As I write this post, all I can think about is sleep. Both February and March have been tremendously busy months for me. As of now, in the quarter, I am getting great grades, doing well at work, setting aside time to do costuming tasks for theatre, studying for my upcoming SATs, packing, and overall communicating well with everyone in my life. All of this running around has caused issues for me, though. Lately, I have only been sleeping for an average of about 4 or 5 hours per night. Tonight will be one of those nights. School itself tires me, but going to work shortly after and doing my homework only after coming home late on most nights has brought my body to the point where sleep is all it wants. As I type right now, my eyes want to close and fall into the lovely, blissful trance known as sleep.
Another negative result of my new schedule is that I have not been eating a healthy, balanced diet. My new diet caused me to take a day off from school last week due to low blood pressure, which was from the lack of nutrients in my system, causing me to be weak and faint.
These outcomes, and many others, are what make me wonder if all of this is worth it. Are my grades worth losing the sleep that I have lost? Is being successful at the moment in all of my responsibilities worth putting my health in a position of weakness? Even though these questions nag away in the back of my mind, the biggest question, and the one ringing loudest in my head, is, “What would happen if I dropped everything, all of my responsibilities, right now and just slept? How big of a difference would it make?”
Is anyone dealing with a similar experience right now? Is it taking a toll on you as well? How has it affected your life?
I can relate my own experiences to yours very easily. School brings an overwhelming amount of burdens to all of us, especially with the added stress of the SAT and AP exams. From experience, I am also very familiar with the consequences that taking so much can bring to your body and mind. I've also had problems with feeling faint because I would often forget to eat when I spent time studying or just turned to quick, unhealthy meals with no real nutritional value. I definitely have started to put myself before my grades, and I now refuse to go to bed past 11 and make myself take breaks from studying once I start feeling overwhelmed, and it has really helped me.
ReplyDeleteI could definitly be getting more sleep. I hate to admit it but I'm getting around 5 to 6 hours of sleep. Some of it is an overwhelming burden of school work, another factor is procrastination as well as lots of stress.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the overwhelming amount of school work that I get makes me stay up late and I don't get a lot of sleep because of it. Oddly enough I find that it has gotten worse as this quarter has progressed on. It has affected me a lot as I'm not always able to pay attention in class.
ReplyDeleteI definitely relate to this. I'm having so much trouble staying awake during the day and I'm half asleep by the time fourth block comes. And I noticed that my diet is getting worse because of it. I’m not eating as much or as healthy as I used to, and my body isn’t reacting well. I'm hoping over this long break I can try to fix my sleep schedule so I can put all the pieces back together.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely very relatable. I often become swamped with work and it has an awful effect on my sleeping habits. I’ll end up getting little sleep on weekdays, which has a negative on my ability to pay attention in class. This leads to me having to put in more work in to catch up and finish all my work. I’m hoping that this break will allow me to get everything together and be able to set my sleep schedule straight.
ReplyDeleteI often find myself in the same situation. Especially during either field hockey or lacrosse season, I find that my ability to find the time I need to do anything, like eat, sleep, go to school, and do homework, greatly diminishes. This leads me to have to decide which task I’m going to have to sacrifice in order to get everything else done, and it usually ends up being sleep. The worst part is, on the rare occasion that I don’t have a lot to do, I find myself not being able to go to bed earlier anyway, even if I feel super tired. All this leads to an endless cycle of constant tiredness and trying to “catch up” on sleep during the weekends.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've learned since starting high school is that my health ALWAYS has to come first. I would be in the same situation as you: not eating well, barely sleeping, but hey everything is getting done and it's being done well, right? The thing is it only goes well for so long. Eventually, I'd always burn out and find that I couldn't keep up with it anymore. Now, my top priority is always taking care of myself. Honestly though, my grades have dropped because of that. However, I feel like it's my best choice in the long run. Just be careful you don't overwhelm yourself! You're strong and smart, you'll figure out what works best for you.
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