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Would You Show Up to Work Drunk? Then Why Are You Showing Up Sleep Deprived?
Key Takeaway
Sleep deprivation doesn’t just feel bad—it’s equivalent to being legally drunk at work. For first responders carrying weapons and operating vehicles, that’s not a handicap. It’s a liability.
Are we just tired and need a few cups of coffee to bounce back and make it through our shift, or are we going out on the street with a real impairment?
There have been many studies done on this topic. I’m going to highlight a couple and then talk about some of the strategies that have proven to help us get better sleep. This includes a few that I have used as someone who worked nights as a Police Officer for years and then, of course, been sleep deprived on more than one occasion in the military. RASP and Ranger School being the more extreme moments—but there is no “strategy” other than suffering through those.
The Science: How Sleep Deprivation Impairs Performance
Acute Sleep Deprivation and Reaction Time
If you’re acutely sleep deprived for a long period of time, your reaction time is impacted. Studies on transportation employees have shown that staying awake for 17–19 hours is equivalent to having a few alcoholic beverages. If you stay up longer, it could be equivalent to having a 0.10% Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)—which puts you over the legal limit to drive in most states.
The key takeaway is that the more sleep deprived you are—which is incredibly common in the first responder realm—you’re basically drunk at work. Which is great when you consider that some of you carry guns or operate giant fire trucks.
Chronic Sleep Restriction: The Real Problem
What’s even more concerning than one bad night is the cumulative effect of consistent, small amounts of sleep deprivation over several days. Belenky et al. (2003) conducted a groundbreaking study that examined this exact scenario—one that most first responders actually experience.
The study assigned 66 volunteers to one of four groups receiving 3, 5, 7, or 9 hours of sleep nightly for 7 days, followed by 3 days of recovery sleep at 8 hours per night. Performance was measured using the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), which assessed reaction time and attention lapses (Belenky et al., 2003).
Why this study matters: It created a realistic environment where many first responders exist. Although massive sleep deprivation happens, it’s not nearly as common as being sleep deprived by small amounts over several days when you’re on shift. I saw this all the time as a cop and experienced it myself.
I never forgot the time I had to appear for court at 8 a.m. after working the prior night from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. I didn’t take the stand until about 11 or 12 that day and still had to work that evening. When I asked a supervisor about coming in late, he asked me:
“Well, how much sleep do you need?”
I responded with, “Some.”
To this day it amazes me how little thought was put into putting somebody back out on the street to operate a car, carry a weapon, and make split-second decisions.
The Recovery Window
What’s even more valuable is that the study examined a 3-day recovery period (when participants returned to 9 hours of sleep):
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Mild restriction groups: Performance fully recovered within 1–2 nights
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Moderate restriction groups: Performance substantially recovered within 2–3 nights
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Severe restriction group: Recovery was slower and more incomplete, suggesting deeper cognitive fatigue debt
These findings came from the Belenky et al. (2003) study mentioned above.
So with what I think is a large recovery window—one that most working adults don’t get—you can recover from these sleep debts. However, how many cops do you know who work one shift and then have several days off? Zero.
All the more reason to value consistent rest over time. In fact, this study shows that one night of rest really isn’t achieving complete recovery. So the idea of just sleeping in on one day doesn’t work.
Another key finding: in the groups that got 5 and 7 hours of sleep, their reaction speed declined and then remained blunted until they recovered. This means consistent, small amounts of sleep deprivation was actually harder to recover from—which I think is the baseline for most people who work nights (Belenky et al., 2003).
Strategies for Deeper and Higher-Quality Sleep
Understanding the problem is half the battle. Here’s what actually works—tested through research and real shift work. When it is time to sleep, the key isn’t just the length of time—it’s the quality of sleep you’re getting. You’re already often in a stressed state in these professions. When you finally get a moment to rest, take it just as seriously as a lifting session or the preworkout you take.
