Sleep debt and credit card debt compound the same way
Both charge interest. Both feel manageable right up until they aren't.
A card at 42% and a sleep deficit of ninety minutes a night have the same shape. Neither hurts on day one. Both are paid for in a lump you didn't see coming.
The minimum payment trap
Paying the minimum on a card keeps you in good standing while the balance grows. Sleeping six hours does the same for your body: you function, you show up, and the deficit compounds underneath.
What compounding looks like in the body
Short sleep raises ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and lowers leptin, the fullness hormone. It also lowers the part of decision-making that says no. So the sleep-deprived version of you is hungrier, less full, and worse at resisting a 42% card. That's not weakness. It's arithmetic.
Paying both down
You clear both debts the same way: stop adding to them first, then overpay a little on a schedule. For sleep that means one fixed wake time, seven days a week, before anything else changes. The card follows once you're rested enough to look at it.