Job, relationships, sports, responsibilities… Sometimes we feel like we’re in a never-ending race. Some people are constantly looking for a way to have more hours a day, leading them to wonder how to not fall asleep.
How to not fall asleep?
It’s impossible to force yourself not to sleep. Eventually, fatigue will overwhelm. If you have to stay awake (temporarily!), you can cool the room to a very low temperature, be barefoot on a cold floor or in ice water and be in a position that does not allow sleep – for example, standing up. People drink a lot of coffee or coke to stay awake, but it’s obviously very unhealthy. However, it is better to ask how to sleep soundly than to ask how to not fall asleep.

Different people – Different sleep hours
How long do people sleep? The average is 8-7 hours of sleep. Does that mean there are no people who need ten hours? For four hours? It’s a biological matter. Some people need to sleep more, and there is no point in requiring themselves to shorten their sleep hours. There are quite a few stories about famous people and their bedtimes.
It is known, for example, that Thomas Edison needed very little sleep and tried to need as little of it as possible. It was probably part of his biology. But, on the other hand, Einstein has loved sleeping and would sleep for about ten hours every night.
On the other hand, Leonardo da Vinci slept only four hours a day and gave a lot of thought during the day to finding methods to reduce his sleep. Different people have different sleep needs. You can compare this to a weight loss diet – if you’re on a diet, you’re always hungry. If you’re sleep-deprived, you’re always tired. When a person needs a lot of sleep and needs to reduce it, he can compensate for it for a short period with the help of adrenaline, with excitement, enthusiasm, and high motivation. Overtime? It’s impossible
Symptoms of sleep deprivation
Not sleeping is, of course, an unhealthy situation. Our body needs to sleep for at least 7 hours. Sleeping less than 7 hours overtime can cause irreparable damage.
Symptoms of sleep deprivation:
- Difficulty concentrating and irritability
- Feeling exhausted
- Low motivation and poor mood
- Generally not a feeling well
- Increased propensity for mistakes
- Headaches, higher-than-usual mental stress, and abdominal pain
Prolonged sleep deprivation can lead to:
- Decreased cognitive abilities and memory
- Decreased response times (very dangerous to drive!)
- Damage in learning ability
- Decreased judgment
- Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer
- Depression
- Weight gain
Busy, Busy, Busy
The very question of how to not fall asleep shows how crazy our world is and how busy we are.
We all feel busy these days.
Between juggling a job and family (and possibly even more), how can you maybe squeeze some “me time” in there? Every day we hear how important it is to live the life of our dreams, how important it is to find balance, yet what can we do about that?

6 Tips for a balanced life
There are a lot of tips out there, but how you use them will determine how effective they are. Here are some tips:
1. Build a Routine
By creating a routine for yourself that includes all your activities, you’ll better manage how much time you spend on what and how much time is spent doing nothing. This will help free up time for yourself without having to cut back on your responsibilities or activities.
2. Prioritize
One of the best ways to get out of being too busy is to have a list of priorities in front of you at all times. Know what needs to be done and how it fits into your schedule. Then, cut down on the things that aren’t as important anymore. This will give you a chance to really focus on how much time you need to spend on each activity and how they fit together.
3. Set Guidelines
By establishing guidelines for how you’ll handle different responsibilities, you’ll also be able to break away from being too busy. Having a set of general rules for how you conduct yourself during the day will give you something to rely on so you don’t have to think about how much time should be spent on what, how many breaks are allowed, or how often someone should text back. It’s already done for you.
4. Give Yourself a Break
No matter how much you do, how often you try to improve yourself, or how hard you work, we all need a break every once in a while. So how do you make sure that happens? First, schedule it like any other activity. Then, create a time for yourself and put it on your schedule, so you don’t have to work through it.
5. Choose Where You Spend Your Time
It’s easy to get caught up in how busy we are, how much we need to do, and how little time we have. But how much of this is necessary? If you compare what you actually do with how long it takes, how much time is wasted, how often you get distracted, or how often you get off task, how many of these things are really necessary? How much time do you put into them before realizing they’re not for you anymore?
6. Live in the Moment
Be present in everything you do. If how busy you are is how you define how successful you are, then how successful are you really? We all need to take a step back and remember that success doesn’t equal how much we do or how many hours of the day we fill. Success is about how fulfilling your days are, how well you can manage yourself in terms of time, how happy are you with how much you’ve done. This is how you create that balance that everyone hears so much about, and this is how you find your life without being too busy.
In conclusion
We all feel busy, but instead of asking how to not fall asleep that can damage ourselves, let’s use these six tips to live better in the hours we have!