Self Exhibit: Sleep
Topic of Inquiry
What I wanted to study in my first self exhibit was the effect of getting enough sleep and how it might influence me on a day to day basis. I chose this exhibit because people are always saying how college students (and people in general) do not get enough sleep because they consider other things to be more important, such as school work or studying, or perhaps they just have trouble getting to sleep at night. I really wanted to test this and figure out if people are more refreshed, more productive, or even just happier in general. Since I cannot test this on other people, I had to test it on myself.
Hypothesis
Before I began the experiment on myself, I assumed the results would be as expected. I assumed I would be more productive with my work and be in a better mood in general.
Documentation
When I designed the experiment, I got away from my weekly schedule of going to bed around 11 every night and set my bed time for an entire week at 9 o'clock. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I don't have class until 12:20 That being said, I would have plenty of time to sleep seeing as I usually wake up on those days around 10 or 10:30. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have class at 9:30 but it still gave me over 10 hours of sleep each night seeing as I get up around 8 on those days. It was a challenge to collect data seeing as I could not spend every minute of every day of that week thinking about how if the amount of sleep I got was affecting my current mood or productivity, so I decided that at the end of each day I would reflect on how my day went, if I was in a better mood, and if I was more productive than I usually am during any normal week. I began the experiment on a Sunday night and at the end of each day I took notes in my phone as to how I felt compared to a normal day of going to bed later.
Reflection
I was very pleased with the results of this exhibit. I did not think it would go exactly as well as I mentioned in my notes but nonetheless it went terrific. I happened to conduct the experiment during a week where I did not have much work other than normal homework to do, so I could go to bed early every night. It amazed me how getting plenty of sleep would lead to me paying better attention in class, being more engaged, and happier in general. While I wish I could do this every week, I will be doing it on nights that I can. Overall, I was ecstatic with the way this exhibit turned out and I will continue to try to get as much sleep as I possibly can in the future.