Journey through sleep
Students have been sleep-deprived, small steps can help make a change
Humans spend one-third of their life sleeping
Considering the average lifetime of a human to be 73 years, we spend 24 years sleeping
College students are sleep deprived
60% of college students are sleep deprived
Sleep deprivation in Carnegie Mellon University
Unhealthy culture disturbs the sleep cycle
Habits such as pulling "all-nighters" before an exam or submission causes inconsistency in the sleep cycle
Source:https://thetab.com/us/cmu/2016/04/22/carnegie-mellon-students-among-sleep-deprived-country-122
Sleep before 2 am!
According to a study at MIT, "Going to bed later than 2 a.m., was associated with lower class scores, even if students got as much sleep than those who went to bed earlier".1
At Carnegie Mellon University, the average sleeping time for students in the university is 2:23 am.
1Source: https://news.mit.edu/2019/better-sleep-better-grades-1001
How can you sleep better?
Change these two habits :
1. Coffee
2. Screen Time
What can you do?
1. Avoid having coffee 6 hours prior to sleeping
2. Eventually try to limit consumption of caffeine
This will help you to fall asleep faster, increase sleep time and improve quality of sleep
Effect of Screens on Sleep
Excessive screen time disturbs the normal sleep cycle
It reduces the production of melatonin, a chemical that makes us tired. Due to this, we feel tired less quickly, sleep late and disrupt the normal sleep/wake cycle
What can you do?
1. Avoid using screens 1 hour prior to sleeping
2. Keep your laptop away after the 11:59pm submissions
Read a book, listen to music or take a shower in that 1 hour.
This will help you to fall asleep faster and get an efficient sleep
Adopt a healthy sleep schedule
Sleep before 2 am
Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night
Be consistent with your sleep cycle, don't just sleep before an exam
Take short naps while studying to increase short term memory
References
Aminoff, Michael, François Boller, and Dick Swaab. 2011. “We Spend about One-Third of Our Life Either Sleeping or Attempting to Do So.” Handbook of Clinical Neurology / Edited by P.J. Vinken and G.W. Bruyn 98 (January): vii. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52006-7.00047-2.
Roser, Max, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, and Hannah Ritchie. 2013. “Life Expectancy.” Our World in Data, May. https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy.
Patel, Aakash K., Vamsi Reddy, Karlie R. Shumway, and John F. Araujo. 2022. Physiology, Sleep Stages. StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526132/.
“Sleep and Academic Performance Statistics & Sleep Tips for College Students.” 2021. Research.Com. March 22, 2021. https://research.com/education/sleep-and-academic-performance-statistics.
“Carnegie Mellon Students Are among the Most Sleep-Deprived in the Country.” n.d. Accessed December 9, 2022. https://thetab.com/us/cmu/2016/04/22/carnegie-mellon-students-among-sleep-deprived-country-122.
“Life@CMU Report Finds Campus Is Indeed Stressed out - The Tartan.” n.d. Accessed December 9, 2022. http://thetartan.org/2019/10/28/news/life-at-cmu.
Drake, Christopher, Timothy Roehrs, John Shambroom, and Thomas Roth. n.d. “Caffeine Effects on Sleep Taken 0, 3, or 6 Hours before Going to Bed.” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 09 (11): 1195–1200. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3170.
“The Effects of Screen Time on Your Sleep Schedule | RMHP Blog.” n.d. Accessed December 9, 2022. https://www.rmhp.org/blog/2021/january/the-effects-of-screen-time-on-your-sleep-schedule.
“Screens and Your Sleep: The Impact of Nighttime Use | Sutter Health.” n.d. Accessed December 9, 2022. https://www.sutterhealth.org/health/sleep/screens-and-your-sleep-the-impact-of-nighttime-use.
“Study: Better Sleep Habits Lead to Better College Grades.” n.d. MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Accessed December 9, 2022. https://news.mit.edu/2019/better-sleep-better-grades-1001.
Hjetland, Gunnhild J., Jens C. Skogen, Mari Hysing, and Børge Sivertsen. 2021. “The Association Between Self-Reported Screen Time, Social Media Addiction, and Sleep Among Norwegian University Students.” Frontiers in Public Health 9. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.794307.