The saying goes that as a university student, there are three main factors that govern your life: grades, friends, and sleep. More importantly, it’s said that out of this essential triumvirate, you can only choose two aspects to possess. As the world and society both become more advanced and populated, there are fewer positions in the work force than there are students coming out of post-secondary education in need of employment. As such, the pressure to excel has pervaded into the common mindset of the university student population, leading to more and more students choosing to sacrifice sleep in favour of achieving that perfect 4.0 GPA and establishing that mile-wide social network. But what if you can actually balance all three? In fact, what if I told you right now that as long as you have enough of one of these three aspects, the other two will come naturally?
So what is this “ultimate” factor that allows you to attain the healthy, balanced, and fruitful life of not only good grades, but also a great network and ample rest simultaneously? With hands permanently glued to over-used coffee mugs and sporting the classic exam season trend of “panda eyes”, the average student is oblivious to what should be made an obvious truth – sleep is the quintessential key to all-round success. Out of the members of the triumvirate that governs an individual’s university life, sleep is the truly irreplaceable member, as it allows for the most optimal conditions to nurture both the academic and social portions of life. But how?
First of all, it is important to understand a bit about what sleep is and what it entails. Just like food and water, sleep is one of the most basic necessities humans require to survive. We are supposedly supposed to spend around 1/3 of ours in slumber, but with the way modern society is progressing, it appears that the number of people actually attaining this standard is steadily declining. Although researchers are continuing to look into the subject, we have yet to understand why we require the action of sleep itself and the length of time needed for sleep that we do.
No doubt there have been many proposed hypotheses: 1) the inactivity theory (also known as the adaptive or evolutionary theory), in which it was thought that it was a defense mechanism to stay quiet in the dark so as to avoid predation; 2) the energy conservation theory, in which the activity of sleep is employed as a measure to decrease an individual’s energy requirements in order to survive in areas where resources are scarce; 3) restorative theories, which involve the notion that sleep has the capability to restore and rejuvenate the body; and 4) the brain plasticity theory, which suggests that sleep has a crucial role in brain development. Recent studies however, provide compelling evidence for both the restorative and brain plasticity theories, with observations of muscle growth, growth hormone release, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and strengthening of immune function during sleep, as well as faltering cognitive function without it.
There are five different stages of sleep, with the first four stages named numerically and the final stage deemed to be REM – abbreviation for rapid eye movement – sleep. Stage 1 is essentially our entry into sleep, when we drift in and out of consciousness – our muscles and eye movements slow down, and there is an elicited feeling of falling. In stage 2, our eye movements completely halt, and our brain waves slow down, with random occurrences of sleep spindles, which are rapid brain wave emissions. Stage 3 is characterized by the emergence of delta waves, whose slow undulations are juxtaposed by periodic emissions of faster waves. Stage 4 is composed nearly entirely of these delta waves. Stage 3 and 4 are most often known as the deep sleep phase – there is no eye or muscle movement and often it is extremely difficult to wake individuals during this time. REM sleep is where we actually dream, and simultaneously, our breathing and eye movements increase in speed while our muscles become temporarily paralyzed. This stage appears in cycles, four to five times a night, and we enter the first cycle of REM sleep at around 90 minutes after falling asleep. Usually, the process goes from stage one to stage four, then back to stage three, then stage two, before proceeding to the REM cycle.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the 7 – 9 hours of sleep are recommended for individuals aged 18 – 25, with 6 hours and 10 hours being suitable in some cases. But how much sleep do you need? No doubt, every individual is unique in their sleep requirements to complete their daily functions, so the window of time is only arbitrary. Take some time to self-check your productivity, health, and happiness with the current amount of sleep you’re getting. Are you feeling focused and energetic, or do you feel lethargic and unmotivated? If it is the latter, perhaps more sleep is needed for you to function optimally. Other factors may include sleep problems, obesity, risk of disease, dependence on caffeine, and more.
So what role does sleep play in your academics? Admittedly, it’s true that sleeping on your books and hoping that osmosis will occur will most likely not happen, sleep does have huge benefits in terms of information retention and synthesis, not to mention your work habits and productivity as well. According to a Harvard study, sleep does not only help you maximize your focus to learn efficiently, it also plays a huge role in memory formation, which is composed of three separate steps: acquisition, the gain of new information; consolidation, during which memories are stabilized; and the recall stage, which is when you have the information at your beck-and-call whenever you need it, as it is stored securely in the depths of your brain. The process of memory consolidation only occurs during sleep, and as such, the lack of sleep leads to poor memory retention, which then translates into ineffective studying. Recent studies also show that sleep also helps boosts your immune system so that the risk of missing a week-worth of school work is significantly decreased, thus allowing you to be at optimal health so as to conduct optimal learning. Ample sleep also reduces the incidence of episodic headaches, which may greatly hinder the effectiveness of study sessions.
Conversely, researchers have also thoroughly examined the negative impact sleep deprivation has on academic performance. One study by Stickgold and colleagues demonstrated that when test subjects were deprived of sleep in the 30 hours after training in a visual performance task, they performed poorly on a re-test of the material in comparison to those who did obtain sleep during that time, even if they did have recovery sleep at a later date. Another group of researchers determined after a comprehensive literature review that the lack of sleep has a significant effect on tasks demanding attention; there is a palpable decrease in performance on attention-based tasks with the introduction of sleep deprivation. These are only a few of a myriad of negative consequences associated with sleep loss. In short, to optimize information retention, productivity, attention span, and general academic performance in order to snag that 4.0, it is vital that you get a good night’s sleep.
