The Importance of Sleep
Ever since I was young, I have heard many times about the importance of sleep.
Most people are told it is essential to get six to eight hours of sleep every night.
However, many people seem to find it difficult to reach this standard with all the things
going on in their lives. There are a lot of factors that can interfere with how much sleep
a person is able to get. These include work, school, extracurriculars, homework, social
life, social media, and family. While a lot of people struggle with this, it is vital to get
enough sleep.
When quarantine first started, I struggled with my sleep schedule. Most nights, I
would stay up until three or four in the morning and sleep in until noon or later. I felt I
was wasting my days away by sleeping in so late, but I continued to stay up doing
nothing productive at night. Even though I would sleep that late into the day, I would still
wake up tired and not feeling well rested. I had a lot of distractions that kept me awake
at night. The most significant distraction during this time was my phone. Because we
weren’t supposed to go and hang out with friends during quarantine, I would resort to
texting my friends all night. I would also stay up watching TV shows, movies, or Tik-
Toks. After a few weeks of this, I tried to start going to bed earlier to get a good night’s
rest. To go to bed earlier, I began a nightly routine. About an hour before I wanted to go
to bed, I would put my phone down, wash my face, brush my teeth, and turn my fan on.
By doing these things, I was able to fall asleep much faster. The improvements in my
mood, tiredness, and productivity were drastic. I felt much better and could get more
stuff done throughout the day.
Many people learn to get more sleep after finding that not getting enough hinders
them. I play on the Sauk volleyball team along with my roommate. Near the beginning of
the semester, I noticed that she struggled with getting enough sleep. During the week,
she frequently had friends over until one or two in the morning. This not only affected
her ability to get enough sleep, but it also affected mine. The friends that she had over
were very loud, making it difficult for me to fall asleep. I talked to my roommate about
this, and she decided that instead of going to bed earlier, she would leave to go
somewhere else during the night. Most mornings, when she walked out of her room
before class, she would tell me that she was tired. I’m sure most students have
experienced this at some point in their lives, but when you are tired for class, it becomes
challenging to pay attention. I have seen many students in my classes with their heads
resting on their desks, sleeping, and not paying attention to what is being taught. This,
in turn, leads to grades falling and difficulty learning the material for homework, quizzes,
and tests. I am also guilty of staying up too late some nights and having difficulty paying
attention in class. However, I try my best to keep that to a minimum so I do not fall
behind.
Many coaches have told me that getting a good night’s rest is essential the night
before games or tournaments. We leave at eight in the morning for most of our
weekend tournaments. I usually wake up early to ensure I have all my stuff packed and
get a coffee from Starbucks. On the other hand, my roommate wakes up at the last
minute, grabs her bag, and heads out the door. Because of our different morning
routines, I don’t check to see if she is up. One tournament, we were all on the bus, and
it was time to leave, but my roommate was nowhere to be found. A few minutes later,
she arrived, and I found out that she had only gotten three hours of sleep and had slept
through her alarm. Because she did not get enough sleep, she did not perform well at
the tournament and eventually got taken out, and she did not play again that day. Rest
has a significant impact on athletic performance, and I have also had experiences just
like this one. I have found that my performance is not good when I stay up late the night
before games. On the other hand, when I get a good amount of sleep, my performance
improves tremendously.
Getting adequate sleep is not only beneficial to athletics, but it is also beneficial
for work. My father is the director of sales for Birkey’s. He has frequent meetings all
over Illinois that are usually a two-plus-hour drive. The long drive causes him to have to
leave early in the morning. The nights before these meetings, he goes to bed early to be
well-rested and feel his best. It is extremely important for him to be well-rested because
he needs to be able to present at these meetings. Sometimes, he also has multiple
meetings in one day, which can make for a very long and stressful experience if he is
tired from not getting enough sleep. I also have some experience with getting rest
before a long workday. I have previously worked to de-rogue corn and currently work at
a barbeque restaurant as a waitress. When I worked in the cornfields, I had to get up
very early and usually worked from six a.m. to around two p.m. At the barbeque
restaurant, I either work four hours at a time or eight hours. With both jobs, I have had
to be on my feet working for long periods of time. I have made sure to get plenty of rest
the night before so I don’t feel tired while working. When I do not get enough rest, I feel
sluggish and slow. This is not good with either of these jobs because I need to be quick
and able to get a lot done.
Getting enough sleep is crucial to feeling your best. There are many benefits to
getting an adequate amount of sleep that can impact mood, school, athletics, and work.
You can do many things to get a better night’s sleep. A few of them are creating a
nightly routine, staying off your phone before bed, and going to sleep at a consistent
time each night. Although some nights you may not be able to, it should be a priority to
try and get enough sleep each night and make it a habit. I have noticed many changes
in my productivity, mood, ability to pay attention, and performance by maintaining a
consistent sleep schedule.
Are there any errors grammatically or punctuational? Does the essay meet the English Rubric and Persuasive Essay requirements?
