It seems that the older we get, the more accepting we become of sleeping less. More studies, more responsibilities, some things have to be sacrificed right ? Tiredness has to be just a byproduct of growing up.
Let’s rewind the clock a bit and try to remember what it was like when we were kids. Kids by the age of 6 tend to be between two extremes, they’re either night owls, which means we have to be up as well. In other cases they’re quite earlier risers, probably waking up everyone in the house, disrupting our precious sleep.
This is because at this age their body’s internal biological clock has regulated the timing of their wake-sleep cycle, known as their Circadian Sleep Phase.
You can learn more about sleep at its relations to development stages by clicking the image below:
What Influences our Circadian Sleep Phases ?
Some of the influences of this internal clock include the types of food we eat (hide snacks at night time), our levels of physical activity, our levels of stress, social environments and the biggest natural influences, light and darkness. I should add that unnatural sources of light on our devices can also disrupt your sleep cycle.
If you’d like to learn more about your internal biological clock, click on the image below:
Depending on where you are in life, our sleep is negatively impacted in different ways. As a student, I think the biggest ones are stress, a lack of physical activity, a poor diet and an addiction to scrolling. As a teenager, the time required to sleep is 9 to 10 hours a night. Adults can afford to sleep a bit less, aiming for 7 to 7 and a half hours a night.
As students I think we like to convince ourselves that we can “make up” for sleep. I mean around exam time “All-nighters” and sleeping less than 7 hours a night becomes a norm. I mean we can just make up for it right?
Well research has found that people whose sleep cycles are constantly interrupted are not aware just how much of a deficit they are in. I found that term really interesting, a “sleep deficit”. When we use the word deficit, it’s something that we have to make up for. It’s how businesses go bankrupt if they allow their deficit to keep growing overtime. It’s the same for us, we only realize how much sleep we have not caught up on until we start to feel its effects on our body and mind.
To dive deeper into fascinating research of how sleep affects our body and our mind, click on the image below:
Why is Sleep Important for Students ?
1) Consolidation of Memory
Consolidation means our memories are made stronger and we are able to remember long-term. Sleep is important for students when it comes to writing exams. Sometimes we want to pull all-nighters and then wonder why our minds tend to go blank or feel confuzzled. It’s like the answer is at our fingertips but for some reason we can’t reach it in our minds.
2) Emotional Regulation
This is a big one for me. I was quite moody around exam times when I lacked sleep. It made me extremely irritable, with my family having to deal with my emotional immaturity. Sleep is important for students to be able to regulate anger, annoyance, restlessness and anxiety, helping them to navigate an already stressful period.
To examine one such study, you can click the image below:
3) Sustain Attention and Think Clearly
Scientists have shown that after 16 hours of continuous wakefulness, one’s cognitive performance begins to decline. They also found that accumulated deficits of sleep overtime results in a steady decline of one’s alertness.
This is important as students, particularly for being attentive in class. When you’re half asleep or zoned out, that’s time you have to make up for. Especially for subjects where the next topic builds on the previous. I remember failing statistics at university because I was too tired and stressed out to go to class. When you miss one, you fall behind so quickly.
Given these studies, I hope they have convinced you of the importance of sleep. It’s not something you can just make up for by sleeping in on the weekends. It requires intentionality for us to take care of our bodies and minds everyday.
BSc Psychology & Management, University of the West Indies
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