Sleep debt refers to the difference in how many hours you’re supposed to be sleeping a night and the amount you actually sleep. For instance, if you sleep for three hours when you’re supposed to be sleeping for at least seven, you have a sleep debt of four hours. Even if you sleep for even an hour or two less than the recommended amount, if you tally up the amount of hours of sleep debt you accumulate in a week, you’re about seven to eight hours deep into sleep deprivation that you’ll have to sleep of in the future, lest you face the consequences.

These consequences include, but are not limited to:

• Excessive drowsiness
• Loss in focus and drive
• Moodiness/mood swings
• A weaker immune system
• An inability to process environmental changes

Many struggle getting rid of their accumulated sleep debt, me included, so to try and recover, there are some things you are capable of doing in order to get back to a normal, healthy sleeping schedule.

• Cutting out/reducing caffeine intake

I love my caffeine, so I wouldn’t be able to cut it out completely, but even reducing your intake by a cup of caffeine a week can lead towards less reliance (due to your sleep deprivation) and the ability to fall asleep with a little more ease.

• Make your room and your bed sleep-friendly

More times than not, your environment is what encourages both your body and brain to sleep. If you feel uncomfortable with anything in your room or your bed, try to change it to the best of your ability. Doing so triggers your brain unconsciously to want to sleep and will give you higher quality rest.

• Take naps

While it may seem counterintuitive, naps can help relieve the consequences of your sleep debt, to a certain extent. Naps help provide an energy boost to those who need it, but it can interfere with your sleeping schedule which is why you need to keep yourself in check if you decide to take naps.

• Sleep more on the days you are free

A lot of people tend to have lots of responsibilities that take up most of their time, such as work and school, so if you have the opportunity, you can try and squeeze in an extra hour or two of sleep when you’re free. While it won’t help you completely recover from the effects of sleep debt, it will definitely help decrease drowsiness in addition to correcting your sleep schedule.