Spring is coming fast. Most of Virginia has leaves blossoming already, and baseball is on TV again. We all will start to get moving again outside. With all that extra activity, proper rest becomes more important, so I will talk a bit about good sleep habits – and some not-so-good ones, like spending time on your phone before bed.
For my whole life growing up, my bedtime was 9 p.m. I had school around 8 a.m., up to my time at George Mason University, so by going to bed when I did, I was sure that I was ready to wake up and get started at 7 a.m. I have always made sure that I have at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night. My doctor (and my grandfather, who is one too) says that getting extra sleep will both keep you from getting sick sometimes and give your body more resources for energy.
Now that I am an adult, I have a very busy schedule. All week, I either have work or academic lessons and job development every day. After that, I have physical activities: year-round Masters swim for two hours, four days a week, and the rest of the week a daily workout and stretches before dinner. During the spring season, I have Area 26 swim practices every Saturday, and one hour of lane swimming on Sundays. Spring and fall Sundays are baseball practices, and in fall I also have Saturday flag football and volleyball practices. Finally in winter, there are basketball practices. After all of this, when it gets dark, I take a shower and start to slow down and relax.
To relax before bedtime, I either listen to music or watch television until about 8:30 p.m., then wash my face, brush my teeth and read a hard cover or paperback book borrowed from the library for about 15 minutes. Right now, I am reading “The Winter Soldier: Cold Front” by Mackenzi Lee. Then I sleep, usually for about 10 hours.
Growing up, I kept my phone on the charger – and away from my bedroom! During the week after my shower, I stop using the phone before dinner, because looking at bright screens/blue lights causes your body to put off sleeping. I put the phone on Do Not Disturb (so that I don’t get texts all night), and then I set my wake-up alarm for the morning. I don’t look at the phone again until I wake up. If you look at the bright screen/blue light on your phone, it makes your eyes and brain think it is still daytime. This keeps you from getting ready for sleep and makes it much harder to get good rest. Doctors all say that not getting 8 hours of sleep most days is bad for you. That’s because sleep helps your brain put memories where they belong and even helps your body fix little problems, like bruises and sprains. The doctors also figured out that phones and sleep don’t go together. Using the phone at night can stop your natural sleep cycle, so you don't fall asleep when your body is ready. Nighttime screen use can keep you from getting a good night's rest.
Even though I am super busy, I still have time for fun. On weekends (Friday and Saturday nights) I sometimes stay up later and do things with friends, but I still try to make sure that I get at least 8 hours of sleep. This is especially important before my Special Olympics events, because both your focus and endurance are affected by sleep; you can’t tell how much until you miss a pass, miss a basket, or run or swim slower than usual.
If you get enough rest and sleep, you will have energy to work and play hard – AND have all kinds of fun with friends and family. I hope my example shows this, and I also hope everyone has a great spring. Talk to you in the summer!!
