The Importance of Sleep

Sleep falls into the same category of necessities like food, water and exercise. It’s a crucial factor for successful bodily functions and regulated daily schedules. We know all of this, yet why do some teens on regularly skip out on the necessary sleep? The answer can be narrowed down to two reasons.

Here is a biological explanation; Your teenage years are already filled with growth and the change from being a kid to a young adult. This is called a hormonal time shift, explained by researchers at BetterHealth. A hormonal time shift is a “puberty hormone shift in a teenagers body clocking forwards by about one or two hours.” Meaning you get tired about two hours later than you would’ve as a kid. This time shift would technically require teens to be able to sleep one to two hours more in the morning. However due to the requirement of school, a student's sleep schedule isn’t always fully dependent on the individual. School hours, for the most part, start early, resulting in teens not being able to get the full amount of sleep needed. This creates a “sleep debt,” which is the difference between the amount of sleep you actually get and the amount of sleep you need. This cycle of hormonal time shift and sleep debt clashes with each other, leading to higher chances of sleep deprivation. However, combined with the confounding variables of everyday life, the lack of sleep isn’t limited to a biological reason.

Here is a second reason why teens skip out on sleep; The intense school hours as well as our desire to be socially active. In correlation with stress and anxiety combined with school and social media, there are tons of environmental factors that limit teenagers from getting sleep. Procrastination is a charge most teens are guilty of, pushing back work until late at night is common practice for teens. According to the hormonal time shift teen bodies should start to sleep between ten to eleven PM. Starting work right before those hours might leak into that general “bedtime”. Once students finish their work, most kids go onto their phones, scrolling through Instagram, tiktok or simply texting friends. This is a justified action, you work hard during the day and want to be able to spend some time doing leisure activities and taking time for yourself. However, the light from our screens also hinder our ability to fall asleep. Though, not every student procrastinates, some kids work throughout the day and night to do well in school. School still adds an extreme amount of expectations and stress onto kids. Even if you aren’t taking “hard courses,” school work is already more rigorous for teens now-a-days. According to a survey done by OneClass, Gen Z reports “having 27% more homework than millennials.” Spending an average of 96.9 minutes a day on homework. Students already start the day having to wake up earlier than their bodies should be (due to hormonal shift). Adding on the intense stress of school and homework as well as the want for leisure activities, at the end of the day, students are constantly tired.

But what does this actually mean? What does it cause? Well physically it causes your body to slow down, you become more clumsy and your body’s reflexes reduce. Mentally, your memory worsens and your attention span is shortened. You are more likely to be aggressive or moody or have a lack of enthusiasm. Not limited to physical and mental health, the lack of sleep can lead to a plethora of problems. If you are consistently not having enough sleep you may develop insomnia or other emotional and mental problems. Lack of sleep weakens attention span and awareness. This impacts you and people around you as well. You become prone to more car accidents, falling asleep at the wheel and other possible second hand injuries.

There are ways to develop healthy sleeping habits. For example, limiting caffeine intake after 4pm allows your body to naturally grow tired without any substances interfering. Creating a nightly routine would also help promote good sleep. The nightly routine should consist of ways that help your body easily move into sleep. Rather than simply jumping into bed, taking your time to relax and de-stress will help you fall asleep quicker. For example, doing a form of yoga, stretching or meditation will relax yourself. Even simple skin care routines - like facemasks, reducing your adrenaline from the day activities.

But there are also options that aren’t limited to right before bed. Taking naps in the day is a behavior that is actually encouraged, if done correctly! Rather than taking three hour naps or drinking a ton of coffee, try “power-napping.” Which is when you sleep for about 12-20 minutes after hard activity (like school, work, sports, etc.) Power napping increases your levels of productivity. Also, becoming consistent with the times you wake up at and the times you go to bed will also help you stay balanced and rested. Though the recommended amount of sleep is 8-10 hours, sometimes that simply doesn’t fit in our schedule. If you can at least be consistent with the amount of hours you sleep at night, your body will become better rested; meaning going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time everyday and night, will leave you feeling more rested. This is not to say you should settle for three hours of sleep, it just means practice ways to improve your quality of sleep. Doing a form of exercise in the day even for 10 minutes will actually increase sleep levels. It’s good to note that you don’t want to exercise right before bed. The website “HelpGuide” that promotes health wellness states that “exercise speeds up your metabolism, elevates body temperature and stimulates hormones.” Which actually helps your body be alert and awake. So try to avoid hard exercise right before bed.

Taking care of your environment will also affect sleep. If possible, reduce the amount of background noise; though some people might prefer background noise to sleep. Cooler air temperatures in your bedroom might also help - so if you have a window, try opening that up. Another big thing is to avoid making your bed your workspace. Leaving your bed as a place of rest will assist you in relaxing at night. Your body will unconsciously process your bed as a place of relaxation rather than a place of work.

To build these habits, do them in increments, don’t try to push yourself to do all of these things at once - you’ll leave yourself more stressed to get them done. Setting one goal for the week around sleep will ultimately push you onto the path getting more rest. Life is busy and keeping up with it is extremely hard. But the moment you’re able to reflect and build upon healthy habits is the moment things can become a little brighter . Even if you have to do it slowly, you’ll see improvements. Sleep is a must and a necessity for daily functioning. Work on building minutes on your sleep schedule rather than hours. And remember sleep is something no one can live without, so go get your rest!

Writer: Seika Brown

Editor: Nathalia Ramkissoon

Graphic Designer: Lisa Li-Liang

Photographer: India Jones