Last summer, I attended a cousin’s wedding in the British countryside — a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I danced until my hair fell out of its perfect ponytail and my heels were nowhere in sight. My cousins and siblings then begged me to get on the bus with them to head to the after-party. Like Cinderella, I needed to make a quick getaway. “I can’t,” I said. “I need to go to bed.”
No, I didn’t blame jet lag or fatigue from touristy activities. I simply knew I needed nine hours of shut-eye, ideally between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
In fact, most college students need eight hours of sleep each night. In a study from the National Institutes of Health examining daytime fatigue, irregular sleep schedules and sleep deprivation found that 50% of college students reported daytime drowsiness, while 70% said they were not getting enough sleep.
Many students stay up late to study for exams, but what they don’t know is the harm this can cause. “The reason why sometimes cramming can feel effective is because you have a short period of time and a specific goal to accomplish,” said Annette Popernik, an Illinois-licensed clinical social worker who often works with college students.
The problem: The high school students who stay up late studying generally get fewer hours of sleep, according to a UCLA Health study. That predicts greater academic problems the next day, such as not understanding content taught in class and performing poorly on a test or quiz.
“These results are consistent with emerging research suggesting that sleep deprivation impedes learning,” said Andrew J. Fuligni, UCLA professor of psychiatry.
Poor sleep causes problems beyond the classroom, too. These effects show up in the body and the mind.
“It could influence what you want to eat the next day,” said Donghan Su, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “Long term, it will influence your metabolic health.”
A study from the National Sleep Foundation reported other adverse health outcomes from so-called circadian misalignment, when the body’s internal clock falls out of sync with the external environment, including obesity and various immune dysfunctions, like frequent infections.
It is no secret that sleep helps the brain. “It is ideal to study and incrementally commit it to memory,” said Edward F. Pace-Schott, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard University. “Your sleep then is really helping you to consolidate and integrate what you’re learning with what you’ve previously learned so that you are not just accumulating facts.”
Without proper sleep, cramming will only limit a student’s ability to maximize their sleep needs each night.
“We recommend that adults get at least seven hours of sleep per night, but some people may need more than that,” said Anita Shelgikar, program director for the University of Michigan’s sleep medicine fellowship. “In terms of ensuring that you have sufficient opportunity to sleep, things that we recommend are to keep a consistent bedtime and wake-up time.”
College students, in particular, should try to build routines centered on consistent sleep schedules each day to form good habits. For example, taking a warm shower may signal it’s almost time for bed, which helps students fall asleep more easily and feel refreshed for class the next day.
“Those behaviors become kind of reinforced over time,” said Shelgikar.
“Fixing a bedtime schedule requires patience,” Popernik said. She recommends starting with setting aside time to avoid staring at a screen.
“We have to set realistic goals because the reality is a lot of people struggle with their sleep,” she said.
Some students already find getting more sleep to be effective in their day-to-day lifestyle. Weinberg first-year Bentley Thomas said nine hours of rest boosts her ability to stay awake during lengthy classes.
“As a freshman, sleep has helped me adjust by keeping a consistent routine and keeping my energy level stable throughout the day,” said Thomas.
Sleep is “restorative,” Popernik said. “Think about charging your phone. What happens when you don’t charge your phone before you go to bed?”
In college, it can seem “normal” to get just a few hours of rest. It’s not.
“Sleep cannot be sacrificed, and sleep is a necessary part of the college student existence, as is studying and socializing,” said Shelgikar. Even when parties seem to dominate weekends, and term papers and exams dominate weekdays, undergraduates can continue to make healthy choices, like taking a walk with friends rather than staying out too late.
When I stepped off the dance floor at my cousin’s wedding and slept soundly in my quiet hotel room, I was not missing out. The next morning, I headed out at 7:30 a.m. for a 13-mile run through meadows and gravel trails. Going to bed early paid off.
