When it comes to being a college student, one thing we all tend to take for granted is the importance of sleep. The average college student gives the least amount of priority to sleep in their day-to-day lives. From pulling all-nighters before a big exam, to staying up and watching a TV show until the early hours of the morning, we’re all guilty of putting sleep on the back burner at some point or another.
College students across the country stay up all night studying, but as a study at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY quite obviously stated, all-nighters are an ineffective study habit. Instead, when you have a test coming up, try to get at least eight hours of sleep the night before. Try to eat breakfast before you leave in the morning, and study over the course of five or six days so that you’re not cramming a whole bunch of work into one night. Most importantly, you’re giving your mind rest by not making it work doubly hard the night before a big test, and also allowing it to recharge for the day to follow.
Next, we look at the social aspect of staying up late. We all believe that staying up late is fun, and to a certain extent it is. Once in a while, if you spend the entire night hanging out with your friends, it’s fine. Making a ritual of it, however, is not. Studies show that inconsistent changes in sleeping patterns often throw off the body’s natural sleep cycle. This can lead to sleep deprivation.
There are a number of signs that indicate if you are sleep deprived or not. First, if you need an alarm clock to wake up on time, and then rely on the snooze button, you need to change your sleep patterns. Your body will wake itself up when it is completely rested, so if you don’t rest it enough it will not wake up independently. Further, you will feel sluggish during the day, and have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. If you are put in a comfortable or quiet setting, like a warm room or a meeting, you will feel sleepy, and will get drowsy after heavy meals and while driving. If you experience any of this, reconsider your sleep pattern. The average person above the age of 18 requires 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep a night. Make sure you fall in that range.
The effects of sleep deprivation and chronic lack of sleep are quite severe. Aside from personality problems, like moodiness, irritability, and reduced creativity, other related health problems are also very likely to occur, like concentration and memory problems, difficulty in decision-making, and health problems, like unhealthy weight gain, reduced immunity, impaired motor skills, and an increased risk of diabetes, heart, disease.
Long story short, sleep is very important. As college students, we already have a lot of priorities so it is easy to put sleep on the side. Don’t make that mistake because you will regret it later. Do your best to put in at least either hours a night, and you will see improved performance in class, improved memory, and increased immunity. Besides, who couldn’t use a couple extra hours of rest nowadays?
