Sleep Deficit

The past couple of weeks have seen me sleeping for fewer average minutes than more normal sleep-deprived school weeks. It has certainly been catching up with me. Even with a full eight hours of sleep last night, I still felt only half awake for most of the day.

One of the main characters in the Belgariad series of books "stores up" sleep during times of low activity so he can force his way through times of crisis. His daughter makes it clear that there is scientific basis for such an idea, but this is a book series where the power of will can make otherwise impossible ideas become true. I think about that often when dealing with my sleep schedule during a school year. Even though I get more sleep now than I did before the move to Alaska, I still get substantially less during the school year than I do when on break. I suppose that I try to use those down times to store up on sleep too. Unfortunately, I am not a fictional character with a magical constitution.

However, I still rely on these breaks to help me catch up on the sleep that I have missed. That said, I have quite a bit of catching up to do in these two short weeks. I had better get started.