Question – Dear Erin,

Between everything going on in my life (work, school, activities, etc.), I’m struggling with balancing sleep and studying. If I sleep and don’t study, my grades suffer because I don’t know what I’m talking about. But, if I study and don’t sleep, my grades suffer because I’m so tired the next day I can’t concentrate on what I’m trying to do. My life literally feels like it’s crumbling.  What should I do?

Signed,

Crazy Tired Student

Dear Crazy Tired Student,

      First and foremost, try to find a healthy balance between studying and sleeping. Both are very important for overall success, but you have to maintain a balance between the two. If you do too much studying and don’t get a sufficient amount of sleep then you will be sleep deprived. And if you don’t do any studying and just sleep then your grades will suffer. In order to maintain a good sleep schedule and good grades, you need to find a healthy balance between the two. The first step in creating this balance would be creating some type of schedule to help manage your time. For example, you could put down that you are going to study for an hour and a half and be in bed by 9:30 on Monday. Then on Tuesday, you could study for an hour and be in bed by 9:30 and so on. This will keep you on track and make sure you get enough sleep. 

     Additionally, you may want to try to make some sacrifices, especially if you are in extracurricular activities.  What I mean by sacrifices is that you may have to give up watching that hour of Netflix in the evening, because you recently started softball or musical practice.  Now that you are arriving home at a later hour, you need to get going on your school work that much sooner, so that you can get to bed at a reasonable hour.  If you can’t sacrifice that hour of Netflix, then maybe softball or the musical aren’t as important to you as you thought.  But remember Crazy and Tired, you must care for yourself, and sleep is NOT what you should be sacrificing.  This means treating your body right, and allowing the maximum amount of sleep each night.   Hopefully this will be helpful for you and you can find your healthy balance between studying and sleep.

Sincerely,

Erin