 [ Symptoms ] how can i tell if i am sleep deprived [ Disease ] if you fall asleep before your head hits the pillow that is not a good sign that means you are sleep deprived okay if you fall asleep in less than 5 minutes on a regular basis you probably need more sleep if you fall asleep while driving that is a big danger zone factor a big red flag that you are going to want to understand a little bit more about driving a car and operating a vehicle and while it may seem very rote and may seem very easy to do if you notice yourself moving over lanes not being able to stay in the lane as you normally would that is going to be a definite sign of sleep deprivation if you are not thinking as clearly you are not making the decisions that you would normally make as quickly that is going to be a sign of sleep deprivation and just overall movement your reaction time slows down with sleep deprivation your cognition time slows down believe it or not even your creativity slows down with sleep deprivation so if you are at work and you are trying to answer to a big problem or trying to understand what is going on and you are just not clicking you are not finding the words you are not doing the right thing or what you would normally do it could be a sign of sleep deprivation