I jolt awake as the raucous noise of my alarm rings. My head is heavy and my eyes fight to stay open, but I still force myself out of bed and get ready to leave for class.
Even as I walk to class, my body feels sluggish and my mind feels delayed compared to my movements. Words from the professor seem to blur together, and it takes extra effort just to keep your eyes open.
Finally, during the last class of the day, my friend takes notice at my tired state and asks, "Hey, are you good. You look extra tired today,"
"I'm fine, just running on little sleep," I reply.
"Maybe some coffee will do you good," my friend jokes.
I chuckle in response before their words settle... Didn't they said the exact same thing yesterday? But I brush the thought away since this does happen almost every day.
After finally finishing all of my classes for the day, I head home eager to return to the comfort of [[my bed -> 3: take a nap (longer than expected)]]
As soon as I lie down, the weight of exhaustion lifts from my body, and the soft blankets seems to melt away the day’s stress. I know I shouldn't, but I decide to take a quick nap, for the sake of my health. As I close my eyes, sleep pulls me in gently, as if my body has been waiting for this moment all day.
It was only going to be a quick nap, but I sleep longer than expected. When I stir awake expecting to feel refreshed, I instead feel like I'm emerging from a thick, disorienting fog. Time feels distorted—how long did I sleep?
I groan realizing I slept too long, and feel worse than before the nap. Now I won't be tired enough to sleep [[when it's actually time to sleep -> 4: hyper-awake at night]].
Since I already wasted a few hours of my day napping, I realize there is no point in trying to sleep early. I push myself to get things done and decide to make up for the time by doing chores and work instead.
The quiet of the late evening surrounds me as I make myself productive. Each task feels like a small way to make up for the lost time, a way to justify the hours spent drifting off. [[Sleep can wait -> 5: staying up and doing everything but sleeping]]
Even after that, revenge bedtime procrastination kicks in and prompts me to rot in my bed while watching all sorts of streaming platforms. The long nap from earlier still keeps me away and I feel the guilty urged to stay awake watching videos I enjoy to get “revenge” for getting no time to do things I want throughout the day.
Hours slip away as I scroll through; just [[one more -> 1: sleep late]] I look at the clock and it's 3:00 AM. Oh no. I was on my phone and before I knew it, it got way too late. Remembering that I need to wake up early the next morning, I hurriedly set my alarm and finally turn off my phone to go to sleep.
[[Zzzz.... -> 2: tired throughout the day]]