Are you sleeping? Joyce’s Career Tip of the Week

As the end of the semester gets closer, deadlines will get nearer and the demands for your time will increase, seemingly exponentially. I see students put more and more onto their calendars while making weekly and daily to-do lists. “Working days” get longer and longer, often running into the wee hours of the morning. All too often, assignments, projects, labs and study eat into and takeover time for sleep.

As you know, sleep is vital for your health! An inadequate amount of sleep has an extremely negative impact on your ability to function. A sleep-deprived individual can spend hours studying but not retaining. Taking a test or an exam and not being able to focus as well as you usually do is so frustrating. Admit it, you really do have to have enough sleep to perform optimally.

For the remaining weeks of the semester — and through final exams — put sleep on your schedule and plan your days and evenings around it. There will certainly be some late nights, but don’t let there be too many — especially all in a row. As you plan each week and begin each day, step back, breathe and make taking care of yourself the biggest priority.

Learn more about sleep:

Understanding Sleep

Sleep and Memory

20 Ways to Sleep Better Every Night

 

Joyce Donahue is a career counselor in the Fulton Schools Career Center. She is a nationally certified career counselor and holds “Master Counselor” membership status in the National Career Development Association.