I read this article on Friday, November 5th. I was anticipating the extra hour of sleep we would be getting this past weekend and like most people, I love it and use it as a "catch up" strategy. Reading this article made me realize that if you are very sleep deprived, an extra hour will not help you a lot. Most people and students, such as myself, probably do not get the amount of sleep you should. It is very difficult with school and everything else that is going on, so sleep usually takes a backseat. This
article talks about how a good night's sleep is just as important as eating a healthy diet and exercising. Being deprived of sleep can make one become irritable, lead to decreased productivity in school/work, and lead to other health problems. Some suggestions the AASM gives to people are:
- try not to exercise right before bed
-follow a consistent bedtime
-keep you bedroom dark and cool
-Try not to sleep in on weekends because you will be overtired on Monday.
These are great tips, but unfortunately with people's schedules these days it is hard to follow a strict bedtime. People also exercise when they get a free moment, and if it's at night time, then I think some exercise is better than never doing anything. Overall, sleep is very important and we should make a conscientious effort to give our bodies the rest it needs.
I like your post Susie. Before I started back at school I was working a 12 hour shift at a job an hour from home. That schedule was horrible and I was only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a day. I would get irritable a lot easier and I would often sleep late on non-work days. Getting up at the same time even on weekends does help on the Monday mornings.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post especially now when it seems like projects, presentations and final papers are being due everyday. Sleep is extremely important and unfortunately it is difficult to get enough sleep with such busy scedules. Like Jeremy said, I too used to work 12 hour shifts and only get 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night and most of the time I felt awful. Now a days I try to get enough sleep but it is difficult especially when the weekends come around and all your friends want you to stay out all night with them. However, when I do get enough sleep I feel great and it is espeicially important to feel well rested when taking fast approaching finals.
ReplyDeleteIt is very difficult to get the right amount of sleep while at school. Everyone is used to staying up really late getting work done or socializing and then either sleeping the day away or getting up only after a few hours to go to class. I notice this semester that mainly all my classes are later in the afternoon so I end up sleeping until 10 or 11. When this happens I notice that I am tired for the rest of the day. You would think that getting all that sleep would be good, but I notice that if I over sleep I dont really feel awake and ready to go...I guess too much sleep can be a bad thing? maybe?
ReplyDeleteI have always been one to love the extra hour of sleep as well. But when you talked about sleeping in on the weekends and feeling tired the beginning of the week, I can relate to that 100%. Whenever I try to sleep until noon or later on the weekends not only do you not feel good when you wake up you lose half your day. Also this feeling carrys over to the beginning of the school week and you start of on the wrong foot and its hard to get yourself back into the flow of things and feeling good again.
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