To sleep or not to sleep
As a fairly new instructor I face the fact of do I prepare for one more hour of lecture, or call it a night and take the additional hour to sleep. This has caused a fair amount of stress in my life. I find myself being inconsistent. Sometimes I choose the sleep and wake up more rested, but feel overwhelming stress due to lack of preparation. Sometimes I stay up and prepare, but feel drained by the end of the week. I think I will try to reduce stressors in other areas to try to free up some time.
Tanya, I like your thinking and so true! The way we live each day impacts the next. Planning for the best tomorrow starts today.
Dr. Melissa Read
I like the saying your day starts the night before. What time you go to bed definitely affects the next day just a planning or lack there of.
I had the same situation, I would stay up and try to get things done, however, I would be making so many mistakes that it was pointless to even try! Then, I opted for going to bed at my regular schedule and wake up a little earlier to get my work done; it was more efficient that way.
I find that the less sleep I get the more stressful the next day is
One thing that has consistantly helped me is to set up a pattern. I do not allow myself to stay up too late unless it is for a very important reason. I do not allow myself to get lost in a TV show nor in an activity on the computer where time seems to get lost. However, on the weekend that is a different story. I then allow myself to enjoy the ability break the pattern if I wish to do so.
I found as a new instructor I use to get so stressed out if I wasn't completely compared for the next hour of teaching. Now that I am more comfortable with teaching and have taught many of the same classes it is much easier so I can get more sleep. I also have learned that making a list has reduced my stressors greatly.
Steven, That sounds like a good practice. Sometimes it is possible to take just a few minutes before we fall asleep to reorient and unwind.
Dr. Melissa Read
Sleep and good food is the best way that I have found to keep up with life. I agree with you it also has been helpful with not getting sick.
I have had to train myself to stop at a given time and unwind as i get into bed.
Rachel,
I agree that sleep often gets placed on the low end of priorities when we lead busy lives as nursing instructors, trying to balance between work, friends, and family. I have learned that when I am well rested I feel better overall, and I have less chances of getting sick. I am not always good at going to bed when I should, but this lesson and forum is a good reminder of why sleep needs to continually be a priority for me on a daily basis.
Shelley Ford
i definitely agree! sometimes we think we are invincible and dont need much sleep, but we really do, its interesting to see the correlation of a goodnights sleep with productivity, illness, concentration and etc. once fatigue has set in, its so hard to break this, not enough caffeine can help! and thats not a healthy coping mechanism.. i will try my hardest to get more rest.
Unfortunately, sleep is often pushed to the back burner during our "awake decision making hours" of the day. I am guilty of doing this too: pushing myself too much in a day [ and consequently losing too much sleep ], and then justifying it by telling myself this will "set me up for a good/less stressful day tomarrow". Rarely does this thinking work. I try to do the best with what I have each day, and I find that is enough in most cases to stay abreast of stress.
