My grandma always says, “If you don’t got your health, you don’t got nothin’.” With midterms, music festivals, and the end of the spring upon us, life can get really busy, really quickly. All of the end of the year work, final projects, and group assignments feel like they’re piling up. During this stressful time, it’s incredibly important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep and taking care of yourself.
Freshman year and the first semester of sophomore year, I used to stay up a lot later doing work, hanging out with friends, watching Netflix. However, this semester I have discovered the true value of sleep. When I get 8-10 hours of sleep (YES it’s possible), I am less likely to take naps, feel more awake in the mornings, and generally am more productive during the day.
Many people ask if it’s possible to get enough sleep as an engineer, and I absolutely say that it is. If I’m not getting enough sleep, that is entirely on me. Even if I got to sleep as late as midnight, and I have a 9am class, sleeping from midnight to 8am is still 8 hours! I’ve started working on assignments earlier in the day and not napping, and that has helped me finish homework and be able to go to sleep earlier. Cutting out napping is one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do, but when I feel myself falling asleep, I usually grab a cup of coffee of do something active, which never fails to wake me up. Some people may say I’m turning into a grandma, but if caring about my sleep and health makes me a grandma, then I am proud that someone is calling me grandma.
Not sleeping enough weakens your immune system, increases irritability, and adds to your stress (whether you realize it or not). I cannot emphasize the value in sleeping well and sleeping enough, it’s changed my life. Even just trying it for a week, you’ll see that huge difference it can make in many facets of your life.
