With school, extracurricular activities and homework, teenagers can be extremely busy and become sleep deprived. This week, Caitlin talks about the importance of sleep and shares some tips on how busy bodies can get better sleep.

This week was a strange week for me. I didn’t have many strenuous activities, tests or projects, yet I felt extremely stressed. As I began to search for the source of this anxiety, I found one common denominator throughout the whole week: little sleep.

I know we’ve all heard this before: Get eight to nine hours of sleep every night. And I know we’ve all ignored this statement before. Who the heck has that kind of time for sleep? We all have homework, we all have afternoon activities, whether it be practice, rehearsal or a job and — if we’re being frank — we all have the Internet.

In today’s society, it is somewhat unrealistic to be expected to get a lot of sleep, but we need it, especially as teenagers. Sleep helps us to learn more effectively, and it strengthens our memories through a process called memory consolidation. Sleeping more also helps us control our moods. A lack of sleep leads to irritability, impatience and a greater struggle with focus. Physically, lack of sleep can lead to acne and a desire to eat more sugary and fatty foods, which leads to weight gain. Another contributor to weight gain is a disturbance in the way our bodies store carbs and produce hormones.

Let’s be clear, I’m not trying to scare you! I’m not chastising you for not sleeping the recommended 8 ½ – 9 ½ hours like I would chastise you for skipping breakfast! This isn’t your fault, and I know because I have a problem getting the correct amount of sleep too. We teenagers find ourselves between a rock and a hard place; we’re expected to participate in many classes and activities and get up in time for school at 7:30 a.m., but our bodies naturally aren’t ready to fall asleep until 11 p.m. After research on what lack of sleep does to our weight and overall well-being, it seems to me that the state of Massachusetts would accomplish more by restoring our cookies and setting school to start at a later time.

In the meantime, however, we have to play the cards we’ve been dealt. One strategy for better sleep is to have a steady bedtime routine. Give yourself specific times to go to bed and wake up so you can set a rhythm for your body. About 45 minutes before bed, transition to calm activities to wind down. If you do the same activity every night, it will turn into a signal for your body that it’s time for bed. Another helpful bedtime strategy I found, that I’m going to start implementing, is writing down your thoughts and to-dos right before bed. Doing this gets the stress out of your system instead of keeping it inside you as you try to get to sleep.

There are other things you can do throughout your day to get good sleep. Taking a 30-minute nap during the day is a good way to restore your energy. Be careful though; naps longer than 30 minutes or too close to bedtime may prevent you from getting to sleep that night. Also, try to stay away from caffeine in the late afternoon, as difficult as that will be for some of us.

There’s another tip I’ve come across quite a bit, and I thought I would share in case it works for some readers, though I definitely do not agree with it. Some articles suggest you avoid working out before bedtime because it revs you up. That being said, I prefer to workout between 6-7:30 p.m., and I sometimes get home as late as 9 p.m., depending on when I get to the gym. I’ve personally never had a problem with sleeping. I should also point out that I’ve been practicing this routine for five years. See what works for you and listen to your body.

Getting sleep is one of the hardest parts about being healthy in today’s culture, but we all collectively need to prioritize it. In some ways, sleep is more important to us than food! I know that this year I’ve been getting more sleep than I did last year, and I’ve seen the difference in my attitude, grades and overall performance in life. It doesn’t take that much extra sleep to feel the difference. So, like everything in Zen & M’s, start small until you reach your goalzzzzzzzz…