Hey friends,
First of all, I’m sorry I didn’t release a newsletter last week. My mom said that she was looking forward to a newsletter that never came—our parents truly are our number one fans. Anyways, this ties into today’s topic about productivity.
I haven’t been getting enough sleep for the past week. For context, I’ve been falling asleep at around midnight and waking up at 6 AM for my morning workouts. This means I averaged 6 hours of sleep a night.
I felt TERRIBLE. Yes, in all caps. A psychology reading that should have taken me two hours took over five, and I noticed this consistent trend of under-performance throughout the week. What made the week worse is that my fatigue made me agitated and impatient with friends and family.
Reflecting on this past week, I knew I had to make a change. I decided to shift my workouts from 7:15 in the morning to 9 PM at night. This is a significant change for me, as I’ve done morning workouts since the beginning of high school. However, this change allows me to wake up at 7:15 AM instead of 6 AM. I’ll also head to bed at 11 PM every night—doing schoolwork while exhausted at night isn’t very productive anyways. By squeezing in that extra 2 hours of sleep (totalling to 8 hours), I’m certain I’ve got a better week ahead of me.
That’s it from me. Have a great week!
David
❤️ 3 Highlights of the Week
(1) Trying AirPod Pros 🎧 - I’ve been looking into upgrading from my AirPod Generation 2s to the noise-cancelling AirPod Pros to help with studying and sleeping at residence (it can get quite noisy). A big thank you to Matt for letting me borrow his AirPod Pros to test for the week. They’re amazing. I bought the Pros within 3 days of use for only $150 on Kijiji 😯. What a steal!
(2) Canadian Stuttering Association Panel 🎙 - Last Sunday, I spoke at a panel event called “Let’s Talk: Your First Days,” hosted by the Canadian Stuttering Association. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve had a stutter since childhood. You can read more about it in this article I’ve written.
(3) Hike with my upper-year mentor 🥾 - I went hiking on the Thames Valley Trail with my upper-year Scholar’s Electives mentor. It was one of my favourite moments at Western so far. The sun was shining, and the view was stunning. It’ll be a good way to get fresh air, especially during exam season.
🙈 2 Lessons Learned
(1) Intermittent fasting? - I’ve always been a big breakfast person, but I tried intermittent fasting in the past two days and, to my surprise, I like it. I don’t feel very hungry in the morning, and I’ve noticed that I’m more focused when fasted, though this may be due to the placebo effect. I’ll continue to experiment in the upcoming week!
(2) Humans need sleep. I’m human, so I need sleep. If you’re also human, you need sleep.
🤔 1 Thought to Ponder
My Friday afternoon power nap was literally the highlight of the week. Are you getting the recommended 8 hours of shut-eye time? If not, what are you going to do about it?