Dear Past Me,

I get it. Now that I’ve graduated from STA, I’ve realized that high school is really difficult. Between balancing hours of homework AND extracurriculars, sleeping has become a luxury for you. You sweep it to the side until you’re either done with homework or you’re too exhausted to think clearly. But you don’t realize how important sleep is, and how your lack of sleep affects me. You can’t focus as well in school and don’t have as much energy after school either. I’m proud of you for making homework a priority in your life, but you can’t continue to deny your need for sleep.

I can just hear you now: “I don’t have time!” But, why do you make time to post on Instagram and watch hours of Netflix? Even when you actually do finish your homework at a decent time, you stay up anyway! Maybe it’s because of the culture at STA: all of your friends are sleep-deprived, so why should you come to school well-rested?

But you’re better than that. You are responsible for your own health, and even though getting five hours may seem like the norm, you need eight hours of sleep every night.

I’m begging you to prioritize. Sleep is just as important as eating or working. When you study until 3 a.m. for that test you forgot about, it hurts you more than if you would have just gone to sleep at a decent hour, because after sleeping you’ll actually be able to focus on the test.

Don’t worry, getting more sleep won’t ruin your social life. Getting sleep means you’re more productive, so you’ll end up having more free time anyway. Besides, is staying up to text people you’ll see this weekend really worth putting yourself at a higher risk for depression, loss of memory and tons more health problems? I don’t think so.

Girl, it’s time to open your eyes. Literally. You can’t stop pretending that lack of sleep doesn’t affect you. So, please, determine the  time you need to go to sleep in order to be well-rested (it doesn’t take a math genius). Shut your phone off when you’re doing homework (because, let’s be honest, it probably prolongs your studying for at least an hour). Budget your time when you know you have a lot to do later in a week (you know you never actually study for a test anytime before the day of). Do whatever works for you, but please, get some sleep. Trust me, you’ll be happy that you did.

Sincerely,

Your Future Self