Make your alarm clock your friend!

I found this app for iPhones called the Sleep Alarm Clock and it has some pretty cool features to aid you in your sleep. Just place your phone next to you in bed, and the Sleep Alarm Clock will track your sleep cycle and wake you up during a lighter sleep phase where you are in a more alert cycle. This way you feel refreshed when you wake up (waking up during your REM sleep sucks because it is your deepest cycle of sleep!). There are a bunch of other cool sleep apps for those of you with iPhones. Try some out and see if they improve your sleep quality! Sorry for those of you who don't have an iPhone :(

Now I'm an insomniac?!?!

This picture just about sums up my sleep the past two nights.  I don't know what the deal is, but now I can't seem sleep even when I'm actually given the opportunity. Both nights this weekend I was lying in bed wide awake. Come on dude! If I haven't made it clear by now, I JUST WANT TO SLEEP. After thinking about this though, I shouldn't be surprised. In my research I found that individuals who are sleep deprived are at risk for various health conditions such as depression, alcohol abuse, and insomnia. What do you know? It looks like I'm experiencing another one of the negative effects that sleep deprivation can lead to. I'm not saying I'm a diagnosed insomniac anything, but I'm definitely experiencing symptoms of it. This project has really opened my eyes to how serious an issue sleep deprivation is. Researchers aren't just blabbing about something they think is problem. I can vouge for this with the fact that many of the causes/effects they have listed that relate to sleep deprivation are ones that I have personally experienced because of my lack of sleep. I've really become aware of what I'm doing to my well-being and health. This has motivated me to change my poor sleep habits! I'm not about to become a diagnosed insomniac!

Time for an intervention.

I'm sure many of you have established that I struggle quite heavily with sleep deprivation, but it has definitely progressed even more since I started this project and I think I'm going to start my own intervention plan. I'm definitely more aware of the harm I am doing to my body by not getting enough sleep and this has made me want to improve my sleep routine (awareness was one of my solutions to this issue!). Here's what I'm planning to do:

• Lighten my course load next semester- I definitely put way too much pressure on myself with the classes I chose to take this semester. Statistics, Sociology, Art History and upperlevel English. Bad choice. This seems like a pretty manageable schedule, but these classes all require a lot of the same work and this has put me through the wringer. Between all the reading, papers, projects, tedious statistics homework and exams I am in over my head. This month I had 3 research papers, a multi-media project (this blog!), two exams and on top of that I had to keep up with the reading and material in my classes. YIKES. My homework load has defintely been the biggest factor in the cause of my sleep deprivation. It's time for that to change.

• Lower the stress- The stress I have experience this semester has also been affecting my sleep quality and ability to sleep in general. I've mentioned in some posts how I've had trouble sleeping because I am so stressed out with school. My thoughts are constantly swarming with worry about school and how I'm going to get my assignments done in time. I've had numerous dreams where I'm trying to work on a paper or project and can't seem to do it right. Overall, this has made my sleep very unpleasant and well, stressful . Stressful sleep, a bit of an oxymoron don't you think? Sleep should be relaxing and rejuvenating. Since my stress is strongly tied to school I think my stress levels will defintely decrease with the lighter course load I plan to take next semester.

• CAPS- The University of Michigan has a great counseling center called CAPS. It stands for Counseling and Psychological Services and it has a variety of services available for students seeking help. Sometimes when you're stressed out it helps to simply talk to someone about it who wants to listen. Just being able to flesh it all out can be a great relief. I've actually made arrangements to have my own counselor at CAPS and I think this will be a great resource for me to have when my stress levels are high.

• MAKE SLEEP A PRIORITY- This is what's most important and some of you other college students who don't get enough sleep should consider this too. Whether you have to give up being more social, working more hours for your job, or working late into the night on homework, it will be worth it..trust me. Many students don't realize the benefits of getting a healthy amount of sleep because they never actually do. I was never as sleep deprived as I am now and the difference in how I have felt during the day is very noticeable. I'm constantly fighting to stay awake in classes, easily frustrated, have low self-esteem and overall just exhausted with no energy. I'm not putting up with all that negativety anymore because SLEEP IS COMING FIRST.

~*~If you are sleep deprived don't let it defeat you, make the effort to change your habits!~*~

Ditto.

I can't agree with this message more. I can't remember the last time I went to sleep any earlier than 2am. Lately, 3am has become the standard time I go to sleep. As I've mentioned before, I constantly have so much work to do with the semester nearing its end. The amount of papers, projects and exams has gotten out of hand and this is all keeping me from going to sleep at a decent hour. I would love to be "meeting" 3am in my sleep rather than while I'm up doing homework and studying. Unfortunately, the odds of that are close to none with finals approaching. This semester just needs to end!

Sweet dreams...not so much

I found this image it pretty much sums up what my sleep has been like the past month. The intensity of the semester has left me stressed, overwhelmed and highly sleep deprived. The heavy amounts of work I have to do are not all that has kept me from sleeping. When I finally get into bed, my mind is either racing with anxiety about school or my dreams are filled with school related issues about assignments and exams I have coming up. 

SCHOOL IS HAUNTING ME IN MY SLEEP.

Sleep Myths

I found a reading from National Sleep Foundation that listed some common myths and facts about sleep deprivation. Some of these relate to what I've been discussing and a lot of them are just good to know in general for improving your sleep hygiene! Have a look!

This totally happened today..and last week

I know this is a rather small example, but this is exactly what happens to me in my Art History lecture AT LEAST once a week. I have this class on days where I have to be up for work at 6am, so usually I've only gotten about 4 or 5 hours of sleep max the night before. I struggle heavily to stay away during this class, let alone take notes. I have numerous pages where my notes lead into scribbles, end randomly or slant down the page because I start falling asleep mid-sentence. I'm just a mess aren't I?