We've all had the importance of sleep drilled into our minds from a young age. The adults in our lives are constantly telling us to get 8-10 hours per night, but most of us have the same response: Who in the world has time for that?

Most teenagers are used to the regular lack of sleep and all-nighters, especially during the school year when work and extracurriculars pick up. Unfortunately, many of us completely disregard the negative effects, sucking it up and living off of coffee and energy drinks. While everyone knows that it's not “good” to be running on 3 hours of sleep and a Monster, most of us don't understand the true effect of sleep deprivation on our young and developing minds.

Biological Impacts of Sleep Deprivation

While our brains are always active, sleep is used as a time for our neurons to recover. Neurons are cells that make up the nervous system and control all of our functions, sending messages to the different parts of the body to let you know what to do and when to do it. When your neurons don't have time to recharge, they can get overworked and become incapable of performing tasks to their full capacity.

Your pleiotrophin decreases, causing your brain cells to die. This can cause damage to your hippocampus, the area of your brain that's responsible for learning and memory. Pleiotrophin is the same protein that's involved in a lot of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

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Social Aspects of Sleep Deprivation

Have you ever experienced those moments in time when you think you're paying attention, but all of a sudden you realize you can't remember or haven't retained a single thing that happened in the last couple of seconds? While everyone experiences these moments sometimes, sleep deprivation could contribute to this happening more often and seriously interfering with your life.

Microsleep is what we call it when you fall asleep for brief periods of time when you're normally awake. This is unable to be controlled and happens often without realizing it. This could be the cause of those moments when you're listening to a lecture and realize that you don't remember part of it or don't understand the point. It could be the reason why you have to keep asking for someone to repeat themselves (which honestly gets annoying pretty quick on both sides), usually ending with an awkward laugh or nod… even though you still don't know what they said.

Microsleep can be extremely damaging both in terms of education and in social relationships. Experiencing microsleep in class can lead to missing important information or instructions, which can then hurt your grades in the long term. In terms of social relationships, no one wants to hang out with someone who never seems like they're listening, even if it's not on purpose.

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Plenty of people experience grumpiness in the mornings or when woken up from a nap, but it can be an incredible interference in your life to experience this irritability all the time. Sleep deprivation can play a big role in a lack of control over your emotions. A lack of sleep damages your amygdala and prefrontal cortex, both of which play a huge role in regulating your emotions. When you're sleep-deprived, both of these areas become overactive, causing more impulsivity and reactiveness, especially with negative emotions such as anger.

Not sleeping well also affects the quality of sleep that you get when you are asleep, including your REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is the state of sleep when your brain can process emotions due to activity in the amygdala. This all lends a hand to the frustration and irritability that people face when they're sleep-deprived, and most people don't find it very amusing to be around an angry teenager.

So How Can We Fix This?

While you may feel like you're too far gone for your messed up sleep schedule to be fixed, that's not at all true. There are simple, easy ways to improve your sleep schedule that can be carried out without a huge life change.

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1. Minimize Electronic Usage Before Bed

What many people don't know is that the blue light that your electronics emit leads to the suppression of your production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for sleep. The blue light tells your body that it's not time to sleep yet, which, even when you do eventually manage to get to sleep, can cause your sleep to be disturbed.

To minimize this, try setting a screen time for yourself. Try putting your phone away at a certain time, at least an hour before falling asleep. Make sure to keep electronics out of the bedroom to avoid checking them in the middle of the night, possibly further disrupting your sleep.

If, like many others, your phone is your morning alarm, try opting for an alarm clock instead. If alarm clocks don't work for you, make sure to take advantage of your do-not-disturb setting overnight, as well as using night mode and blue light filters for when you're using your device close to bedtime.

Use your time away from your phone to relax and take some time for yourself. Try reading a good book or taking a warm bath to allow yourself to wind down for the night. Taking these small and easy steps can make it a little easier for you to fall asleep.

2. Avoid Caffeine in the Evening

Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it causes your brain and body to be more active while it is processing and metabolizing. This means that it plays a huge role in making it more difficult for you to fall asleep and stay asleep. Your body runs on an internal clock, and drinking caffeine close to bedtime can cause a delay on this clock.

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Instead of caffeine, opt for a glass of warm milk or some herbal tea to help you relax before bed. Make sure to avoid caffeine at least four hours before bed (recommended by the Sleep Health Foundation) to have a better and more restful night of sleep.

3. Have a Regular Bedtime and Sleep Schedule

While it's easier said than done, setting a regular bedtime is the best thing you can do to avoid sleep deprivation and improve your daily life. The transition may take a while, but over time, it will really pay off for your overall well-being.

While everyone stresses the importance of sleep, it's also important to remember that too much sleep can also be damaging. An excess of sleep can also contribute to cognitive decline, so it's important to get the right amount of sleep, whatever that means for you.

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If sleep deprivation is something you struggle with, remember that you don't have to make a huge life change in one go. Start small, sleeping maybe a half hour before you used to, and work backward. Take it one small step at a time until eventually, you're able to get the full 8-10 hours that your body needs. Your mind and body will definitely feel the difference!