Sacrificing sleep “does not come without its consequences”

Alecia Allen/ Contributing Writer

Most students have sacrificed homework for sports, student organizations or a social life. Other times, it’s the exact opposite; simple pleasures like family time and exercising are sacrificed for academic success. But, what time do students have to unwind and take care of themselves?

It can be difficult to complete priorities, and the workload put on students can be unfair sometimes. On certain days or even weeks, it appears that students are forced indirectly to sit at a desk for hours at a time; this includes in and out of class.

But there is what professors and teachers call “a better way to be successful in college.”For every hour spent in class, it’s expected that you spend two to three hours studying outside of class.

A typical full-time student will take four classes nearly five days a week, which totals to about 40 hours a week. Factor in part time jobs, leisure time, eating, sleeping and any other activities, that’s a little over 200 hours a week. There are only 168 hours in a week.

This elevated demand for energy throughout the day has led to a high number of sleep deprived people. According to the Huffington Post, “about 83.6 million people in America were suffering from sleep deprivation in 2014.”

Sacrificing our sleep for daily activities, no matter how important they may be, does not come without its consequences.

Another Huffington Post article talks about the side effects of sleep deprivation. These include, “memory loss, decreased creativity, symptoms similar to ADHD, tremors, higher risk of stroke, impaired moral judgement, cognitive impairment, and irritability.”

The good news is that the article mentioned a few tips that may improve health and productivity throughout the day. Of the various tips, I find two to be the most important.

The first is “No binge sleeping in on the weekends. When you sleep late on the weekends it messes with your circadian rhythm making your wakeup time inconsistent, which results in a groggy and tired feeling in the beginning of the day, resulting in a less productive day.”

The second tip is to “Learn how much sleep you really need.” According to the article, it’s not true that everyone needs eight hours of sleep, but not knowing how much your body needs can harm you.

According to the Huffington Post, their founder Arianna Huffington “was a woman who underslept and overworked until her body finally collapsed from exhaustion one afternoon.” Thankfully, she survived, but as you can see, getting the right amount of sleep is essential to counter these negative effects and maintain a healthy life.

So, I encourage all of you who are reading this to make the proper changes to your life as soon as possible to deter any health risks. I’m sure there are still questions of what to do about all the demands life may be putting on you, however, there is a way you can take advantage of the resources FIU has for its students.

You are always welcome to seek assistance from the Counseling and Psychological Services, which is dedicated to providing quality services to FIU’s student body. CAPS is located in the MMC Student Health Center and in the Wolfe University Center at BBC.

The staff there are available to help you improve your time management skills, decision making skills, goal setting, stress management, and more so you can excel in your everyday life. The program also offers podcasts, online assessments or schedule workshops so you can receive the help you need.

 

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Photo taken from Flickr.

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