With the spend-happy attitude surrounding the recent holiday season, the arrival of financial strain and buyer’s remorse has arrived for many. As personal collections of plastic cards were processed faster than gifts could be wrapped and financial balances monitored, most students were oblivious to a new form of debt they quickly racked up: sleep debt.
A student’s daily sleep requirement averages between seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Skipping it results in an accumulation of sleep debt, or lost sleep. Sleeping only six hours a night earns us one to three hours of sleep debt. Repeat that for a week and it grows into seven to 21 hours of lost shut-eye that has to be reclaimed.
With North American culture demanding extended work and social schedules, allotting time for snoozing seems self-indulgent when those extra hours could be used for completing more work. Stepping away from the books and paying closer attention to your needs, however, will have your body thanking you through improved concentration, motor skills, and overall mood and motivation.
Even with the benefits associated with obtaining enough sleep, most students, according to the Journal of College Student Development, ignore the need to doze. Often, they are unaware of its influence on academic, social, and emotional problems.
Ignoring the problem will not eliminate it because of the unusual way sleep debt functions. Unlike financial payments, there is no way to save up on sleep to pay something that may be accumulated later. Establishing good habits is the only way to prevent it.
The first step for students who have accumulated a large sleep debt is to reduce it. For many, the weekend is a good time to catch up.
Counsillors Christopher Hurst and Ling Ling Hui host Counselling and Learning Skills Services’ “Sleepless in Toronto” workshops to help sleepdeprived students, suggest obtaining two days of unrestricted sleep on a weekend as an effective way to reducing sleep debt.
Establishing and maintaining regular sleep and wake times, even on weekends, can help to regulate the biological clock. Setting a routine conditions the body to expect sleep and wakefulness. Getting the same amount of sleep every night becomes easier if the body knows that those hours are designated for it.
Some additional tips to obtaining quality sleep include exercising regularly (although avoid it within three hours of sleepytime) and to have limited naps of 15 to 20 minutes early in the day to avoid disrupting nighttime rest. As well, avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and heavy meals before sleeping is a good idea.
Taking proper measures to ensure a good night’s dreams, and erasing sleep debt as soon as warning signs present themselves, is the key to maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Although sleep may not be on most student to-do lists, staying in bed a few more hours may be the solution students are looking for by obtaining a quality sleep to gain a quality performance.
To sleep is human—to sleep in, divine.
