Breakfast Babble: How Social Media Made Me Believe Sleep Deprivation Is Cool

Somewhere between 3 am study sessions and black coffee shots, I started romanticising the dark circles that came with sleep deprivation. Thanks to social media, I had come to firmly believe that being tired was the ultimate personality trait I needed to be successful.

You know those aesthetic study vlogs with scented candles burning, laptops open 24 hours a day, lo-fi music in the background, and the clock ticking at 3 am? Yes.

Social media made sleep deprivation look so good. And I thought, if I followed it too, I’d be cool. Because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t aspire to be a successful young woman a little earlier than the world around her?

Somewhere along the way, rest became a synonym for lazy. My feed was full of videos idealising three-hour sleep cycles, fourth cups of coffee, and captions like “Grind today, greatness tomorrow.”

The idea of a proper sleep schedule, a day with a few unfinished tasks, and a little more rest than usual felt almost rebellious.

Isn’t it the same for all of us?

Read more: Breakfast Babble: Why Catching Up With Friends Is So Tiresome

We’re so busy chasing that one job or exam that we confuse a deprived life for ambition and flex exhaustion as if it were an achievement.

We’ve all caught ourselves bragging about how little we sleep, as if that somehow makes our work more valuable, haven’t we?

We completely ignore the side effects that it brings. Blurred vision, the attention span of a goldfish, low retention, and constant fatigue. But hey, as long as we look hardworking, who cares about the rest, right?

Wrong.

There’s absolutely nothing aesthetic about being chronically tired. It doesn’t make you “that girl.” It’s just burnout disguised as productivity.

The truth is, no one’s really thriving on a jug of black coffee or three hours of sleep; they’re just pretending because the internet has convinced us that rest is for losers.

Along the way, I learned that I no longer want to chase hustle without rest. I’m chasing peace. Not the absence of ambition, but the absence of panic. When goals are steady, hustle is consistent, and I still get a good night’s sleep. 

Because resting doesn’t make you a quitter; it makes you human. Maybe the real flex isn’t staying up until sunrise. The real flex is realising that even if the world outside is restless, the world inside you doesn’t have to be.

Image Credits: Google Images

Sources: Blogger’s own opinion

Find the blogger: @shubhangichoudhary_29

This post is tagged under: sleep deprivation, hustle culture, burnout culture, social media pressure, Gen Z lifestyle, mental health awareness, productivity myths, rest and recovery, self care, online burnout, toxic productivity, social media influence, work life balance, digital wellness, Gen Z burnout

Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used; these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly email us.

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