Do you ever wake up tired? Do you struggle in the mornings to concentrate? Are you always rushing in the morning to get to school? Do you often feel like falling asleep in the day? If your answer to any of these questions is 'yes', you are probably not getting enough sleep. Experts say that teenagers require 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep each night. If you miss out on this amount of sleep, you'll be tired during the day. And you will try to catch up on the sleep you have missed out by sleeping over the weekend. But this isn't good time management. Why are you not getting enough sleep? Most teenagers don't make sleep a priority. You have school, homework, part-time jobs, chores, friends, sports, tutoring, TV, computers, instant messaging - just to name a few. Often you will sacrifice your sleep to fit everything in. But this is not a productive thing to do because it can ruin your chances of doing well in exams. How does a lack of sleep affect you? Not getting enough sleep affects your moods, and your ability to concentrate and take in information. Lack of sleep is also a reason why you might react inappropriately and forget the things that you have studied. It adds to your stress levels and can make you feel depressed. Also, if you cannot concentrate in class, it is hard to revise at home because your brain hasn't taken in all the information. This is extremely important - if you want to do well at school, get your 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. This should be continuous sleep, not broken up through the afternoon and night. How do you get enough sleep? Include sleep in your weekly schedule. If you need to be at school by 8am and it takes one hour to get ready and be there, you have to be up by at least 6.50am. Since you need about nine hours' sleep, you should be in bed around 10pm. So consider this when you draw up your timetable. It is not a good idea to get home from school and sleep. This makes it difficult for you to go to bed at a reasonable hour. It might take a week or two to change your body clock, but it's worth the effort because it will help you to focus better on your day-to-day activities. By getting nine hours of sleep every night, you'll be more motivated, happier and have the ability to concentrate. This will lead to better performance in school and good exam results.
