to end, and sleep felt like a luxury I just couldn’t afford.

At first, I thought I could handle it. I’d wake up feeling groggy, but a strong cup of coffee would push me through the day. I convinced myself that as long as I wasn’t collapsing from exhaustion, I was fine. But over time, the effects started creeping in.<center>https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/diosarich/23vi6PKsLduku9T9VskM9vL5Vw6TGaHFLHwamRUy3BGzukMV7f2Vg8dytjhLzmVvoiZL2.jpg</center>
My mood started to change. I’d get irritated over the smallest things, snapping at my friends and family for no reason. At work, I started making mistakes that I normally wouldn’t—simple things like forgetting to respond to an email mixing up appointments, or missing out on some writing and editing job for the CEO. Then, the headaches started. Every afternoon, around the same time, it felt like my brain was pounding against my skull, begging me to stop. But I didn’t stop. I just powered through, thinking I could tough it out.

It wasn’t until I was thrice hospitalized that I realized how bad things had gotten. I dozed off for just a split second while my friend and I crossed the pedestrian lane. It was enough that my friend held my hand and noticed that I had stopped walking or else I would almost collapse in the middle of the lane to cause an accident. There was a time when I was almost hit by a car when I was about to cross the street. It's just an inch away and I'm knocked to the ground. I felt some force pushing me away from the road. Maybe my mind is fleeting as I am still in grief because of my son's demise, nevertheless, that was the wake-up call I needed. My body had been giving me warning signs for weeks, but I hadn’t been paying attention.
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Based on that incident, I decided to draw attention to my sleep. It wasn’t easy at first. I let go of the idea that I could do it all and I had to learn to say "NO" to some things.  I have observed, that once I started sleeping a full 7-8 hours a night, the difference was far-fetched. My frame of mind was getting better, my driving force came back, and I was brought back to my existence. I didn’t realize how much sleep deprivation had been affecting me until I finally got out of that cycle.
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True to my personal experience, I can say that sleeping only 3-4 hours a night might not seem harmful at first, but it sneaks up on you. It affects your mood, your memory, your body, and even your safety in ways you don’t expect. Sleep isn’t just rest—it's essential for functioning properly in all areas of life.
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> First photo edited using collage by Canva

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*I am looking forward to engaging with you guys! Thank you, #Hiveians, for fetching around my blog and checking out the post. Catch you on my next blog.*

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