Okay, so sleep can help you excel in academics. But what effect will it have on your social life? First of all, having a fruitful repose the night before will reduce the likelihood of a bad mood the next day. Not only is sleep responsible for memory regulation, it is also involved in emotional regulation – you’ve probably noticed how your mood turns sour when you get exhausted, and sometimes, you would swing between wanting to bawl your eyes out or laugh uncontrollably. In fact, according to a study published by Zohar et al. in 2005, sleep loss will serve to amplify any negative emotions experienced during the day, even if it may be just a small interruption, while minimizing the effect of positive emotions elicited from goal attainment. This magnified sleep-deprived emotional instability may then translate into unintended bursts of anger at your colleagues or even your boss, which isn’t really all that conducive to building your network. With sufficient rest and emotions under control, you’re more likely to come across as the genuinely kind and caring person that you actually are.
When you’re interacting with other people at a social function, in a club that you run, or a fundraising event you’re hosting, communication is undeniably essential. Slurred speech, repetitive diction, and a monotonous tone isn’t the best way to appear as an interesting individual to the other person you’re having a conversation with – worst case scenario, they might think that you’re boring and that you’re uninterested in what they have to say! In 1997, Harrison and colleagues confirmed that inadequate sleep contributes to a great decrease in the ability to form words, use a variety of language, and employ intonation in speech. Without lively, intelligent speech, one’s ability to persuade and influence exponentially decreases, making it quite difficult to establish rapport with others.So if you want to really showcase how interesting you are and convince others of your amazing character, think of investing some of your time into a good night’s rest!
It’s one thing to know that sleep is good for you. It’s another to practice good sleeping habits. But don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Listed below are a few tips for you to try out to get that beauty sleep you need and deserve!
- Create a sleep schedule – seriously, write it down on paper and make it super fancy and hang it up on your wall – and stick to it. When it comes to your planned rest time, drop everything and just go to bed. Once you do this for 30 days (the general time it takes to develop a new habit), you will have got the sleeping on time thing in the bag!
- Exercise! By that, it means exercise daily. Regular exercise will ensure that your body is regulated and that you will feel tired at an earlier time, thus prompting you to sleep at an earlier time. Furthermore, regular exercise also helps build up your health so that when you have no choice to pull an all-nighter once in a while, you won’t crash and burn the next day.
- Make sure your mattress, bed, and pillows are the right fit for you. If you find your mattress or pillow are too hard or soft, or your bed too small, then don’t hesitate to buy something to suit you. It can be especially hard with university and college dorms, but mattress pads and different selections of pillows at stores such as IKEA are indeed available in the twin size that most dorm beds come in.
- This may be one of the hardest ones to do – give up coffee. Alcohol as well. Or at the very least, try to wean off of them. These beverages will destroy your sleep schedule, making you think that you have got enough sleep even though you’re clearly sleep-deprived; they are in no way substitutes for sleep itself! By no means does this mean that you have to give up drinking coffee or alcohol completely; just don’t make their consumption a regular habit.
- Turn off your computer, phone, laptop, IPad – everything with a bright screen – before bed. The blue-light emitted tends to disrupt human sleep cycle, thus eliciting the false feeling of alertness at night. If you really need to check that last email before bed, try installing a blue-light filter app on your devices so as to minimize this effect. The best solution really is to read a book before bed…maybe a book from your class required readings! Then, you can be ahead in your courses and get enough sleep – two birds with one stone!
These are only a few tips to help you get started on a healthy sleep schedule, but it’s best to experiment and try to find the best strategies for you to get the optimal of sleep you need. As long as you attain an ample amount of sleep, then maintaining good grades and good friendships is a piece of cake! Good luck, and sweet dreams!
References
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Goel, Namni, Hengyi Rao, Jeffrey Durmer, and David Dinges. “Neurocognitive Consequences of Sleep Deprivation.” Seminars in Neurology Semin Neurol 29, no. 04 (2009): 320-39. Accessed September 18, 2016. doi:10.1055/s-0029-1237117.
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“How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?” National Sleep Foundation. Accessed September 17, 2016. https://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need.
Harrison, Y., and JA Horne. “Sleep Deprivation Affects Speech.” Sleep, October 1997. Accessed September 18, 2016. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9415947.
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Nordqvist, Joseph. “Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia Neurology / Neuroscience What Is Rapid Eye Movement Sleep? What Is REM?” Medical News Today. November 9, 2015. Accessed September 17, 2016. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247927.php.
“Sleep, Learning, and Memory.” Healthy Sleep. December 18, 2007. Accessed September 18, 2016. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory.
Stickgold, Robert, Dana Whidbee, Beth Schirmer, Vipul Patel, and J. Allan Hobson. “Visual Discrimination Task Improvement: A Multi-Step Process Occurring During Sleep.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 12, no. 2 (2000): 246-54. Accessed September 18, 2016. doi:10.1162/089892900562075.
Walcutt, Diane. “Stages of Sleep | Psych Central.” Psych Central. May 17, 2016. Accessed September 17, 2016. http://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-sleep/.
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“Why Do We Sleep, Anyway?” Healthy Sleep. December 18, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2016. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/why-do-we-sleep.
Zohar, D., O. Tzischinsky, R. Epstein, and P. Lavie. “The Effects of Sleep Loss on Medical Residents’ Emotional Reactions to Work Events: A Cognitive-energy Model.” Sleep, April 1, 2005. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15700720.
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