Studies say 45% of the world’s population is sleep deprived.

And 99% of those are mums. (Okay I made that last bit up but it feels like it could be true.)

But we are aren’t we? From that last month of pregnancy when our bodies start to prepare us for the never-ending torment that is an awake newborn to the toddler years of endless night wakings and even (I’m told) up to when they are teenagers – having a child is a sure-fire guarantee you will never get a good night’s sleep again.

According to the National Sleep Foundation sleep needs vary across ages and are impacted by lifestyle and health. To determine how much sleep you need they say you have to assess where you fall on the sleep spectrum.

A National Sleep Foundation Women and Sleep poll found that the average woman aged 30-60 sleeps only six hours and forty-one minutes during the working week and that women are more likely than men to have difficulty falling and staying asleep and to experience more daytime.

Signs you are sleep deprived can range from the medical – you fall asleep immediately - to the linguistic – you use a lot of clichés.

But no hold barred they show that at the end of the day  really it is true that what goes around comes around.

1. You speak in clichés.

Speaking in clichés is sign you are sleep deprived.

Joseph Ojile, Medical Director at the Clayton Sleep Institute in the United States told Greatlist that  "When you're impaired, you rely on crutches, the things you know," he said.

"That could mean cliches or anything that is rote and will allow you to stay in conversation without expending much energy.

You’d better be safe than sorry and take a nap.

2. You find your lost keys in the freezer.

And the milk in the pantry and the butter in with the teacups.

3. You snap at kids more.

Sleep deprivation makes you irritable and short tempered.

Research presented in the journal, Seminars in Pediatric Neurology found that poor sleep results in a low threshold to express negative emotion irritability and easy frustration and difficulty modulating impulses and emotions.

You fight with your partner more too.

4. You snack more than you used to.

A study by Columbia University's New York Obesity Research Center found that people tend to eat more following a bad night’s sleep when they get a good night's sleep.

This was especially true of women, who consumed an average of 329 more calories when sleep deprived than when well rested, men consumed just 263 more.

Pass the salt and vinegar please.

5. You are indecisive.

A large coffee or a regular and should you have that strawberry and rhubarb muffin or what about the banana bread?

Oh maybe just tea, but gosh those scones look good.

6. You’ve given the kids the wrong lunchboxes on more than one occasion.

And even forgotten to send the children their lunch.. but just that one time...

7.   You’ve tripped over the kid’s Lego more than usual.

Sleep deprivation makes you clumsy by affecting your motor skills.

Your reaction time is similar to a person who is drunk and you trip over your own feet even more than usual.

8.  You zone out while doing everyday things, like driving.

Have you missed your turn while on the way to somewhere simple?

Have you driven almost on autopilot only to realise you aren’t really going where you ended up at all. You need to have a rest.

9.  Your attention span is all over the place.

You set out to find a recipe for all that left over roast chicken in the fridge and 45 minutes later find yourself cruising through Instagram pics of food preparation.

You try and focus on a news article only to find yourself reading the same sentence over and over.

If you are sleep deprived and have made it this far into this post give yourself a pat on the back I know what a struggle that must have been.

10. You’ve put the kid’s clothes in the sink to soak, turned the laundry tap on and then gone to lie down for a quick nap only to find the laundry, kitchen and hallway completely flooded with hot water.

(Or maybe that one was just me.)

11. You call your kids by your husband’s name and your dog by the kids.

Not to mention what you called your mother-in-law once.

12.  You’ve left food boiling on the cooktop.

Thank goodness for that smoke alarm.

13. You’ve bought the wrong thing at the supermarket.

You go out for bread and come home with a coffee and a strawberry and rhubarb muffin.

Ah that’s right. I knew there was something I needed.

14. You’ve forgotten where your car is in the shopping centre car park.

And walked round and round and round.

I could swear its here somewhere.

Only to remember you caught the bus.

15.  You’ve forgotten your own pin number, mobile number and even the passcode for your phone.

Thank god for Touch ID.

16. You fall asleep immediately.

While this might sound like heaven, according to experts if you fall asleep within five minutes of your head hitting the pillow you arent getting enough sleep.

17. You tell the same stories over and over again to the same people.

There was this one time I put the kids’ clothes in to soak in the laundry, turned on the tap and went for a nap.

Oh I’ve told you that have I?

Must be time for bed…..

What have you done while sleep deprived?