The focus of last week’s talk was managing stress– they key point, perhaps, was sleep. A few years ago, a sleep expert gave a talk at my high school. Over a number of years, he had performed a comprehensive study of optimal levels of sleep for high school and college-aged students. He found that 9.25 hours– 9 hours and 15 minutes– is ideal. Anything short of that mark, he said, is unhealthy. The professionals from Gannett echoed this number, and I can attest to what they recommend. Since hearing the talk (and seeing the data) a number of years ago, I have made it my mission to sleep 9.25 hours each night. My friends of course have criticized me– both for sleeping for what they consider an absurd amount of time, and for being so precise (and nerdy) about how I sleep. Of course, there are other methods for managing stress, but the simple fact of the matter is that without sleep, even rudimentary and quotidian tasks become difficult.

As we enter the final stretch of the year, I urge all of my peers to exchange the last hour of late-night studying (or Netflix) for an hour of sleep. You will notice the difference.