If you ever find yourself in a Campus-bound metro, particularly on a week day morning, you are sure to notice one common feature on every student’s face: sleep. This apparent sleep deprivation manifests in all forms. Some can be seen sleeping with open mouths while others tend to perpetually yawn, quite contagiously. A few others can be found nodding off every now and then. One category that deserves a special mention here is the ‘martyr’, representing someone who is extremely sleepy yet bravely fights off the urge to doze, via mental engagement (like reading, listening to music or talking).
What baffles me about my observations is that I am yet to find a concrete cause for this trend. I haven’t been able to completely comprehend why DU students are so sleepy in the morning! Most of us are used to waking up early, courtesy – ungodly school timings. Further, you can rule out late night studies, as a majority of us bank on last minute ‘feed your brain all you can before the exam’ study tactics. Then what on Earth is turning DU students into zombies? Here are possible reasons:
A. Endless streaming of series
In the era of Torrents and Netflix, who waits for per day episodes? Most of us just download the entire series and guzzle down 10-12 episodes in one go. The typical scenario: we sit down with season 1 at dusk and reach season 3 by dawn.
B. Social media
I usually switch my phone off after 2200 hrs. Sure, you can call me a prude. But I learnt my lesson when I got extremely addicted to Facebook, Instagram and BuzzFeed during the holidays. It started with a desire to just sift through my NewsFeed post dinner. But then, one link would lead to another and I would end up spending hours pouring over nonsensical updates, thereby, jeopardising my sleeping pattern. I managed to break the cycle, but a lot of us are still caught in it. No wonder our sleep is in such disequilibrium!
C. Parties and outings
Oh yes! Just one (although extremely dear to us) among the many perks of being in college- extension of curfews and new-found independence! How can one get the prescribed 8-hour sleep if one is often partying or clubbing away, that too on week nights?
D. Social calls and commitments
We usually tend to make all our important phone calls during night, because college, society work, tuitions, etc. keep us occupied through the day. So latest gossip, deep and emotional conversations with the best friend, love talks with the better-half or catching up with a school friend is usually done after 2100 hrs, when everyone is taking a breather from their busy schedules. But when the chit-chat turns into a routinely-nightly-mega conversation, we pay a hefty price. Not just in money to the phone company, but also through our heavily compromised sleep.
E. Insomnia
Some of us are just plain unlucky. Because at the end of the day, how does one defy insomnia? Popping pills is not just scary, but also futile. Counting sheep (or the number of times Rihanna, ironically, says ‘work’ in her song ‘Work’) doesn’t soothe the mind either – the catastrophic result? Well, living through the first half of your next day without any sense of consciousness.
I don’t wish to sound like your family doctor, or mother. But the hard fact of life is that 6-8 hrs of sleep for an adult human being is imperative, if one wishes to keep their mental and physical faculties alive and kicking. So I advise all of you sleepyheads out there to fulfill your quota in the method and manner that fits you the best. I’m a morning person, and one thing I can tell you with certainty: mornings are the most peaceful and productive periods of the day. Don’t miss out on them because of erratic and silly habits.
Feature Image Credits: www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com
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