Learning Challenge: The Importance of Sleep

The Importance of Sleep

Winnie the Pooh Sleeping
Source: Google Image

For this week's learning challenge, I read Jane E. Brody's article "An Underappreciated Key to College Success: Sleep." I really liked this article because it confirmed things I already knew/believed and also taught me new things about sleep that can really benefit me in the long run. I've always known that the quality of sleep is better than the quantity. I am constantly getting 7 hours of sleep, but waking up exhausted, and that is because of my poor sleeping habits. What I didn't know was my plan of catching up on sleep on the weekends wasn't actually helping my sleep, but making it worse, and sleep is one of the top predictors for college success. Typically, I get 6-7 hours of sleep each night Monday through Friday. I go to bed between 11 pm and midnight every night and wake up between 7 am and 8 am every morning. This causes me to be extremely exhausted by the time the weekend comes so I sleep in until 10 am or 11 am. I now realize that all I am doing is further disrupting my circadian rhythm. There is no such thing as "catching up on sleep." I am going to try a couple of the suggestions at the bottom of the article for getting a better sleep and see if they make me feel more awake during the week. Fingers crossed because I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!