Commitment Towards Young Lawyers and Law Student Advancement

Thursday, 1 June 2017

BAR FINAL : WHY YOU SHOULD SLEEP


I was walking round the campus in my mind actually and I saw a lot of folks flipping through the books, with the eyes lid closing and opening, some resorted to Coffee-drink, water therapy, walking around therapy, soaking legs inside water, music therapy…… all aimed at NOT SLEEPING!!!!
I know so well that you must pay the sacrifice to get to the top but not at the detriment of your health due to lack of ignorance. I know the pick up line ‘No Pain No Gain’ but do you know that not all pain actually comes with Gain. Ask the brother that Jumped from the 3rd Floor to the ground in search of ORDER 10.

The society in which we found ourselves is like an imaginary gun is pointed to our head and we operate under fear to achieve our own dreams. A good example is the Law School; we were told you have to be extra-ordinary to get called to the Bar, we going to be assessed based on our lowest grade. The dread thought can be likened to a gun to our head, so we do everything possible to achieve our goal of becoming a lawyer under fear. The irony of life….

WHAT IS SLEEP?
I know in your mind you like are you kidding me? Yes let go back to the meaning of sleep. Let me give you this quote by William Shakespeare, Macbeth
            ‘’Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care
            The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath
            Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast’’

According to the Oxford English Dictionary it defines Sleep as;
            ‘’ A condition of body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended’’

TAKE NOTE
Resting and Sleeping are two different things, what we do most time is rest which is important and beneficial, I know your excuse will be, yes I do have time for rest (Yinmu) lies!!! Do you even know what rest means. The state of rest is when;
            ‘’ we give our body a period of relaxation, our brain is still running and functioning actively and we have our full consciousness about the surrounding during resting time’’

Suffice you to say that all sleeping period is part of resting period, BUT, all resting period is not part of sleeping period.

WHY SHOULD I SLEEP?
If you look at the definition of sleep and the psychology of sleep you will discover that it a specific state of your brain, if you do not sleep properly or at all, your brain will stop functioning properly and eventually makes you completely dysfunctional.
I ask myself this question, why do people lose consciousness or in lay main language faint in the exam hall? 

The answer is that they have refused to sleep properly.   I read a post by Robert Oexman[1] where he posits that;
            ‘’Research has consistently shown that taking the time to sleep before an exam will benefit your tests score more than four or five hours of staying awake staring at notes that you will not remember’’

My brother a Medical Doctor told me that sleep-deprived students have lower GPA’s due to the fact that it impacts memory and concentration. The misconception about sleep is that it was seen as a passive activity for Lazy people whereas it’s smart to sleep the reason is that it helps;
a)      Relaxing of Muscles
b)      Building of immunity
c)      Repairing Injuries
d)      Cleaning Body
e)      Accounting of recent memories
f)       Organizing memories and experiences.

My brother and sisters, sleep is that state in which our brain consolidates memories of what we studied and learned. All the drafts and sections and legal principles will be consolidated while we sleep. Robert Oexman further states that;
            ‘’ Ignoring the need for sleep will only lead to lower grades and productivity. On the flip side, making a commitment to sleep will lead to a lifetime of learning with much less effort and time’’

WHAT HINDERS US FROM SLEEPING?
1.      Fear
The first thing that hinders us is fear. i see Fear as a mixture of the pill of Confusion and Anxiety. When you live in constant fear, it will deprive you of sleep and the truth is that even when you awake you not productive because the book you claim to be reading is looking like Arabic.

You need to stop living in fear, build your confidence by confessing right words and trusting God. Fear is the state of mind that tells you what you can’t do, you must be bold enough to face your fears, and confess that you can. Let me help you with these quotes;
            ‘’I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear’’….NELSON MANDELA
‘’Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less’’…..Marie Curie

So my brother let get rid of Fear before he robs of our Jurisdiction to entertain Sleep. Let me end with this;
            ‘’ You Just have to get rid of fear and confront the world. Look at yourself in the Mirror and say to yourself, I love you and nothing will destroy you and you’re not going to fail…..Ricky Martin
2.      
      Stimulants
Bro Morphine!!!! And Sis Caffine!!! Family of Energy Drinks…….

