Before we start talking about anything back-to-school-related, let’s relish the fact that there are plenty of long, hot summer vacation days left for students to fully enjoy. Thankfully, August has only just begun. That said, as this is a monthly column, most students will return to the classroom before the September column is published, so I’m getting this message out earlier rather than later.
If you, or the high-school/college student in your life, is heading to campus soon, there are a couple of simple and high-value ideas to put on your back-to-school list to help ensure it’s the best school year ever. Of course, these suggestions also apply to students of any age looking to add some best practices to their daily routine and build some powerful habits for the educational years ahead. Stress and poor sleep habits are common challenges that become amplified in high school and college when dealing with the pressure of juggling a heavy load of academic requirements and other obligations. The natural tendency in these years is to burn the candle at both ends to fit everything in the day, which can easily lead to sleep getting short, which unfortunately magnifies feelings of stress and becomes a repeating cycle of adverse outcomes.
Manage stress and anxiety: First off, the stress we experience during a challenging moment is normal and healthy; it’s our body running its hardwired program alerting us to things we need to have a heightened awareness of. Stress coming at us continuously from multiple directions for extended periods is considered chronic and is detrimental to our health in many ways, both mentally and physically. One of the most effective habits we can develop is mindful awareness of our warning signs of stress or anxiety developing and dealing with them in the moment. While we all have different stress triggers, many symptoms are universal. Signs such as increased heart rate, irritability, sweating, difficulty concentrating or any combination of those less-than-ideal things happening simultaneously are clear ‘stress warning’ signals your body sends. One highly efficient method of countering these effects is our ‘factory reset’ button: deep breathing. It’s as simple as it is effective: deep inhalations through the nose and exhaling through the mouth for 30 seconds to one minute. Without getting too far into the science weeds, the reason deep breathing is so effective is tied to our parasympathetic nervous system (AKA ‘rest and digest’ system), in which the breathing sends an “all is OK” message, which disables the stress response our body was in the process of launching. The best part is that it never wears out; you can use this method as much as needed, and nobody will even know. Try it right now for a fast example of how well it works! (Learn more about the PSNS here: Rest and digest: The parasympathetic nervous system | Live Science.)
Another effective method to stop a stress reaction in its tracks is to, quite literally, walk away from it. A short 15 to 20-minute walk, ideally including some deep breathing, triggers the release of biochemical substances like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and endocannabinoids. These substances, similar to cannabis but naturally produced by the body, are effective at reducing stress and anxiety. Incorporating a routine of walking into your back-to-school schedule will provide a daily dose of stress protection. Think of it as a multivitamin for your mind!
Prioritize sleep: If food is the fuel in our machine, then sleep is the oil that keeps all the gears moving the way they should. Virtually every aspect of our waking hours is directly related to sleep, and how we feel and function each day is closely linked to how we slept the night (or nights) before. Our moods, cognitive abilities, immune system, stress levels and appetite (and weight management) depend on consistently getting enough sleep. Here’s the problematic reality of the situation: most of us treat sleep as a low-value waste of time and get whatever hours we can fit in every night when our other tasks are done for the day. To get at least 7 hours a night (the recommended amount for most healthy adults), you must provide 8 hours of ‘sleep opportunity.’ This allows for time to fall asleep and the micro-awakenings that happen each night that, most times, we are not aware of but add up. For example, during my sleep one night this week I had 39 minutes of awake time, none of which I was aware of. Think of these awakenings as silent sleep killers, although they are part of our normal sleep cycle.
Many of us make a common mistake when it comes to sleep. We go to bed and set our alarm for 7 hours later, thinking we’ve got 7 hours of sleep. However, we often fail to account for the extra time we spend awake in bed, whether we’re aware of it or not. This widespread practice of not increasing our ‘sleep opportunity’ time contributes to chronic sleep deprivation that affects approximately 35 percent of Americans, according to the CDC. Read more about sleep and its amazing results here.
If you already get plenty of sleep, that’s fantastic. Keep up the great work! If you fall into the category of chronically shortchanging your sleep hours, do yourself an enormous favor and commit to an experiment of getting 7 hours a night for the next couple of months to see the difference. Proper sleep is mission-critical if you’re committed to peak performance, looking and feeling your best, and functioning at 100 percent. Think of it like a three-legged fitness stool: sleep, diet and exercise all work together, and when one leg of the stool is missing, things get wobbly fast!
I wish all returning students an awesome start to the coming year…. but first, more summer vacation fun in the sun!
Eric Bartosz is the founder of BAR40 and the author of the internationally acclaimed and bestselling book ‘BAR40: Achieving Personal Excellence.’ He lives in Center Valley with his wife Trish, daughter Riley and pug Piper, is an adjunct MBA professor at DeSales University and serves the community as an Upper Saucon firefighter, a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley and a local race organizer. Eric is a 20+ year runner and racer and can often be found logging miles on the Saucon Rail Trail. Catch up on Eric’s latest Bar Talk columns here.
