New Year's Resolution (Extra Credit)

With jazz band in the morning, requiring me to wake up early in the morning, and a host of extracurricular activities late at night, I have not been sleeping as much as I would want since the beginning of the school year. By the time I arrive home after soccer or Aikido practice, have a shower, and get ready for bed, its usually around 9:00. Depending on how much homework I have, I then only get into bed by around 9:00 to 10:00. As it takes me around 30 minutes to fall asleep, and I wake up at around 6:00, I usually only get around 7 to 8 hours of sleep, far less than I need. Thursday, when I have both piano and soccer, leaves me even less time at home to finish homework, and thus even less sleep.

A person sleeping in his clothes.

Lack of sleep has a greatly negative effect on me, throughout my day. In the morning, and sometimes even later into the day, I often feel sick and groggy when I am sleep-deprived. This makes it harder to concentrate on what I am doing, including school, homework, and my after-school activities. Also, being in this state raises the risk of me catching a cold or the flu, which would be extremely inconvenient to me.

I believe that the best way to allow myself more sleep is to be more efficient in my homework and piano practicing. With the exception of Thursday, I have around 2 to 3 hours at home before my soccer and Aikido practices. As I practice 1 hour of piano each day, this leaves me with 1 to 2 hours to do homework. If I could become more efficient in doing my homework, I could complete the majority of it beforehand, and then be able to get to bed sooner, guaranteeing me more sleep. In addition, I could take steps to help myself fall asleep faster, such as relaxing more just before I go to bed, or trying to clear my thoughts. Preparing my backpack and clothes the night before would also enable me to wake up 5 to 10 minutes later in the morning. For the rest of this year, and hopefully beyond that, I am aiming to try and get a great deal more sleep and rest.