My Sleeping Schedule

How much sleep do we really need? It is recommended that I get between 7.5-9 hours of sleep for my age. For ages between 12-18 years, it is 8.5-10 hours. As I recall, I don’t think I’d ever had more than 8 hours of sleep during school week since I was in Primary 6. You see, that was the start of a long “waking up early” phase for many Singaporeans. For the next 4/5 years you spent in Secondary school, you’ll have to start your day around 6am.

So, according to the recommended hours of sleep, a teenager will have to be in bed by 9:30pm to get the minimum required 8.5 hours of sleep. Which is… Well… I must say one has to be very discipline to adhere to this bedtime. I would like to think I’m a typical teenager that spends most of their weeknights on the computer, chatting up with friends on MSN or playing video games. This, of course, is after you’ve completed your school assignments, which can be done anytime starting once the end of school bell rings. For my case, I’ll usually be doing my assignments right after dinner, as for the rest of the afternoon after class will be spent on brushing up my footballing skills. Hmmm… If only I’d put that dedication on my schoolwork.

Anyway, bedtime in those days were usually 1am. So the average hours of sleep I get is 5 hours. So, the lack 3.5 hours had me dozing off during classes, missing out on important details, and simply playing catch up on my studies throughout my Secondary days. So, learning from mistakes, huh?   

Having adequate sleep has never been an issue for my younger sister. From young, she has strictly adhere to a sleeping schedule. She has done well for her studies (IMO) but it was not never good enough for her (I think). Only until recently, at the ripe age of 22, after she had gone out of her comfort zone, travelling without her family for a school immersion programme, had she began to have some leeway with her daily routine. Things change. People changes. I cannot be sleeping at 1am these days and be well energized for work. Right now, all I really want at the end of the day is 8 hours of uninterrupted quality sleep. Of course, I am hopeful for a change back to the old sleeping ways if I get to do want I desire. It’s a long shot but we all can dream, yeah?