Here are some common recommendations that have worked well for me in the past:
Environmental Interventions
Cold Room (65–68°F) — A cooler sleeping environment improves sleep quality and increases deep sleep time. A study using temperature-controlled mattress covers showed 14 additional minutes of deep sleep (+22%), 9 additional minutes of REM sleep (+25%), and improved heart rate variability (+7%) (Moyen et al., 2024).
Black-Out Curtains — If you work nights, this is huge. Exposure to dim light during sleep significantly decreases total sleep time and sleep efficiency (Cho et al., 2018).
Eye Mask — Helps block any ambient light, especially useful in irregular sleep environments.
White Noise — Could be anything that makes consistent background noise (e.g., a fan). White noise (40–50 dB) shortens sleep latency and improves sleep onset and duration. In a study of adults in high-noise environments, white noise significantly reduced Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO) and shortened sleep latency (Ebben et al., 2021).
Behavioral Strategies
Avoid Bright Screens Before Bed — If you’re going to read off a screen, at least dim it or use the “warmer” tones offered on newer tech.
Avoid Short-Form Social Media — Many of these platforms are designed to stimulate your brain and wire you right before bed. Don’t piss yourself off before bed watching something about politics. Relax.
Write Down Your To-Do List — If you have racing thoughts or things you need to do when you wake up, write them down. Get it out of your head. Know it’s on a list and you won’t forget it. Handle it when you wake up.
Breathing Exercises — Check with your doctor, but usually anything that has you taking a few deep and controlled breaths before bed will help relax you and put you into a more parasympathetic state.
Practice Gratitude — Be grateful for what you have, whether it’s just a warm sleeping bag or a wonderful and supportive family. Take a moment and be thankful.
Supplement Support
Sensible Supplements — Consider supplements that contain evidence-based ingredients like Zero Dark Thirty, which contains ashwagandha. Research shows that ashwagandha (300 mg/day) reduces sleep latency by approximately 27 minutes and improves overall sleep quality in healthy adults over 8 weeks (Langade et al., 2021).
Closing
Your big takeaway should be simple: Sleep is a weapon. You’re not tough by purposefully sleep depriving yourself. I have been around some people who claim they don’t need sleep or who foster a culture in their professional world where it’s some kind of badge of honor to not sleep and just work all the time.
At some point you will hit a wall. I have been kept up for well over 24 hours in my professional life on more than one occasion. Yes, you can power through it. But I can tell you from experience your decision-making does suffer, everything gets harder, and yes, at some point you just need some sleep. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should when you don’t have to.
References
Belenky, G., Wesensten, N. J., Thorne, D. R., Thomas, M. L., Sing, H. C., Redmond, D. P., Russo, M. B., & Balkin, T. J. (2003). Patterns of performance degradation and restoration during sleep restriction and subsequent recovery: A sleep dose-response study. Journal of Sleep Research, 12(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2869.2003.00337.x
Cho, C. H., Yoon, H. K., Kang, S. G., Kim, L., Lee, E. I., & Lee, H. J. (2018). Impact of exposure to dim light at night on sleep in female and comparison with male subjects. Psychiatry Investigation, 15(5), 520–530. https://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2018.03.17
Ebben, M. R., Yan, P., & Krieger, A. C. (2021). The effects of white noise on sleep and duration in individuals living in a high noise environment in New York City. Sleep Medicine, 83, 256–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.06.013
Langade, D., Thakare, V., Kanchi, S., & Kelgane, S. (2021). Clinical evaluation of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of ashwagandha root extract on reaction time and psychomotor skills. Cureus, 13(12), e20133. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.20133
Moyen, N. E., Ediger, T. R., Taylor, K. M., Hancock, E. G., Holden, L. D., Tracy, E. E., Kay, P. H., Irick, C. R., Kotzen, K. J., & He, D. D. (2024). Sleeping for one week on a temperature-controlled mattress cover improves sleep and cardiovascular recovery. Bioengineering, 11(4), 352. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering11040352
