I find it very ironic that I can very easily fall asleep in math class but when it comes to sleeping during the actual time it is appropriate to sleep I cannot. Well I decided to conduct an experiment to test and see if math is really just so boring that I fall asleep, or if it is my sleep deprivation. After the temporary shutdown of the Moody Science building my statistics class was canclled so my teacher posted a video onto blackboard so that the student would not fall behind, I was very greatfull for not only giving me the opportunity to stay caught up, but the oppertunity to make this expierment happen. So every night for the past week or so I have been playing that video my teacher posted of him talking about math to see if it would lull me to sleep, and it worked! My conclusion is that yes, math really can bore you to sleep, and that is a much cheaper thing to get you to sleep than any drug.

In the new age of the 21st century the work place has evolved in such a dramatic way that our new pioneers of the dedicated employee are having repercussion from it. We are completely consumed with the idea that that we have to sell our souls to be productive in the work place. The article Please Don't Make Me Go on Vacation found that "American workers have on average 16.6 paid vacation days but that more than one-third of employees (36 percent) did not plan to use their full vacation." Americans have the opportunity to take more vacation days but they consciously  choose not to. This can and will lead to accumulation of stress, lack of sleep, and overall depletion of energy. America needs to slow down before a major burnout of the workforce happens.

Exams, homework, and the looming date of October 19th are the reason I only get 4 hours of sleep each night this week. The switch that turns off my mind has be JB welded in the on position. Every time I start to relax I remember that one piece of homework that I did not complete, or that math test that I did bad on, and that wind down that I need from the day is delayed until 1 or 2 A.M. when I am satisfied that I am no longer a failure at life. Stress is a normal part of my life but school tends to nudge it to a large consuming part. If you like myself also struggle with stress and it is causing you to loose a large amount of time, sleep, or hair over it I have good news. Time management can help, and it has helped me I have gotten a small planner and I mark out times to do different assignments that I know that I struggle with. This has helped me to feel calmer about my assignments and to start to wind down from the day as soon as 11 o'clock. Stress is normal, and natural, in the right amount it is even a good thing for you, but don't let it take over your life. Sleep long and prosper my friends.

As a kid I remember that when I would get sick my mom would always make me stay in bed, or on the couch. She said that sick people need to get lots of rest, and along with my mother most Americans think that rest helps give a healing boost to most sick people. So why if a majority of Americans believe this way patients in ICU who are probably the people who need rest the most being kept awake by all the beeps, bright lights, and pesky constant nurse check ins? A study conducted in one New Jersey Hospital found that out of 147 nights, the researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Critical Care, they found only nine uninterrupted periods of two to three hours. When you think about statistics its not that scary, it just numbers on a page that has nothing to do with you, but when its a loved one in that hospital you might react differently.

Just this week I moved to a new room in my dorm. The same dorm just upstairs, I think it is a nicer room I have a large window that looks over the entrance. Even though it is a nicer room and I am not disturbed as much in this one as I was in the last, I am having an extremely hard time sleeping. I can lay in my bed for 30+ minutes and still be counting sheep. When I do fall asleep it is very restless and I wake in the night several times. While I cannot sleep in my room I can however sleep in the classroom. It doesn't matter what class it is, even my favorite class I find myself pinching my arm to stay awake. I have taken several measures to help me sleep, I have been running 2 miles about two and a half hours before I plan on sleeping. I also have been drinking a green tea that is supposed to help your melatonin levels increase. I wonder why this very subtle change has caused my sleeping patterns to be so wild.

An over achieving society is an understatement for the difficulties that a young person these days faces when planning for the future. We are expected to perform in an extreme highly competitive academic learning environment, we have to keep up the pace so we wont be left behind. Could this type of environment that is meant to be productive and fruitful of knowledge actually be hindering us in the long run? The answer is Yes. In order to keep up, we have to sacrifice certain things to remain among the crowd and some of those things involve: sleep, social life, and family time. All three of these things are incredibly important to our development into happy healthy adults. If you have spare time you should really read Too-Busy Teens Feel Health Toll on the Washington post, it gives some great insight on how this over achieving, perfectionism society can cause great stress to students.

This weekend I had the pleasure of going home to see my parents, and sleep in my own bed. Lets just say that sleeping on an actually comfortable mattress was a un-awakening experience. (hardy-har-har) My body feels more rested than it has in several weeks, and I have more energy, even coming back to school when I wake up I still feel like I have rested better. At my old job I was a sales manager at a furniture store, so I can honestly say with confidence that your mattress so directly effects your sleep and it can really make a huge impact in how you sleep.
Fun fact of the day, humans spend on average one third of their life in bed, so a good mattress is really an investment, not a luxury.