Important things should be emphasized three times, thus: sleep, sleep, sleep eight hours a day! Many people will ask, “why”? They say, "Of course I know that sleep is important, but I have an important exam tomorrow and I hope to get good grades." It is precisely because of this idea that the contemporary college student group is classified as one of the groups with the worst sleep quality. However, the truth of the problem is that, on average, bad sleep quality actually reduces college students’ test scores and normal performance.
The experiment led by Michael K Scullin proved the above point. For well-known reasons, people are used to exaggerating their sleep time during surveys. So Scullin first put on sleep detectors for the volunteers, which screened out two groups of members. The experimental group consisted of people who slept for more than eight hours on average, while the comparison group consisted of people who slept for less than eight hours on average. The daily grades and final grades of each course of each participant in the experiment are converted into Z scores to facilitate statistics. The Z-scores represent the gap between a person’s average performance and the final/pre-final grade, that is, if the Z score is zero, the person’s performance will be as usual; a higher Z score equals higher performance than usual, and a negative score means lower performance in comparison.
As shown in the figure at the top of the article, participants in the trial who had more than eight hours of sleep performed significantly better than those who had less than eight hours of sleep. The subsequent interviews with the experimenters also proved this point. Many of them who stayed asleep for eight hours admitted that their brains were more “awake” than before.
Therefore, according to the conclusion, no matter how stressful and difficult it is to complete school or work, ensuring eight hours of sleep and a reasonable allocation of time is more efficient and healthy than staying up late and working overtime to catch up. In order to improve people’s sleep quality, Scullin also prepared ten tips when selecting eight-hour sleepers, which are listed below.
1. Only use the bed for sleep rather than for studying or entertainment (to associate the bed with sleeping rather than with alertness).
2. Go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday, even on weekends (variability in sleep timing alters circadian rhythms; Phillips et al., 2017)
3. Avoid electronics near bedtime (blue light suppresses melatonin production and REM sleep).
4. Avoid caffeine and other stimulants at least 6 hr before bedtime (caffeine use delays sleep and can decrease slow wave sleep).
5. Maximize fiber and minimize saturated fats at dinner (high fat/low fiber dinners may decrease slow wave sleep).
6. If you cannot fall asleep in 10-20 min, then get up and leave the room. Only try again when you feel sleepy (avoids associating the bed with not being able to sleep).
7. Avoid long daytime naps (long naps can make falling asleep at night more difficult).
8. Engage in aerobic exercise in the morning or afternoon (moderate intensity aerobic exercise improves sleep quality).
9. If you are ruminating at bedtime, then write out your to-do list or worries (writing decreases sleep onset latency).
10. Prioritize sleep and manage time better during the day, for example, by staying on campus after class to complete homework (if incentivized, students can sleep 8 hr, even before final exams).
More sleep is indeed a more efficient and healthier choice according to current research, and everyone should try to make it their own lifestyle choice. During finals week, the points made by Scullin seem to be more important because time is limited. Therefore, higher learning efficiency and appropriate learning time are naturally the top priorities. More calmness is also needed at this time, and more sleep can help you achieve all of this.
I sincerely wish all readers can arrange their time reasonably, achieve their own satisfactory results during the final days of the semester, and have a happy Christmas holiday. Sleep quality is closely related to a reasonable schedule, and making a change during the holidays can help you develop a good habit that will benefit you throughout your life.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.