Throughout high school years, it may be hard for some students to manage their time between school, work, spending time with family and friends and participating in extracurriculars.

Twins Makayla and Makenna Murphy are going through a similar situation, as they are staying up late just trying to get their work done. They both take AP, honors or academic classes with their electives, which causes loss of sleep, and not being able to communicate with others.

“The hours at which I go to sleep differ depending on the load of homework I am assigned. Typically, I am awake doing homework until anywhere between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. I have recently been getting to sleep around 2 a.m.,” Makenna said. 

The twins both participate in four different activities throughout the year. 

“We participate in multiple extracurriculars. These activities include baton twirling lessons with our private instructor, majorettes with the school, competitive swimming and girl scouts,” Makenna said. 

Over the summer, they were lifeguards at Delgrosso’s Park and Laguna Splash. Now that the season is over, they both are ready to start their new jobs. Makayla is getting ready to start working at Dairy Queen, while Makenna is ready to start working at Taco Bell.

The twins are worried about balancing work with their homework and extracurriculars.

“It is very hard to balance everything. Once I start working at Dairy Queen, I’ll have even less time to spend with my family, and I’ll have to stay up even later to finish homework,” Makayla said. 

Studies show that teens are supposed to get from eight to 10 hours of sleep. If students get up at around 6 a.m., they should be going to sleep at around 9 p.m., or 10 p.m. With the twins, that may not always be the case. 

“I’m usually up anywhere from 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.,  but on average, I go to sleep at around 1:30 a.m.,” Makayla said. 

Each of the twins has advice for students going through the same situation.

“Mental health comes first. Also, don’t procrastinate. I definitely don’t practice what I preach, but I highly recommend it,” Makayla said.

“I would advise students who are going through the same thing to be certain that the activities and classes that they are in are the things that make them feel happy and accomplished. Some sacrifices must be made at times in order to succeed in life; however, these sacrifices should not have a negative impact on their mental health. If students are suffering mentally as a result of their academic schedule among other priorities, it would probably be in their best interest to reconsider what is most important to them,” Makenna said.