You can’t outrun sleep debt: my body’s collecting receipts
Well-being debt is real, and just like financial debt, it always comes due. Especially when you think you're too young, too busy, or too immune to feel it yet. Spoiler: you're not.
How I accidentally took out a loan on my body
I once worked from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. on a high-pressure campaign with major celebs you'd recognize. I say once, but it was really five weeks straight. Just me, my Earl Grey, two monitors, and a whole lot of cortisol. Long days. Working weekends. Neglecting my body, my friends, my family.
Why? A few reasons:
My name was on it, and anything that touches my name gets my full effort.
I felt, for some wild reason, like I had to prove just how valuable I was. To the company, but mostly to myself.
What I was really doing, though, was racking up well-being debt. Skipping meals. Missing sleep. Forgetting that movement is a thing. Neglect disguised as productivity. I was pushing through stress like it was a badge of honor. I spoke more to my project manager than I did to my husband. And like financial debt, well-being debt comes with a creditor: your body. She’s kind for a while, but eventually she collects.
Sleep is the first thing we borrow from
Sleep is the number one well-being withdrawal. And we’ve all said the things:
“I just need to finish this project.”
“Just one more episode.”
“Sleep is for the weak.”
“It’s Friday night, time to party!”
Every time I do this, I swear I hear my body whisper, Cool. See you in the hospital in a couple of years.
Sleep is not a luxury, it’s a biological need. But we treat it like something to earn, something we’ll get to eventually. In case you forgot, while you're asleep, your body is clocked in. It repairs tissue, consolidates memories, regulates hormones, and resets your nervous system. Basically, it’s the overnight shift for your entire life.
The interest adds up fast
Sleep debt collects interest: mood swings, brain fog, emotional crash-outs, immune meltdowns.
True story. Once, after weeks of bad sleep, I cleaned the bathroom, hated the smell of the new cleaner, and burst into tears. I mean full-on ugly crying. My husband walked in like, “Are you… crying over bathroom cleaner?” Yes. Yes, I was.
People love to say they’ll catch up on sleep over the weekend, but it doesn’t work like that. One bad night is manageable. But five nights of four hours instead of eight? That’s 20 hours of sleep debt in one week alone. Are you making that up by Monday? Probably not. Now imagine the debt for one full year of bad sleep?
And so the debt grows. Chronic sleep loss becomes chronic stress. Your body stays stuck in fight-or-flight, making real rest impossible. Eventually, your body steps in and says, “That’s foreclosure, baby.”
Sleep is the gateway debt
Sleep is just the gateway debt. We stack up others too:
Nutrition debt: Girl dinners, counting Chipotle as vegetables, takeout on repeat... your cells quietly weeping. Without variety, your gut bacteria (key to immunity) don’t get what they need and your system just runs a little worse.
Movement debt: Skipping workouts, sitting all day, driving even though the store is literally two minutes away. Movement debt confronts you in the mirror and in pictures, and later in knee pain, back pain, and doctors’ offices.
Emotional debt: Ignoring your feelings since 2022, pushing everything down until you snap over the smell of bathroom cleaner. Stress and emotions don’t disappear. They relocate and come out eventually.
Social debt: Voice notes instead of real connection, texting back three days later, feeling isolated but not knowing how to fix it. Distance builds quietly, even when no one means for it to. Relationships need tending too.
When the bill finally arrives
Your body keeps score. Eventually, it cashes in. Stress becomes your baseline. Your immune system checks out. Your energy tanks. You cancel plans, forget things, lose your sense of humor, and stop feeling like yourself. Burnout never knocks, it barges in.
Good news: you’re not too late
Tiny deposits matter. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Eat real food and don’t skip fiber. Take a walk. Smell the trees. Feel the sun on your face (but don’t forget sunscreen). Say no to something you didn’t want to do anyway. You don’t need a total reset. Just a few steady deposits back into your well-being account. Start small. Breathe. Rest. Maybe even eat a grape.
Tl;dr
Don’t wait until you're crying in a Whole Foods parking lot because your watch told you your stress levels are high. Start now. You deserve better than survival mode.
