As the sun crests the horizon, your alarm trills. Wake up, get up, go to the opening session, quick: five minutes till the first class, edit this five-page paper, wait, it’s eleven, should I sleep or work on the deadline?
As Camp Orlando heads into its third day, campers have reported losing sleep, consuming unhealthy amounts of caffeine to stay awake, and elevated levels of stress; however, by creating healthy coping mechanisms staffers can mitigate the damage stress may cause.
Importance of Sleep
Sleep is important when managing and relieving stress, proper sleep ensures that you have the energy you need to take on assignments, chores, or anything else life throws at you. Having a consistent sleep schedule can improve your mood allowing you to have a clear mind when dealing with anything life throws at you.
According to the American Psychological Association article written by Jennifer Martin, PhD, “Most people need to sleep at least seven hours on a regular basis to stay healthy and to feel well.”
Chloe Begey, staff writer for UHS press, was working alongside her fellow staffers shortly after their classes. Begy then proceeded to open a can of the energy drink Red Bull, before poking a hole at the bottom of the drink and draining it of its contents in an effort to stay awake.
“I have been really stressed… I have not really been sleeping… I’ve been eating too much sugar and drinking two cans of Celsius and Red Bull a day and getting like four hours asleep.” Carol said.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the daily maximum recommended dose of caffeine is 400mg, afterwards one could expect to experience insomnia, anxiousness, and nausea. Further contributing to the stress that is keeping you up in the first place.
Dealing with deadlines and Balancing work with leisure
Dealing with deadlines, homework, extracurricular activities, and still trying to find space for free time can be very stressful. Different people deal with deadlines and other responsibilities differently which is why it is important to find a way that works for you.
When Maria Monsour was asked how she deals with stress, she said, “Just having a positive mindset and,” …, “It might be hard now but just like reminding myself what I’m working towards and what I’m going to achieve.”
For some people, it works to write out everything they need to do, and for others, it may work better to plan when they are going to do certain things and for how long. It may also be helpful to take the weekend off and use that time for family and friends, while weekdays can be more focused on school and deadline work. Another way to deal with the stress of deadlines and work is to take breaks in between working to take care of your physical body by exercising and eating right. Both of those things with sleep give you everything you need to have a clear mind needed for having a balance between work and leisure.
“Don’t stress, have fun. And this sounds bad, but… once you get to school, it’s gonna be completely different anyway…you’re gonna realize, Oh, why did we do like that?..But you learned the skills in order to make it better.” Adam Livesay said.
