Teen Sleep

I cannot even begin to explain how often I hear students frustratingly proclaim, "I'm so tired!"  It is a statement that I hear over and over again each day.  Sleep is a tough issue to tackle because it is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and yet it is also something we frequently push aside.

The research about the importance of teen's getting sleep has frequently been touted and yet, as I talk to you, it is shocking for me to realize how little sleep so many of you are getting.  Lack of sleep is not only exhausting, but it decreases your immune system, makes it more difficult to regulate your emotions, and can mimic the signs of ADHD.  

I wish it was as easy as saying you need to go to bed earlier, but for many of you, your schedules are so packed with homework, studying, jobs, sports, clubs, and other activities that it is hard to make everything fit into the window of time that you have between the end of the school day and a "reasonable" bedtime.  Additionally, many students have talked about the fact that it is hard for them to go to sleep once they eventually go to bed because their mind races, they think of "one more thing" they need to do, or they lose track of time while texting or checking social media late into the night.  And, although it isn't easy, sleep is important and it is a choice to make it a priority because the reality is that so many of you genuinely are exhausted!

I am the first to admit that I NOT a morning person and, quite honestly, I don't think I ever have been.  When my sister and I were in high school my mom set 9:00pm as our bedtime.  Every now and then we would argue that we should be allowed to have a later bedtime like all of our other friends and she would agree and say, "No problem, as soon as you can wake up in the morning without me having to say anything to you to wake up, then you can stay up later."  (FYI, my mom is really smart!)  She knew there was no way in the world we could successfully wake up without extra help because we were tired and we needed the sleep.  We couldn't argue with her because she wasn't having us go to sleep earlier as a punishment - she was trying to help us get the amount of sleep that we needed.  Later, when I was in college and was getting WAY too little sleep, I would call my mom stressed and upset and she, with all her perfect motherly wisdom, would simply say, "Stop what you are doing and go to sleep."  She knew that I was too tired to think straight and that I wasn't doing a good job with studying or homework or whatever else I might have been working on at the time because I was exhausted.  While I am certainly not your mom and in no way am I saying that 9:00pm is the right bedtime for you, I do think that most of you could benefit from getting more sleep.  

So, here is my encouragement and challenge to each of you.  Consider what 1 small thing you could do in these next few weeks to try to increase the amount of sleep you get each night.  Even if you are just getting an additional 30 minutes to an hour of sleep per night, it can make a difference.  You need to decide what you think would work for you, but a few ideas you could consider would be to stay off your phone after a certain time, start your homework earlier so you aren't up so late working on assignments, or using your time throughout the day wisely so that you can make the choice to go to bed earlier.  If you want to discuss what you are doing to help yourself get more rest or to brainstorm other strategies, please stop by and see me!

A sleep related article:

Teens need more sleep than you think