Title

The Importance of Sleep

Creator

Anthony Cawley, SUNY Cortland

Preview

Creation Date

11-2023

Description

The topic I chose was “The Importance of Sleep”. My presentation was based on information from the CDC, The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, and Insider Tech. Over the summer I treated sleep as optional. Working long hours and training for SUNY Cortland Cross Country I was lacking in sleep greatly. However, I read the book ”Why We Sleep” by Dr Matthew Walker. This book changed my perspective on sleep, and explained why it was so important for us. I knew that many SUNY Cortland students adopted the same mindset I once had, viewing sleep as optional. However, Dr Matthew Walker says, “Routinely sleeping less than 6 or 7 hours a night demolishes your immune system more than doubling your risk of cancer”(Walker 2017). If this doesn’t scare you enough Matthew Walker states, “The shorter you sleep the shorter your life span. The old maxim I’ll sleep when I’m dead is therefore unfortunate. Adopt this mindset and it is possible that you will be dead sooner and the quality of that shorter life will be poorer. Many students are unaware of the effects of poor sleep, and don’t understand the simple solutions they can use to create a better environment. I taught them different ways to achieve better sleep through caffeine use, exercise, deep breathing, limiting screen time, and creating a routine they can get better sleep starting that night, and in return have a better experience at SUNY Cortland.