When building your schedule, it’s easy to focus on school, study time, after school jobs, and extracurriculars, but something that’s not often prioritized is sleep! Between staying up late studying and waking up early for school or extracurricular activities, high school students are often not sleeping enough. But why is it so important in the first place? Couldn’t we get so much more done in the time that we spend sleeping?
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Health
Sleep is, as you might guess, really important for your health. Sleep helps you get better when you are sick, but it can also prevent you from getting sick in the first place! Missing school is a sure way to fall behind, so avoiding getting sick in the first place is a great way to stay on top of your work. Getting enough sleep can even lower your risk of developing diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, later in life. Importantly, it can also reduce your risk of getting into car accidents.
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Memory
Many students stay up late the night before a test cramming, but students should avoid this! Not only is studying more effective when done consistently in the days and weeks leading up to an exam, but not sleeping, or not sleeping enough, after you study can hurt your ability to remember what you spent so much time studying. During sleep, your brain decides what memories get transferred to your long term memory. Losing sleep worsens your short and long term memory. You might remember what you studied for the test tomorrow, but what about the final?
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Cognition
When you’re tired, you can’t think as clearly. Sleep deprivation can lead to reduced attention spans, slower thinking (not great for timed tests), reduced ability to think flexibly and respond to new situations (like a difficult test question that wasn’t on the study guide), and impaired judgement (making you susceptible to trick questions). Sleep deprivation can also affect your emotions, making it difficult to regulate your emotions and make smart decisions. No one wants to take a test while upset.
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Sleep Debt
Many students make up for their lack of sleep by sleeping extra over the weekend, but that’s not enough to make up for 5 days of not enough sleep. Teens need between 8 and 10 hours of sleep per night. Missing even a couple hours can build up over time, resulting in sleep debt, which can cause symptoms of sleep deprivation.
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How to Get More Sleep
How can students make time in their busy schedules for more sleep? Using a calendar to plan out your days is a great start. Identify what time you have to wake up in the morning and aim to go to bed 8 to 10 hours before then. Study a little bit each day instead of all the night before the test. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday, even on the weekends. Avoid screens, like phones and computers, at least 30 minutes before bed time. Finally, avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening.
Need help studying more efficiently or managing your schedule? Our academic tutors are experts in study skills and can help students create a schedule that prioritizes studying in a way that doesn’t drain their batteries or impact their health. Talk to a Director today about study skills tutoring.
