While observing my days I have also come to the realization that with 6-7 hours of sleep I am not as productive, nor do I have a lot of energy. Usually when I get this amount of sleep I wake up and start my day feeling fine and I don't feel tired or "dead." Then, throughout the day it starts to hit me. Towards the end of gym, I feel heavy and just want to lay in my bed. I also realized I am less social with my mood not being as good as when I get 8-9 hours of sleep due to my lack of energy. At night is when I am usually the most productive in school, so when I don't have a lot of energy to be productive, I don't have the focus to get a lot of school done. This amount of sleep can affect my performance in gym and in school. Being tired and unfocused can cause me to misread questions or choose a different answer than my answer. These little mistakes can affect my grades in classes. Not having a lot of energy at gym can cause me to feel really heavy and can cause my body to ache. I have come to the conclusion that 8-9 hours is the best amount of sleep for myself in order to have an energetic and productive day!

Learning that 8-9 hours of sleep increases my energy throughout the day also helped me realize how my mood is affected as well. Having more energy allows me to have a better mood. When my mood is high, I am way more interactive and social with people. Being in a good mood makes my mental state better too, and this can improve my performance throughout the day! Christopher M. Barnes states, "But recent research indicates that individual behavior can vary dramatically from day to day and week to week—and much of this variance can be explained by the quality of a manager’s sleep" (Barnes). This relates to my experiences when I say that the amount of sleep I get can affect my mood.

With the amount of energy that I get from 8-9 hours of sleep, I am able to keep the same amount of energy throughout the day. In gymnastics, this can be very valuable, and it boosts my performance levels. Mayo Clinic Health System agrees when they say, "When you sleep, your brain processes all the information you've taken in during the day. It filters out and deletes some information, while storing other information in memory. That includes assimilating new skills or techniques you may have learned that day so they become an intuitive part of your sports performance" (Rantala). Having the ability to remember corrections I got the previous day allows me to improve in the gym. It doesn't happen very often to have the same energy at the end of practice that I had at the beginning. Figuring out my benefits through my observations has really helped me to realize and apply what I have learned to make my days productive and better for myself.

I've recognized that with the energy I get from 8-9 hours, my mood is boosted. I tend to feel more energized which then allows me to interact and socialize with others more! When I am more sociable, I feel a lot happier, and I have a lighter spirit! This helps me throughout my day because I am able to have a positive mindset!

Learning this about myself has really created a positive lifestyle for me! Balancing gymnastics and school can be hard, but this observation has allowed me to learn what can make my days easier!