It’s no secret that everybody loves feeling well-rested. But often, many students don’t get enough. Whether it’s due to copious amounts of studying the night before or binge-watching their favorite TV show all night, these students complain about fatigue during the school day. Here are just a few of the reasons why students should catch more shut-eye.
1) More focus in the classroom.
Daydreaming in class while your teacher is discussing what will be on next Tuesday’s test is pretty tempting when you just can’t seem to focus! According to a resource from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, getting the proper amount of sleep each night has “a role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new information.” In other words, sleep has profound effects on your ability to retain new information. Because your brain is extremely dependent on remembering and storing unfamiliar material, which can be impacted by the amount of sleep you get, one can see how valuable and influential the quantity and quality of your sleep is.
2) Better mood.
Due to the fact that sleep regulates your hormones, which influence your mood and behavior, getting more shut-eye helps if you have issues with stress or if you want to improve your mood. When you don’t provide your body with the amount of sleep it needs, your hormones can become imbalanced, and when this happens the sleep-deprived person can feel the consequences almost immediately the next day—they become cranky, irritable, and moody. In these situations, the answer is usually pretty straightforward: increase the amount of sleep you get, and you will begin to see the benefits of a happier mood. You also may cope with stress better, which is especially important in high school.
3) Improved grades.
You may begin to see the benefits of sleep shine through your grades after you start getting proper rest each night. But don’t get too excited; I’m not promising that you can ace all of your midterms just by hitting the snooze button. Sleep will mainly help you retain information that you have already studied and practiced. As seen in a study by scientists at McGill University and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal, and discussed in a Time article, “children who had a better quality sleep performed better in math and languages.” This shows that taking the time out of your night to squeeze in those extra hours of sleep can positively affect your grades at school, possibly even more than staying up late cramming for a test.
4) Enhanced performance on the field.
Sleep plays a big role in a student athlete’s ability, coordination, and energy level on the field or court. An article published by the National Sleep Foundation suggests that focus at a game may decrease if an athlete is sleep-deprived. In addition, the article discusses how, without enough sleep, one may not be able to make the best decisions in moments of a game where they must make quick choices with swift consequences. For example, an athlete may not be able to correctly choose which teammate would be most logical to pass the soccer ball to, or where the most strategic place to hit the tennis ball would be. According to the article, “Serena Williams told a UK publication that she usually sleeps well and enjoys going to bed early around 7:00.” This is quite early for an adult, let alone a high-school student, as some of us are just getting home at 7:00 p.m., but the idea of how her performance greatly depends on her energy level is very evident here.
5) Appear more attractive.
The last, but certainly not least important reason you should consider making an early bedtime part of your daily routine is because of how it will affect your appearance. We have all experienced the sleepy looking eyes—surrounded by dark circles, puffiness, and dull skin as a result of staying up too late. Not only will sleep improve these physical characteristics of your face, it can also gradually reduce acne and discoloration in the skin. When you get the right amount of sleep, you also receive all the restorative properties that come along with it, and the skin is definitely one of the first places where it shows. In an article published by WebMD titled “The Truth About Beauty Sleep,” the author states, “Your body boosts blood flow to the skin while you snooze, which means you wake to a healthy glow.” This excerpt from the article briefly sums up how your skin can show just how well-rested you are and why our skin looks better after a good night’s sleep.
You don’t have to start going to bed at 7:00 p.m. every night like Williams, nor do you have to depend on sleep to be in a good mood, but you may want to reevaluate your sleeping habits. Perhaps going to bed 10 minutes earlier every night for a week until you work your way down to a time that is more beneficial, yet realistic, is the way to go. Or try going for a 20-minute walk after dinner to improve the quality of your sleep. Whatever it is, and whatever adjustments you make to your lifestyle, take your time. And remember that these things don’t just happen overnight.