Sleep Diary 

Relate and Review

Over the week of recording my bedtimes, I was surprised to find that I am getting an average of 8 hours of sleep every night, the recommended amount of hours a 17-year-old should be getting. However, I noticed that although I am getting the recommended hours, the hours are unevenly spread over the week. I sleep too much over the weekend and a too little on the weekdays. I learned that when I sleep too much, I actually get drowsy and less energized throughout the day. Because of this, one of the biggest takeaways from this weeklong sleep diary is that I can't completely compensate for a sleep debt.
Another discovery I found was that the amount of sleep has a huge correlation with your alertness during the day. On days where I get enough sleep, the weekends, I am a lot more alert throughout the day. However, on weekdays, I found myself getting less sleep and very fatigued in the afternoon. I learned that sleep is extremely beneficial for long-term health such as cleaning out wastes in the brain. But sleep is also very noticeable in everyday life, because of your alertness. Alertness is an extreme safety hazard, due to the countless deaths and tragedies caused by a lack of sleep.