# How do YOU know when you're tired? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613 "2009-01-23T08:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/41 "2009-01-23T20:30:22Z")
Cold and (very) cranky is the most usual case, but there are others. Like “saying” my thoughts in my head instead of, well, thinking. Or giggling at the most silly things. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/42 "2009-01-23T20:38:03Z")
I get sloppy & careless when I’m first getting tired. I notice this most when I’m doing woodworking / home improvement. I’m not the best DIY handyman, but I’m light-years ahead of my peers. That said, when my work starts to suffer (bad measurements, wrong cuts, sub-standard quality), I know I’m tired. I just pack it up and call it night. I’d rather do that than try to meet some made-up schedule. Oh, and if I’m not doing home improvement, it’s the same thing with any detail-oriented task… like walking. If I’m stubbing my toe or bumping into things, I know I’m burnt out. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/43 "2009-01-23T21:04:02Z")
I never know I’m tired until I take a nap and wake up and realize how much better I feel, and how bad I felt before and didn’t realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/44 "2009-01-23T21:33:59Z")
> [@JerseyFrank](#): > > I get sloppy & careless when I’m first getting tired. I notice this most when I’m doing woodworking :eek: You, uh, have all your fingers, right? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/45 "2009-01-23T21:39:17Z")
I get cold. Like I’ll be up late, involved in something, and I’ll suddenly discover that I’m shivering, even though I’m wrapped up in a blanket. A friend of ours starts to violently twitch. His left elbow may suddenly jerk back, like he was trying to elbow someone standing behind him. Or it might be his neck, or a leg. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/46 "2009-01-23T21:48:19Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > :eek: > > You, uh, have all your fingers, right? Yes, in a lovely box he made. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/47 "2009-01-23T21:54:59Z")
1. Like some others have said, I get cold. 2. My eyes feel gritty and they get blurry. 3. I definitely have trouble concentrating. The longest I’ve ever been awake is probably a little over 36 hours. I never want to do that again if I don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/48 "2009-01-23T22:04:34Z")
My thoughts stop making sense, even to me. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/49 "2009-01-23T22:21:25Z")
My eyes get grainy and burn. I get cranky or silly, depending on what company I’m in, and sometimes I get clumsy, which is very disconcerting to someone who is normally coordinated and sure-footed. When clumsiness starts, it’s nap-time, big time! ---
**Author:** ![bauble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@bauble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bauble)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/50 "2009-01-23T22:53:52Z")
I get emotional/weepy. Wanting to cry at Hallmark commercials kind of weepy. Which is damned embarrassing for a middle-aged guy. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/51 "2009-01-24T00:36:46Z")
My eyes get incredibly dry, seemingly all the sudden (I think it might be partly because of contact lenses), and I get really cold. If I’m _really_ sleep deprived, I get this weird mini-twitch thing in my left bicep, which is very annoying, because if I’m that exhausted it’s probably because I’ve got a boatload of work to do, and the twitch makes it harder to concentrate. ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/52 "2009-01-24T01:06:52Z")
I get this weird ‘empty space’ feeling in the back of my head. I visualize it as even the skull missing - just nothingness. But when I feel like that I know I have to get some sleep before I begin feeling normal again. (I realize I left myself wide open by saying that.) ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/53 "2009-01-24T01:50:36Z")
I get really short tempered and my eyes get dry and grainy when I’ve stayed up for a day or more. I also get this sort of shaky feeling like a wire that’s been stretched too tight. 48 hours or more and I get a renewed sense of energy, and a wierd sort of glow around objects, not unlike a hallucination. Oh, and there are actual hallucinations too. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/54 "2009-01-24T01:56:18Z")
I get a really weird sensation in my lower legs. I guess it’s RLS, but I’m not sure. It’s not my calves, but the shins that start to feel _almost_ but not quite twitchy. I have to flex my feet to make it go away. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s not pleasant. My head also starts to feel very heavy. I know what the “cat on your head” feeling is like. I also have a lot of trouble typing when I get tired. It’s taken me a while to type this out without mistakes. I’m going to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/55 "2009-01-24T05:18:57Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > I get a really weird sensation in my lower legs. I guess it’s RLS, but I’m not sure. It’s not my calves, but the shins that start to feel _almost_ but not quite twitchy. I have to flex my feet to make it go away. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s not pleasant. … Sounds RLS-ish to me. In my case, I know I’m tired because I’m awake. Yeah, that’s all it takes - I don’t ever sleep well so am quite literally always tired (see RLS, above). Extra-special tired - any and all: - My eyes start practically crossing - I have to keep moving because if I stop moving and (heaven forbid) sit down, getting up begins to seem nearly impossible. - I feel drowsier than usual. - I get more irritable than usual - My eyes get dry and puffy-feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Fiona\_Greenlee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@Fiona\_Greenlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiona_Greenlee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/56 "2009-01-24T19:42:57Z")
Along with a lovely eye twitch and a drastic downturn in verbal skills, any attempt at motion feels like I’m moving through something _thick_. I once told my husband that I felt like I was trying to ‘walk through pudding’ after three consecutive days of little sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/57 "2009-01-24T23:20:28Z")
I have a hard time understanding things. I make mistakes. I am slow ( well slower), if I sit down I have a hsrd time standing up. Examples. After the 89 earthquake, I was trying to set a safety on an escalator simple 15 minute job. After 45 minutes and still not set right, the department head told me to go home. I clocked out after working 18 hours that day. ``` Another time. The first year I volunteered to work at Spirit West Coast. I had been working 18 hour days during set up. The night the festable opened, one of the kids from the youth group ran into me. She took one look at me and asked "Dad you do not know who I am, do you?" When I said yes her coment was you are really tired arn't you, so it is OK. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613/58 "2009-01-24T23:29:19Z")
If I’m very sleepy, I either stop talking altogether or say inane things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-when-youre-tired/482613.md?page=2)