Sleep

I had hoped that last weekend and the extra hour of sleep connected to the time change would have meant that we would all feel well rested and ready for the week that followed... but that certainly wasn't how it played out. Each day I repeatedly heard the same sentiments as I typically hear in most weeks with students proclaiming, "I'm so tired!" or "I need a nap!" or "I can barely stay awake!" and the reality is that most of you are sleep deprived.

The pace of our society tends to have people running in a million directions and so sleep is somehow pushed to the back-burner, but teens in particular need more sleep than even adults and yet you are stretched just as thin. I know getting more sleep is definitely easier said than done. You have homework, sports, jobs, clubs, community service, time with family and friends, and hopefully some personal time to spend relaxing or doing the hobbies and activities that are meaningful and rejuvenating to you. But when sleep becomes less of a priority and you become more and more exhausted, research has shown that it has a significant, negative effect on your mental, physical, and emotional well-being.

I know it isn't easy to just say, "yes I need to get more sleep" and then have it happen, but I hope you will consider what small step you could take this week to try to increase how much sleep you can get each night. 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 your school counselor. The steps you might elect to take will be different for each student and your commitments, but the effort to invest into your own well-being will be worth it!

We hope you had a great weekend with lots of time to rest!