20 Lessons I've Learned in TV Weather: # 2 - SLEEP IS NOT OVERRATED

I overslept and missed part of a newscast only one time in my entire career. It was before smartphones, and the batteries in my pager had died! I woke up in a panic realizing the news had started 30 minutes prior. There was a mad dash and a lot of apologies to co-workers who had to cover for me. Working an early morning schedule, waking up in the middle of the night, is not normal and your body really never gets used to it. People often asked what my secret was to waking up early and keeping the dark circles from under my eyes. There’s only one cure: sleep. Regular, consistent sleep was the only thing that cured my brain fog, faded dark circles and under-eye bags, increased my energy, and sustained my healthy immune system. 

When people discover I wake up at 2 AM for work, their first response has always been one of surprise. Even though they may know the news starts at 4:30 AM, and they probably understand that a lot of preparation goes into it, it doesn’t cross their mind that I have to get up so early. Once the realization hits, the next comment is almost always, “Oh, but you must be used to it by now.”

Nope. I’m not used to it. It doesn’t get easier. My body doesn’t adjust. I’m just tired. All the time. I live with a sort of fog over my life, and that is the part I have learned to live with. Maybe.

Depends on the day you ask.

It’s also gotten harder the older I get. Of course, it doesn’t help that every time I turn around, I see another article about how sleep deprivation is killing me. Study after study shows that lack of sleep, or shift work with abnormal sleeping hours, causes heart disease, high blood pressure, risk of stroke, hypertension, mood swings…the list goes on and on.

When people say to me, “I don't know how you do it!” my answer has always been the same: “One day at a time.”

The truth is, I have never gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night on a regular basis. I have learned to deal with it. I certainly contemplated finding another job with a different schedule, but in the meantime, I resigned myself to feeling tired all the time, and constantly feeling just a little bit “off” my game. I like to think I learned to function on less sleep, and I learned to keep myself healthy (at least on the surface) despite abnormal sleep.

Anyone who has ever worked this kind of shift “gets it.” And those who haven't, don't. 

They might try to sympathize, but until you wake up every day in the middle of the night, and get an average of 5-6 hours of sleep (when you really need 7-8) you just don't understand.

There are also people who do fine with only 5 hours of sleep. Those are the people who say, “I can sleep when I’m dead,” or roll their eyes (literally or figuratively) when I mention how tired I feel. They are the lucky ones. I’d love to be one of those people who feels like they don’t need sleep. A quick Google search of “sleep is overrated” turns up endless articles that make me feel crazy for craving regular sleep.

Most of the time when I feel crazy, I blame the sleep deprivation. It’s a vicious cycle.

A lot of people make sacrifices for their jobs. Most people make sacrifices for their families. Sometimes the sacrifice is sleep. For many years, the sacrifice was worth it to me. Once it wasn’t, I had to make a change.

“Sleep is the best meditation.” - Dalai Lama

“Sleep is the best medication.” - Amy Sweezey