Summary

The author inadvertently underwent an extended 41-hour digital detox through excessive sleep, leading to reflections on personal habits and the value of moderation.

Abstract

The author intended to engage in a one-day digital detox but ended up sleeping for an unprecedented 41 hours, from Monday evening to Wednesday afternoon. This unplanned period of inactivity was prompted by a combination of heavy rain and the author's lack of engaging activities during their solitude. The extended sleep caused the author to miss routine commitments, such as calling their father, adhering to their writing schedule, and maintaining their workout routine. The experience also led to a personal record in sleep duration, surpassing their previous record of 27 hours. The author, who identifies as an extrovert, found the prolonged isolation challenging and concluded that the recommended 8 hours of sleep is optimal for recharging the body, with additional sleep being an indulgence in laziness.

Opinions

The author views their extended sleep as a form of unintended digital detox, which was initially intended to be a conscious one-day break from internet media.
The author considers their 41-hour sleep a personal record in laziness and acknowledges the discomfort of exceeding the body's need for rest.
There is a sense of regret and shame for the amount of time spent sleeping, as it interfered with personal responsibilities and routines.
The author believes that solitude and excessive sleep are particularly challenging for extroverts, who thrive on social interaction.
The author's friends' recent focus on personal development and health is seen as both confusing and positive, albeit overdue.
The author recognizes the importance of moderation in sleep and personal activities, emphasizing that anything beyond what the body requires for rejuvenation is unnecessary.

41 Hours of Sleep: The Unexpected Digital Detox

From 8 pm Monday to 1 pm Wednesday — A personal record in laziness

Screw digital detox. I just lost two days of my life. Not that I’m on the peak phase of my life or anything! But it feels like a lot when you wake up after over-sleeping. You realise your body is hurting because of the extra sleep.

I wanted to try a digital detox. Like, disconnect from all the internet media and be with me for one day. It turns out I don’t have enough things to do in personal time. For an hour or two, sounds good. But a day feels like a lifetime! I am extrovert, and I can’t stay alone for the whole day.

How it started

As my roommate left for home this Monday, I am alone in my work-town. I can do whatever I want. Yeah, whatever! And look what I did!

I chose to try a few things.

Devote one hour to internet entertainment
Then disconnect from electronic devices and spend a little me-time. I wanted to devote the entire Tuesday to digital detox.

Guess what! It was raining heavily. I couldn’t get a whole lot of things done on Monday itself. Instead, I started Netflix, and in less than an hour, I dozed off to a 41-hour long sleep. I thought it was 27, but then I calculated. From 8 pm Monday to 1 pm Wednesday. Yup! That’s some shameful 41 hours!

The only break a human takes

I woke up for only two things:

to eat — take something from the world
to excrete — give something to the world

I slept on Monday at 8 pm and woke-up today ( Wednesday ) at 1 pm. If I weren’t hungry or didn’t need to go washroom, I don’t know how long I would have been in bed.

I only woke up because my body needed to do some critical energy business to stay alive. I looked at my phone notifications too but ignored most of them.

Things I missed

I call my dad every day and check on him. I forgot to do it on Tuesday.

I missed my writing schedule on Tuesday.

I skipped the workout for two days.

And also I did not see the light for 40 hours.

The personal record in laziness

I did some extra freelance work on Monday just that I won’t be worried about it for the next two days. I wasn’t aiming to create a record for the most sleeping hours. But here we go! I broke my record after one year.

Before this, my maximum sleep duration was 27 hours in the final semester of college. Earlier, it was 17 hours in the first semester.

Final words

For an extrovert like me, living by myself for too long is not the definition of a good life. It instead sounds boring and extremely hard in practice.

I tried talking to some of my friends, but all of sudden they are focussing on personal development and health.

It is almost four months since the lockdown started, and now they are getting to their senses. I can’t say I am happy and confused both! Too late to focus on health, huh!

Watching Netflix for three days would burn my eyes, so I went to sleep. I woke up today because hunger has hit the fan. I can no longer hold.

I woke up, freshened up and I won’t be trying this experiment in this year at least. 41 hours of inactivity! Damn it! It feels good only while you’re in bed and dream like you have no life. But as soon as you get out of the bed, you realise why 8 hours of sleep is the recommended one. Because that’s how much our body needs to recharge itself. The rest of it is just extra-time in laziness.

This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing on a daily streak. Although I did miss a day because of too much sleep, today is day 124. The first two targets were day 21 and 100. The next aim is day 150. Here is the first blog that started the streak.

Thank You for reading! See you tomorrow!

~ S.