Journey through sleep

Students have been sleep-deprived, small steps can help make a change

white window curtain during daytime

Photo by Leohoho on Unsplash

Photo by Leohoho on Unsplash

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

macbook pro beside brown leather wallet on white bed

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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

clear glass lamp on black wooden table

Photo by Haley Truong on Unsplash

Photo by Haley Truong on Unsplash

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.