The importance of sleep while studying

Juggling studies, part (or full) time work, personal demands and a social life may see your calendar working overtime with sleep and rest ranking low on your list of priorities.

Be aware - working harder and longer does not always equal getting more done. And research reveals that building a habit of sleep deprivation may have devastating health impacts.

To secure the most value from your uni experience, sleep is key.

In the 1990s the ABC formula for a high-powered life had many of us running on empty.

Adrenaline, berocca and caffeine was the norm for everyone - from high powered executives to 20-something party-goers and of course for university students. Struggling to keep the pace as people transitioned from study to work meant that burnout rates were high as people tried to run their lives on a short-changed budget of 4 - 6 hours of nightly sleep.

Since then we’ve learned - through research and experience - that the “sleep when I’m dead” mentality means we are in danger of becoming the walking dead in our day-to-day activities.

Why is sleep so important?

Sleep expert Professor Russell Foster describes sleep as the “single most important behavioural experience that we have”.

Sleep, he says, has three primary functions:

• Restoration: sleep helps our bodies and minds revitalise to function properly. During sleep our bodies also increase our rates of cell division and repair.
• Energy conservation: when sleeping we are using less energy and building our reserves for the day ahead
• Brain processing and helping build memories: Research has shown that brain fluid increases its flow when we are sleeping and cleans out toxins and waste. At the same time it helps us cement the things we have learned during the day into our long term memory.

Most importantly, sleep he says, helps our problem solving and creativity.

When sleeping, our neuroconnections are linked and strengthen our brains. This enhances our creativity and helps our brains find novel solutions to complex problems.

At school and university, or when learning a new job or activity, the role of sleep is to help us be more focused and productive and to also help us embed the learnings in our brains.

If you are tired or sleep deprived, your ability to learn tasks is poor - it takes longer and you will not absorb the full value of the information you are learning. This means your grades will be affected - and your university learning performance is the doorway to your future career opportunities. The better your university outcome, the greater the range of career opportunities.

According to the National Sleep Foundation “sleep is an active period in which a lot of important processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs.”

Importantly, sleep helps us solidify and consolidate memories.

During our daily activities and studies our brain is under pressure to absorb an incredible amount of information.

In remembering new information and learnings, the brain follows a process - firstly the information and experiences are processed and stored and while we sleep, this information is transferred from our short-term memories to our long-term memory.

How will more sleep improve your life?

• You will get things done faster and better. With improved energy and focus, the effectiveness of your study time and the quality of your work will be better;\
• Your mood will be vastly improved - meaning your relationships will benefit;
• You will protect yourself from accident, injury and other health issues.

Building a habit of getting by on a little sleep has been shown to increase your risk of a number of long term health issues including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Ironically, if you are allocating your important rest time to learning it has been found that one of the most significant factors in your risk of Alzheimer’s disease is a lack of sleep.

How to ensure you are maximising your work and sleep time

It’s one thing to know that you need to prioritise sleep - it’s another to work out how to make it happen when you are working through a demanding study and life schedule.

Here are our top 10 tips to help make it happen:

1. Build a regular routine and habits in your daily activities;
2. Prioritise the things that matter (study, work and friends) and shed the ones that don’t (Netflix binging, Facebook, Snapchat and social media);
3. Change up your social calendar. It’s not all about late nights - mix up an occasional night out with mornings at the beach, game nights and social sports;
4. Don’t overcommit - a balanced approach to study, work and play means you will perform better in all areas of your life;
5. Reduce your light exposure at least an hour before you go to sleep - that means no TV, computers or smartphones. Instead, pick up a good book;
6. Avoid coffee and caffeine products after lunch time;
7. Create a sleep ritual;
8. Invest in a good bed and pillow;
9. Ensure your space is quiet and calming;
10. Sleep in a cooler and darkened room.

Finally, a fitful sleep isn’t a good sleep. Quality and quantity work together - the deeper your sleep, the better.

When you are in a deep sleep your brain increases its glucose metabolism, helping build your learning and memory.  Deep sleep is also when the pituitary gland secretes important hormones, such as the human growth hormone, which leads to the growth and development of your body.

This article provided by Tracie Sanim at Splash Marketing & PR.