Sleep Myths Busted: As a student, you are perennially balancing deadlines, exams, social commitments and the unwavering temptation of late-night binge-watching. In the midst of this chaos, sleep tends to take a backseat.
Even worse, there’s a lot of misinformation out there surrounding sleep and its value, which can make even just simply utilizing a bed more difficult to prioritize in your health journey.
In this blog, we’re tackling the biggest sleep myths and sharing the facts you need to reclaim your rest, and your success.
Numerous students think that it’s OK to lose sleep on the weekdays as long as they make up for it over the weekend.
Sleeping in an extra few hours Saturday or Sunday, after all, has got to balance things out. Sadly, the myth couldn’t be more wrong.
Sleep is not a bank account from which you can deposit and withdraw hours as your whims desire.
Missing out on sleep, especially during the week when it’s most critical, has immediate effects on your body and brain.
Sleep debt doesn’t get repaid, and although a weekend of extra sleep can make you feel less groggy, it doesn’t undo the long-term effects of sleep deprivation.
A chronic deficit in sleep can disrupt memory, compromise your immune system and lessen your ability to concentrate all critical for academic success.
Rather than attempting to “catch up” later on, try to stick to a regular sleep schedule and have the same amount of sleeping hours all week. Your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, loves a good routine, and throwing it out of whack may do more harm than good.
Ah, the fabled all-nighter the rite of passage for so many students. Be it studying for an exam or completing a project, pulling an all-nighter is a necessity that is often looked upon as a necessary evil in order to get ahead. But does it really work? Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.
Staying up late to cram or finish work is counterproductive, according to research. Sleep is critical for solidifying memories and processing information, so when you book yourself out of sleep, you’re basically shooting yourself in the foot for retaining what you’ve learned.
Moreover, insufficient sleep can negatively affect your decision-making abilities, creativity, and focus which are crucial in exams or any stressful academic task.
A better strategy? Make time to actually study during the day, and sleep well at night.
If you’re short on time, skimming the material before bed can serve as a useful rehearsal, since the brain works to process and organize information while we sleep.
Sleep Myths Busted: You’ve heard of those mythic people who insist they’re fine on only four or five hours of sleep. It is true, though, that genetic anomalies like the “short sleeper” gene exist, but they are incredibly unusual.
For almost everyone, especially for students staying up late is a surefire formula for disaster.
Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, and teens and young adults often need even more to grow their brains and bodies.
Habitually getting less sleep than recommended can lead to a plethora of issues, including fatigue, mood swings, and difficulty concentrating.
Don’t fall for the myth of “I’ll sleep when I’m dead. Your body and brain require rest to operate at their best, and losing out on sleep to be productive is a false economy.
Like many years in the past, napping has often had a bad rap as being simply lazy or unproductive. But here’s the thing: when done right, napping can be a powerful tool toward enhancing your focus, energy and cognitive performance.
The trick is to limit naps to less than an hour, more typically 20-30 minutes to avoid entering the deep-cycle phases of sleep that can leave you groggy.
These mini-naps will refresh your brain and provide a boost to keep you going, during long periods of studying. Just be careful of napping too late in the day because that can disrupt your night sleep.
Naps are not such a wasted time; rather they can act as a strategic way to deliver the recharge for productivity. So next time you’re feeling drained, don’t be afraid to squeeze in a quick nap.
To some students, alcohol may appear to be a convenient sleep aid. After all, it can leave you relaxed and sleepy, no? So true, alcohol helps you sleep faster but it really disrupts the quality of your sleep.
Alcohol disrupts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the sleep cycle’s most restorative phase.
Without ample REM sleep, you probably will wake up feeling weary and cranky, even if you spent the full eight hours in bed.” Alcohol can also cause disturbed sleeping and make you wake up multiple times in the night.
Rather than drinking alcohol, think about natural remedies that can help you sleep better laying down at the same time each evening, not consuming caffeine too late and getting a calm sleeping enclave.
Ending the day with scrolling through social media or watching videos is hard to resist. But, unlike popular perception, scrolling late at night has a huge effect on your sleep quality.
The blue light that screens emit discourages the secretion of melatonin, the hormone that governs sleep.
This makes it more difficult for your body to unwind and can push back when you fall asleep.
And the mental stimulation involved with opening your phone emails to respond to, TikToks to watch, news to read can keep your brain awake while your brain should be resting.
To help you sleep better, aim for a tech-free zone at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Scale back on screen time in favor of calming activities — like reading a book, meditating or playing gentle music.
Sleep Myths Busted: When you’re flipping and flopping, it may seem instinctive to remain in bed and wait for sleep to arrive. But this approach can make insomnia worse. Staying up in bed for long periods of time can start to associate your bed with sleeplessness.
Experts recommend getting up if you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes. Do a quiet, relaxing activity such as reading or journaling until you feel sleepy, and then go back to bed. This further drives home the idea that your bed is meant for rest and not stress.
While vigorous exercise too close to bedtime can sometimes make it harder to drift off, moderate late-night workouts are usually fine for most people.
In fact, some of the best measures you can take to improve the quality of sleep are regular exercise at any time of day.
The trick is listening to your body and discovering the routine that works for you. “If you are used to doing vigorous workouts and find that they leave you, like, too hyper, shift to lighter activities like yoga or stretching in the evening,” she adds.
Sleep Myths Busted: This especially seems to be the case living life as a student, when sleep often falls to the bottom of the priority list.
In this article, we expose these popular sleep myths in order to give you the tools to make informed decisions about your sleep process.
Sleep is not a luxury but a necessity without it, your physical health, mental clarity, and academic performance will all suffer.
Next time someone tells you that pulling an all-nighter is a badge of honor or that they work better on little sleep, you can do one better.
Rest means recovery and its importance cannot be stressed enough. Intelligent sleep will lead to success.
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