We really need to all stop glorifying being overtired and overworked. It shouldn't be some badge of honor that people wear where people who are not as overworked as someone are seen as somehow less than those who are. It isn't a competition here. For the most part, most of us are trying our hardest. Just because someone gets enough sleep and somehow gets everything they need to get done in a day done, doesn't mean that they don't work hard or are somehow less than someone who doesn't have time to sleep and is more tired. The two just work differently because they have different goals, or even perhaps different lots in life. One may have it easier than the other, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they should compete with one another.
I'm a full-time graduate student with a full-time job. (And I have a 4.0 GPA, somehow.) I also am studying for my sommelier exam, and I write for Odyssey. I, somehow, still have a social life, time to see my family, and time to see my boyfriend. Some nights I only get five or six hours of sleep, but most nights, I get eight to nine hours of sleep. I even get to nap sometimes. Does this mean that I don't work hard? I don't think so, do you? But I'm not overworked and I'm usually hardly overtired. I have my days where I am beyond tired, just like the rest of us do sometimes. But it is not this continuing unhealthy thing that I am going to keep doing until I drop dead from exhaustion. Because I have done that before. I have had three jobs and worked nonstop on about four hours of sleep (and half of the time, that sleep wasn't at night). People really shouldn't feel like they have to do that in order to prove something. Some people do have to work like that, in order to make ends meet, but that shouldn't be praised. The economy shouldn't be so bad that people have to resort to that (which is not a discussion that I will be getting into during this rant).
And maybe I am an idealist, but losing sleep can take years off of your life. And being incessantly in an overwhelmingly stressful environment wreaks havoc on your body. It's bad for you. So why do I still see people bragging (not lamenting, but bragging) about how little they've slept this week and how tired they are? Why do I see people encouraging that unhealthy behavior? Why do I see people bringing others down for being tired because they feel that have worked longer before than those who are lamenting about being tired? Why are people so discouraged from taking care of themselves, and why are most work ethics centered around working like that? People really should remember the difference between working hard and being overworked, and that this difference is really important for optimal long-term health.