I understand your predicament, you want to stay awake by all means, these stimulants ends up depriving you of sleep which is the main aim, Halleluyah!!, but you never know that it will negatively impact your ability to remember what you just stayed up late to learn. So why submit yourself to the Jurisdiction of failure paying a stimulant counsel to deprive you of sleep and deprive you of your success.

Ask all the First Class students you know that actually succeeded by taking stimulants, please drop a comment and I will learn from him. Am not a science student but bro!!! the end result of the stimulants is not good. Ask your brother that was looking for Order 22 in the dustbin ……

In conclusion, don’t build your success story on stimulants…….
3.      
    Malnutrition
LOL!!! How many can actually boost that he or she is eating well in this period…ok I can see your hands up….. The truth is that when you not eating well you will be deprived from sleep and even reading will be difficult.

 I wish I have enough money I would have told you to send your account number, but if you reading this post in the YEAR 2018 OR SO SOON THEREAFTER, please kindly send a mail to us I promise you that we would help.

I just dropped this point because it the bitter truth, and Law School is not doing anything to help situation neither is the Council of Legal Education. I pray for a time when the indigent would not just be supported to come to the Law School but provisions will be made for them to feed well. Some folks stay on campus without good meal for days. Drinking Garri is not bad but waiting for the water to swell is terrible……
In conclusion, a good meal per day will go a long way in helping you achieve your dream….
4.  
         Mosquitoes
Finally, I just added this to make you laugh actually. Do you know the reason why most of us do not sleep well is due to the different Genres of music played by Mosquitoes in our ears every night; from Blues to Rock to High Life and sometimes they Rap.
Enough is enough, get yourself a Mosquito Net or Mosquito Repellant or anything to fix it. The end result of Mosquito is Malaria, which will make your body weak and deprive you of a sound sleep and even affect your reading.

TIPS FOR SLEEPING BETTER
1.       Avoid everything that have discussed above; hindrances to sleep. Try as much as possible to overcome your Fears. Stop taking stimulants and get yourself a good meal.

2.       Create a Sleeping Time-Table: This may sound funny, but it the truth; you need to create time intentionally. It is not every time you just sleep. NO!!!. Have a schedule time you want to be sleeping and the hours you intend to sleep

3.       Limit the Use of your Phone: When it time to sleep, you will have to stop using your smartphone, do you know that your phone emits noise and lights that eventually stop you from sleeping. Let me explain;

‘’All LCD screens on phones emits lights that is blue enriched, this light influences the body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) and delays the release of the sleep hormone called Melatonin. Without melatonin, although you can sleep, the sleep you achieve will be light and non-refreshing ‘’[2]

4.      Clear your Head Before Bed: The mistake we make is that you take CAMA and other legislation coupled with drafts to bed. By trying to meditate on these things while on the bed, you won’t be able to sleep well. Get yourself a note write down what you thinking about and if you can’t stand up and stop forcing yourself to sleep.

FINAL THOUGHT
We grateful for reading till the end, I believe that you were really blessed. But please take note that this post is not to encourage sleep instead of hard work, let me quote a part from the Holy Bible( apologies to people of different religion);
            ‘’The sleep of a laboring man is sweet……’’ (Ecclesiastes 5: 1)

So the above therapy is for a man that is diligent and hard-working, to try and get sleep. Remember that one Night of sleep won’t hurt. I will end with the words of one my best Lecturers;

                                    READ HARD
                                    EAT HARD
                                    PRAY HARD  AND
                                    REST HARD (Sleep)

                                                            THE END

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[1] Director of the Sleep to Live Institute
[2] Sleep Tips for Exam Success @ University of Surrey

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