Learning Challenge: Sleep

In the video found HERE, I learned just how essential sleep is for physical and mental health. Sleep is the bodies natural mechanism to restore its energy and clear waste material from the brain. Most adults require 7-8 hours of sleep per night and most adolescents need 10. Being deprived of sleep can lead to hormonal imbalance, sickness, and even death. Someone who is severely sleep deprived may lose coordination, memory functions, and might even hallucinate; symptoms of chemical waste building up in the brain. I hate to admit it, but I deprive myself from a lot of sleep and I'm am more than aware of these symptoms. I have been so tired before that I fell asleep standing up. This video is just another reminder that I need to take better care of myself. It's simple really to just go to sleep on a regular basis, and the health benefits are well worth it.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Learning Challenge: Reading Out Loud

I have always thought that I read slower, mostly because the way I read in my head is the same way I would read out loud. But, I found that when I read out loud, it was as if I was telling the story to myself. It took longer to read the story but I felt like I got more out of the reading. I used inflection and pauses when reading the dialogue and I held a certain tone while reading narrative parts. Reading out loud helped me to understand the story on a deeper level than just the plot because I had to build a character's persona when I read for them. I also found that I noticed, and remembered, more details about the story after reading out loud compared to reading other stories silently.

Image Source: Joel Goldman

Learning Challenge: Deskercise

I think exercising from time to time at your desk is great way to boost your productivity and attitude. If you enjoy and look forward to your deskercise time, you might set a goal for yourself to accomplish before you can start the exercise. Or, if you dread exercising, have a buddy keep you accountable and deskercise with you at regular intervals. The latter scenario might make you enjoy doing your work rather than exercising. But with either method, deskercising can help you stay motivated while improving your health. Having a beneficial routine to break up long work days helps with getting you mind out of a rut and getting your blood flowing makes you feel more energized and driven. My favorite three deskercises were the desk push ups, the office chair dips, and just simply walking around.

Deskercising. Source: DIY Genius

Article from the Washington Post