Don't Be Felled By Fall
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Sep 21, 2008 Posted by Ned Johnson
So, we're a few weeks into school. You are settling into classes, sports and extracurriculars. Homework is substantial and quizzes and tests are cluttering up your calendar. Welcome to junior year!
This week, I've heard a nearly steady chorus of "I've never had so much work in my life," "Man, what a week!" and "I am completely fried." With the Autumnal Equinox (Fall) arriving Monday, it's important for us all to acknowledge that summer is, in fact, over. I know that's sad. The truth often is. However, there will be all sorts of fun things this fall (beyond homework) from Homecoming to Halloween and everything in between. But, summer is over and, along with it, summer schedules. If you are still trying to stay up late and play like you did over the summer (when you could sleep the day away), you may be in for some trouble. If you plan well, you can work hard to get all your work done and still have time to play. But, if you are cutting your sleep short day after day, watch out! You are going to get sick sooner or later. In a week or so, you will likely see colds start to circulate among you and your friends. Many will blame it on the changing of the seasons, the abrupt swings between hot days of Indian summer and the chilly evenings that let us know fall really is coming. But, vacillating temperatures aside, you can avoid getting ill by having your defenses up. Principal among those is being rested. Sleep deprivation lowers your immunity. So does stress ("Ack! Two tests and a paper due tomorrow!") Put them together and you are practically begging germs and viruses to "bring it on!" That's not a great idea -- at least not if you think that all of the work you are doing would be way worse if you also have to make up the work from missing days of school.
What to do? Value sleep. Plan to get 8 hours. Work backwards: Figure what time you need to get to sleep to get eight hours (say 11 p.m.) and set that as your goal. Then, you can calculate how many hours you have from dinner time to 11 p.m.. Say, for instance, that leaves 3.5 hours. Then, looking at all of your assignments, allocate 30 minutes for this and an hour for that. Work to keep on pace. We all work faster and harder with a deadline. Heck, some of us work ONLY if there is a deadline. Having deadlines for each assignment and the total night's work can help you do 3.5 hours of work in 3.5 hours, rather than in 5 hours which, I'm pretty sure, we've all done before. If you miss the 11 p.m. deadline, make a new one for 11:30. But, try even harder to get the work done and go to bed. Surely, you want to spend less time doing homework. Since you cannot change the assignments your teachers give you, it's up to you to change how you do that work. Working efficiently and productively means less time doing your work and that's good. More sleep is even better.
Also keep in mind that when you are tired, your day is likely to be a haze of fatigue. During the day, you will struggle to recall the material you studied the night before and your brain will seem impenetrable to new information. When you study in the evening, you'll have to work harder and longer to learn what you might otherwise have retained from your classes during the day. If instead you are rested and alert, you'll be sharp, remember what you learned, and take in what you hear in class. And guess what! You'll have to spend less time studying! Then, you can get more sleep ... which means you'll need to study less. So, then you'll....well, you get the idea.
Getting enough rest lets you perform at your peak; so along with getting good grades, make being rested a goal for your junior year.