Learn Hardcore German: Eventuell brauche ich einfach mehr Schlaf, statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen. - Possibly I just need more sleep instead of getting upset about every little thing.

eventuell in German usually means “possibly / maybe / perhaps”.
- Eventuell brauche ich mehr Schlaf. = Maybe I just need more sleep.
English “eventually” corresponds more to German “schließlich”, “irgendwann”, or “am Ende”.
- Schließlich habe ich mehr geschlafen. = Eventually I slept more.

So you should mentally translate eventuell as “possibly”, not “eventually”.

Why is it “Eventuell brauche ich …” and not “Eventuell ich brauche …”?

German main clauses obey the verb-second rule (V2-Stellung):

The finite verb (here: brauche) must be in second position in the clause.
The first position can be almost anything: subject, adverb, object, etc.

In this sentence:

Eventuell = first position (an adverb)
brauche = second position (the conjugated verb)
ich einfach mehr Schlaf, … = the rest of the sentence

You could also say:

Ich brauche eventuell einfach mehr Schlaf, …
(Now ich is in first position; brauche still stays second.)

But “Eventuell ich brauche …” breaks the V2 rule and is ungrammatical in standard German.

What does einfach mean here? Is it “easy”?

Here, einfach does not mean “easy”. It has the more colloquial meaning of:

“just / simply” in the sense of toning the statement, not adding new information.

So:

Eventuell brauche ich einfach mehr Schlaf …
≈ Maybe I just need more sleep …
≈ Maybe I simply need more sleep …

It makes the sentence sound a bit more casual and subjective, almost like:
“It could be that the solution is just more sleep, nothing complicated.”

If you wanted “easy”, you’d use einfach with something that can be easy:

Die Aufgabe ist einfach. = The exercise is easy.

Why is it mehr Schlaf and not a plural like mehr Schläfe?

Schlaf in German is a mass noun (uncountable) when you talk about sleep in general, just like “sleep” in English:

Ich brauche mehr Schlaf. = I need more sleep.

You don’t normally pluralize Schlaf in this sense, so Schläfe (plural) would be wrong here.

The word Schläfe actually exists, but it’s a completely different noun:
die Schläfe / die Schläfen = temple(s) (the part of your head).

So:

mehr Schlaf = correct (more sleep)
mehr Schläfe = wrong meaning here (would refer to body parts)

Why is “statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen” in that form? How does statt work here?

Here, statt introduces an infinitive clause with zu:

statt
- (reflexive pronoun)
  - …
    - aufzuregen

Structure:

statt = “instead of / rather than”
mich = reflexive pronoun (accusative, “myself”)
über jede Kleinigkeit = prepositional phrase
aufzuregen = zu-Infinitiv of sich aufregen

So literally:

statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen
= instead of getting worked up about every little thing

You can also phrase it as a full clause:

…, statt dass ich mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufrege.
(subordinate clause with dass, verb at the end: aufrege)

Or with anstatt (very similar in meaning):

…, anstatt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen.

Using statt + zu-Infinitiv is very typical and quite natural in modern German.

Why is it aufzuregen and not just aufregen at the end?

Because this is an infinitive with “zu”.

The base verb is sich aufregen (to get upset / to get worked up).
aufregen is a separable verb:

In a normal main clause: Ich rege mich auf. (prefix auf goes to the end)
As an infinitive with zu: mich aufzuregen (prefix stays attached; zu goes between prefix and stem)

Rules:

Separable verb infinitive → aufregen
Infinitive with zu → aufzuregen (zu goes between auf and regen)

So:

Ich versuche, mich nicht aufzuregen.
Statt mich aufzuregen, bleibe ich ruhig.

“mich aufregen” without zu would not fit after statt here.

Why is the reflexive pronoun mich and not mir?

German reflexive verbs can take accusative or dative reflexive pronouns, depending on the verb and the presence of other objects.

sich aufregen is a reflexive verb with accusative:
- ich rege mich auf
- du regst dich auf
- er/sie/es regt sich auf

You would only see a dative reflexive pronoun (mir, dir, etc.) when:

There is another direct object in the sentence,
e.g. Ich wasche mir die Hände. (mir = dative reflexive; die Hände = accusative object)

Here there is no other object, and sich aufregen is used with accusative, so it must be:

mich aufregen, not mir aufregen.

Why is it über jede Kleinigkeit? What does Kleinigkeit mean, and why is jede ending in -e?

Meaning
- die Kleinigkeit literally = smallness / small thing, but idiomatically:
  - trifle, little thing, minor detail, something unimportant
- über jede Kleinigkeit ≈ about every little thing / every trivial matter.
über
- case
- With emotional verbs like sich aufregen, über takes the accusative:
  - sich über etwas aufregen = to get worked up about something
- So Kleinigkeit here is in the accusative singular.
jede ending
- Kleinigkeit is feminine: die Kleinigkeit.
- jede is the form of jeder for feminine singular accusative (and also feminine singular nominative):
  - nominative: jede Kleinigkeit
  - accusative: jede Kleinigkeit
- That’s why it’s jede, not jeden (masculine accusative) or jedes (neuter).

So grammatically:

über
- jede (fem. acc. sg.) + Kleinigkeit (fem. acc. sg.)

Could you also say “wegen jeder Kleinigkeit” instead of “über jede Kleinigkeit”?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly.

sich über etwas aufregen
- very idiomatic, focuses on the topic you’re upset about:
  to get worked up about X
sich wegen etwas aufregen
- also correct, focuses on the cause:
  to get worked up because of X / on account of X

In your sentence:

… statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen.
= instead of getting worked up about every little thing (very natural)
… statt mich wegen jeder Kleinigkeit aufzuregen.
= instead of getting worked up because of every little thing (also fine, slightly more “cause-focused”)

Both are acceptable; über is simply more common with sich aufregen.

Is the comma before statt necessary? How does punctuation work here?

You have:

Eventuell brauche ich einfach mehr Schlaf, statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen.

This is a main clause followed by an infinitive group (Infinitivgruppe) introduced by statt.

In modern German spelling:

A comma is recommended when the infinitive group is:
- introduced by words like um, ohne, statt, anstatt, außer
- or if it’s long or could be misread.

So here, the comma is correct and normal.
You will often see it written this way.

In very short infinitive groups, sometimes the comma may be omitted in informal writing, but with statt it almost always looks better and clearer with a comma.

Could I change the word order and say “Ich brauche eventuell einfach mehr Schlaf, …” instead?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct:

Ich brauche eventuell einfach mehr Schlaf, statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen.

Differences:

Eventuell brauche ich …
- Emphasizes the adverb “maybe / possibly” at the beginning.
Ich brauche eventuell …
- Slightly more neutral; starts with the subject ich.

Both respect the verb-second rule:

Position 1: Eventuell / Ich
Position 2: brauche

So it’s primarily a question of emphasis and style, not of correctness.

Is aufregen here more like “be angry” or “be annoyed”?

sich aufregen has a nuance of getting worked up / agitated / upset, often more emotional or exaggerated than just “being annoyed”.

Depending on context, it can cover:

to get upset
to get worked up
to make a fuss
to get overly angry / agitated

So in the sentence:

… statt mich über jede Kleinigkeit aufzuregen.
≈ instead of getting worked up about every little thing
≈ instead of getting upset about every tiny detail

It doesn’t necessarily mean rage, but rather a pattern of overreacting or stressing out about small things.