We all have had a point in our lives where sleep was never a priority. Sometimes life gets busy and we forget to take care of ourselves and our rest.

Now that we are back in school the urge to pull all-nighters to make up for procrastination is more common than ever. But is getting your work done at the crack of dawn worth losing those hours your mind and body could be resting?

According to an article from the Sleep Foundation titled “Why do we Need Sleep?”, written by Danielle Pachello said it is not. Pachello wrote that when we are deprived of sleep we can get distracted more and our moods are much more easily influenced.¹

While some people may argue that being easily distracted or moody is just normal, it can seriously affect how you perceive the classroom. In the case of lack of sleep you can become easily off track which causes you to have a difficult time in class.

The same can be said with mood, if you are not in the mindset to learn it is not only difficult for you to sit down in a classroom and try to understand a concept but for others as well. Oftentimes, our moods rub off on others so while it may not seem like your grumpy attitude is affecting your neighbor it most likely is.

By attempting to get better sleep, you will not only be making your day but that of others. You will also feel well rested and as a result, you will not fall asleep in your classes allowing you to engage and finish homework in the classroom instead of at home.

Doing all nighters is often the cause of procrastination which sleep deprivation contributes to as well. If you are well rested the next day you will have the willpower to do the work and hopefully finish all that homework and be able to go to bed early.

While somewhat unrealistic in the article “Why do we Need Sleep?”, it is actually stated that teenagers should be getting eight to ten hours of rest.¹ I call this unrealistic purely for the fact that it is actually quite rare nowadays to find people that actually do rest this well.

Even though this is not an impossible standard by any means it is more of that for us students there are other things we need to prioritize. Unfortunately for many of us, sleep is not one of them.
Now, how do we get better sleep? Resting is sadly not a talent so to get into a regular sleeping schedule will be difficult at first.

An article from Medical News Today titled “21 Ways to Fall Asleep Quickly and Naturally”, written by Aaron Kandola. Some of the things Kandola suggested included taking melatonin, practicing mindfulness, and avoiding caffeine. ²

Personally I have tried all of these and they are all helpful in their own ways. When it comes to taking medication like melatonin, you should seek the advice of a medical professional or your parents.

Sleeping medication can be easy to become reliant on so it is important to not use it long term and instead use it for times where you find yourself not sleeping as easily. In regards to mindfulness I imagine it can be anything that distracts from thoughts like listening to rain or practicing meditation.

Avoiding caffeine sounds simple but for some of us that wake up early in the morning find it difficult to go without. If you were already on this type of schedule instead of outright removing it from your morning just have a smaller amount of caffeine.

It also helps to have your caffeine earlier if you need it. Drinking coffee in the afternoon or before you plan to go to bed will likely keep you awake for the next few hours. Another source that I found to have great ideas was an article from Mayo Clinic titled “Sleep tips: 6 steps to better sleep”.

Two ideas I found to be the most important were to avoid napping during the day and creating a sleep schedule.³ While napping in the daytime may seem to help rest however it instead makes you less tired when you are heading to bed.

This will cause your sleep schedule to become less consistent because of the naps you have been taking. Which then leads into making a schedule, if you want to get better sleep it helps to have a somewhat consistent nighttime routine.

If you have a set time to go to bed and then to wake up it gives your sleep a path to follow and enforces your body’s need to sleep and wake up. Without rest, we function completely differently and it often affects how we act and behave.

Our bodies need sleep to function which is why we need to be getting better sleep regardless of homework or extracurricular. If you can, try to prioritize resting, see the difference in your performance and attitude.

You will probably be surprised.