Sleep more. Sleep like your life depended on it. Heck, sleep when you’re bored! Haha, just kidding about that last one. But, you get the point: sleep is vital. In this age of increasingly competitive college admissions and a struggle to juggle multiple extracurricular activities while maintaining solid grades, sleep deprivation is severe among high school students. From the Stanford Medical School News Center:
Sleep deprivation increases the likelihood teens will suffer myriad negative consequences, including an inability to concentrate, poor grades, drowsy-driving incidents, anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide and even suicide attempts. It’s a problem that knows no economic boundaries.
While studies show that both adults and teens in industrialized nations are becoming more sleep deprived, the problem is most acute among teens, said Nanci Yuan, MD, director of the Stanford Children’s Health Sleep Center. In a detailed 2014 report, the American Academy of Pediatrics called the problem of tired teens a public health epidemic. [1]
Public health epidemic? From lack of sleep? No way! It probably just affects those other kids, but definitely not me. It’s easy to tell ourselves these narratives. It’s what I told myself going through my junior year of high school.
It’s easy to say that sleep is for the weak It’s easy to push over sleep and say “oh I’ll catch up the next night” or “just one more test/project/assignment to do/study/finish.” But it’s a cycle that doesn’t end. By putting yourself in this vicious cycle, you undercut your maximum potential — whether it’s in school or athletics or just overall wellbeing, you’re cutting yourself short of your full capabilities. Less than optimal amounts of sleep means an impaired mind and body.
I challenge you to make sleeping 7–9 hours/night a habit. For the next two weeks, I want you, regardless of whatever commitments you have — student government, sports games, musical concerts — to hit that 8 hours of sleepy eye time every night. Whatever you need to do, do it. Rearrange your schedule. Do your homework at lunch. Eat dinner while studying, go to tutoring, I don’t care. 8 hours of sleep every day for two weeks — try it, and I promise you that you will not go back to your old habits. Best of luck!
Footnotes
[1] Among teens, sleep deprivation an epidemic
Read other answers by Kalvin Lam on Quora:
- What did you see as a child that affected your life?
- What would you say to your younger self?
- What are the biggest lessons you have learned in the corporate world?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2iWlsU3
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