What's the most tired you've ever been?

One of my high school friends quit after 1 year of hardcore IBD work. Little sleep, two apartments, and no social lifestyle due to the demands. This was Citi Group. The industry itself isn't for the faint hearted(?), but the rewards are well worth it.

You got this.

Not in IB yet, but there was a three month stretch where I worked from 3:30am until about 8:30 PM in an engine room on a boat. That sucked. Had two days off every two weeks... sometimes.

It wasn't as intellectually intense as IB is made out to be, but it was absolutely exhausting trying to learn every inch of a boat from bow to stern with no mechanical experience whatsoever.

Lived normally for 3 days by pulling all-nighters playing video games. I was hallucinating half the time and was able to see all kinds of ghosts.

Hell week during fraternity pledgeship

fell asleep at starbucks waiting for coffee. they weren't busy...

Will definitely vouch for Hell Week like that other guy said.

So my sophomore year of college when I discovered adderall, I stayed up for about 3 days doing studying/catch up work. By the end of it I had full on hallucinations (ex I was in my room in the fraternity house and spaced out and legitimately thought I was in the school library).

I was a microbio major at the time on the premed track.

This was a while back, but during my summer internship for a MM shop I was finishing up ~40 hours straight. I felt like death, and caffeine has ceased to take effect. I had to deliver books for three different bake-offs to an MD before I could head home and get a few hours of sleep. No car service -- or if there was one, I was too anxious as an intern to take it.

So off I go. It's 2am, and the roads are basically clear. I drop the books off without incident. I start heading home when a splitting pain in my stomach reminds me that I haven't eaten in almost 12 hours.

And there, like an oasis, is a late night taco drive-through. I place my order, salivating at the thought of carnitas and barbacoa tacos. I drive around to the first window and pay. The cashier gives me my change. I thank her, and then I drive off -- excited to get home and eat the tacos that I had just abandoned at the second window. It wasn't until I got through my front door that I realized the mistake. I never once considered driving back to get them. The siren song of my bed was much too enticing. I passed out almost instantly.

Many years later, I can simply reiterate the obvious. This job is incredibly demanding for a whole host of reasons. Good luck getting to that unconscious state, and make the most of it when you can.

When my baby was newly born.

My story isn't quite as bad or dramatic as Fugues above, but one time I was so tired, I fell asleep on the 5 train. I woke up to the conductor yelling 'Grand Central!" Hell i thought, I overslept by a station (supposed to get out at Union Station). When I got out of the train, I realized that the train I was on was going south, but when I got on it was going north. Turns out, I was on the fucking train while it went all the way to the last stop, in the Bronx, and then all the way down again before I woke up. The rub was i could have just stayed on that train and gotten home 15 min sooner. But then again, 15 minutes is better than to end end up wherever the 5 train goes when it goes south. Furthermore, I was very relieved to find all my possessions were still on me and more importantly, I hadn't been stabbed. And now, here is a toast to not being stabbed!! Doesn't it feel great?

Once you hit a certain point you start to hallucinate a bit. Not recommending it, but not not recommending it either.

So tired I waited for a stop sign to turn green.

Had a stretch of 9-10 straight days of 4am or later with a few 7+am nights sprinkled in there. I’ve found long consistent periods of

I used to work startups in powerplants as a startup manager for the electrical and controls portion of our design. Was on a fast-track job in NC where I'd worked 26 sixteen-hour days consecutively.

Day 27 I was standing in front of a group of engineers, assigning tasks on our design board for the day and fell asleep, standing up, in front of 8 fellow engineers. Went back to the hotel, flopped on the bed in my steel-toed boots, jeans, shirt and jacket and slept for 16 straight.

Doing that kind of garbage is what required me to leave the profession for nearly 6 years. That kind of work is hard on a person's body and mind. It pays relatively well, but the toll it takes can be hard to justify as a profession. At least for me.

a) During sleep deprivation in the CCT pipeline and at ATC school in MS

b) Senior year at military school taking 23hrs first semester in three languages with two majors and a minor and on honor court (still got a 4.0)

c) Getting stuck in an insomnia state for days in summer 2015. I took a total of 800mg of diphenhydramine one night with no effect to try to sleep.

Hell week in the military. It sucks when you're up for 48 hours straight, walked countless number of miles, are soaked in your own sweat and you can legit feel grime all over you. Go back to camp, change into a fresh set of clothes, getting ready to finally tuck in and the sirens go off + an angry platoon sergeant comes in and yells asking everyone to be in full battle gear in 15 mins for another night of endless marching.

Salary for doing all of this ->USD $400/month

Seriously IB sounds great in comparison to this.

A sign that i'm out of gas is falling asleep standing up on the train. I've fallen asleep standing up in the elevator before as well. Night classes after work will have you thinking about ending it all

3 days straight during an intense period outside Kirkuk. Mission, guard and qrf - where without fail we would get called out within 20 minutes because someone was blown up or ambushed.. Barley ate anything and took in one IED during that period. Try rip its and Copenhagen with a side of hate. If you have the liberty of listening to music at your desk try the "Despise the sun" EP by Suffocation.

When MW2 came out for the first time. Played it from when I got home that day till I had to work the next day. Did not sleep for 2 days. Prestiged though so it was worth it imo.

I drove ~1,500 miles straight, with only 3 stops for gas in which I filled up and immediately hit the road again. The difficulty of driving increases exponentially after hour 12 or so. I have a ton of respect for truck drivers who are able to do that regularly.

Working in Big 4 audit full time while completing my degree. Work was usually 80 hours a week during busy season, at the clients' premises which were usually well out of the city I was living in at the time (1.5-2 hour commute both ways). When I got home dead tired, I had time to have a quick dinner, knock out a few assignments for school, change into a fresh suit, chug a tall glass of coffee, and head back out to get to the client's office on time.

By the end of my first year doing this, I was practically a zombie with total immunity to caffeine, but I did get to graduate debt-free this way, and the lessons about work ethic that I learned served me well in future roles.

Back in high school after getting a concussion, there was a two week period during which I'd fall asleep literally anywhere if I was just sitting around. This included a noisy gym and a middle school band concert (these can probably wake the dead). Was scary af.

I've also fallen asleep on the train and missed my stop after a late night but fortunately never made it further than 2-3 stops before waking up.

My hours aren't as bad as any of you vets. That said, sometimes when I go to work, I will drive down. This is rare, as I typically rely upon the train. One day, during a particularly brutal week, I drove down early and parked in my typical garage. When I got off work around 3 AM, I was on auto pilot. I proceeded to take the train home, and then was astonished by the fact that my car was not parked in its typical spot. I then took the train back downtown to retrieve my car. It was about as bad as it sounds.