Getting the proper amount of sleep can be very difficult in college. During the week even when you get you work done at a reasonable hour it still seems impossible to get to bed anytime before midnight. You take a walk to brush your teeth and see one of your friends, or you get distracted on facebook...staying up late is inevitable. On the weekends it isn't any better either. Between going on and then trying to wake up early to have a productive day, it seems to be impossible to get more than about 7 hours of sleep.
Such bad sleeping patterns are really bad though, especially at this time of the year when the flu is going around and just about everyone has a cold. It is extremely important to get enough sleep in order to maintain a healthy immune system so you don't catch some kind of illness that ends up lingering because college work never lets up. I made the mistake of getting run down towards the end of last week, and I ended up catching a cold that has lasted about a week now.
Having a cold or any illness while trying to keep up with all the work can be very difficult. I think it is very important though as long as you are capable to try to keep up with all the work because you will just end up getting stressed out if you get too far behind. Stress is another thing that makes your immune system weak, so that would just cause your cold to last even longer. The best thing to do with a cold is make sure any time you have between classes, even if its just a half, that you are getting a little bit of work done. The work adds up and you will get done more than you thought you would. It is also important to start your homework right away when your classes are done so that you don't get stuck staying up late trying to finish. You have to get to bed at a decent hour while you are trying to get better so that you can get the sickness.
Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on your work though if your head is kind of in a fog due to being sick. In this case it is best to get work done in about half hour increments or whatever you feel well enough to do. If you get too tired to concentrate then take a break and watch a half hour of tv or take a twenty minute nap. Believe it or not twenty minute naps do a lot more than you would expect. After a little break you will come back refreshed and be able to get a lot more work done than if you just tried to push through. Of course it is better to not get sick at all, but if you are unfortunate like I was, just take it easy as much as possible, eat healthy, and get plenty of sleep. I have not been getting enough sleep this week which is why my cold is lingering I'm sure, but sleep is important and it helps a lot.
