Work over Sleep

Sorry for not blogging for 3 weeks. I had a very eventful and stressful 3 weeks. With the upcoming tests and heavy loads of homework, I did not have time to sleep not to mention blog. So today's topic is work over sleep.

These three weeks were hectic, especially this week. I was bombarded with homework, tests and everything else a boy would face in school. I had four tests this week, three real tests and a mock. First on Monday was a narrative writing test. On Tuesday, there was the Chinese Drama Performance. Then, a math test on Thursday and Geography mock test on the same day. The one the last day of the week was the most daunting day ever. I had two important test or events that day, the dreaded history test and a Chinese Current Affairs Discussion. I have a policy which was to study for all tests the week before. I had done this since primary school, had done this last year so this year was no different. However, with increasing homework and tests, I soon find this policy very hard to keep up with.

During the week I had little sleep. I had got through with the narrative writing test on Monday and studied the day before. I was able to sleep early the night before and in the morning, I felt refreshed like never before. This however soon would change for the worse. Tuesday Chinese Drama performance was frightening to me. I was never the acting sort of person and the script needed to be changed. On top of that, I needed to remember my lines. I refined the script till it was acceptable and by the time I was finished it was 11.30pm.Luckily I did my homework before the script or I would be still up working into the night. The next day, I was a bit groggy. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I came back late due to my CCA.I had to juggle studying for Mathematics and Geography test the next day. I stayed up till 12 in the morning to finish the revision. On Thursday night, it was worse. I had to prepare my Current affairs discussion script, study for History and also finish my homework. It simply overwhelmed mesas I was already exhausted from yesterday fell asleep at 11 and woke up half an hour late, That was the first time I ever sleep while studying, a completely new experience. I finish the rest of the revision and homework at 1 plus in the morning.

I realized the effects of little sleep on that Friday morning. I was not my usual self. I could not absorb whatever the teacher taught on that day. My eyelids were heavy and I wished I could put my head on the table. I struggled to keep consciousness but even though I was awake, nothing went into my head. I never really felt like this before, staring at the teacher but listening to a small portion of what he said. My head was heavy and I went to the toilet to wash up. Washing your face was supposed to wake a person up but it did not take much effect. The day just went downhill.

Why do people need to sleep? Simply, they are tired so they need to rest. Sleep is a state whereby your body is not active (Unconscious) but can be aroused. Your body systems slow down such as digestion and your pulse rate. Sleep is needed because your body needs to repair itself. A children and teenagers need to have sufficient amount of sleep to be able to grow. When you sleep, growth hormones are produced so ample sleep is needed. However, it is importance to note that sleeping too long for a long period of time can give the opposite effect. The amount of sleep needed for children is 8 hours while for adults; it is 5 hours and 5 minutes. Sufficient amount of sleep is importance because it affects the performance of your body system. Lack of sleep can lead to weakening of your body immunity system and you may fall sick if you do not get sufficient sleep. Let’s take rats for example. Rats have a lifespan of 2-3 years but if they are deprived of sleep, they live to about 3 weeks. For humans, it does not have devastating effects to that extent but still lack of sleep can cause problems for us. Our nervous systems do not work properly, making the person drowsy and unable to concentrate. Long periods of sleep deprivation can lead to impairment of memory or judgement and reduced physical performance. The importance of sleep is well-known throughout the world but how many actually have the time to sleep?

In this fast-paced society where stress-levels are high as workloads are staggering, how many can actually find the time to sleep. Deadlines of assignments or reports haunt both children and adults. Many adults work through the night to accomplish their work. Their submission of work and the quality determine the chances of retaining their job. Jobs give adults salary and this money is used to support a family. So in order to get the money, he needs to hand up work on time and to do that he needs to work through the night and because of that he is deprived of sleep. Most of us choose work over sleep though many know that it is bad for health but what can we do? Time management do not help if too much work is given. Work is important but is it more important than sleep? Logical answers would be yes, health is more important than work as if you are not healthy how can you work. Falling sick because of lack of sleep would put you out of action for a long time and you cannot put bread on the table. Many people take work as their utmost priority thus neglecting their health. Therefore while working to their limits to earn as much as they can, they soon burn out and fall sick.

I too start to feel the effects of the "burn out" Everyday, I have trouble waking up due to exhaustion. I know lack of sleep is bad but work and tests force many children to stay up way past their bedtimes to complete the work. Many fear to get scolding from teachers or parents if work is not done so children tirelessly toiled through the night. People are caught in the middle point between sleep and work. It is not like people do not want to sleep but rather they can’t sleep because of work. The question is not about whether sleep or work is more important. It is about how to balance sleep and work in this community.