The National Sleep Foundation recommends 8-10 hours of sleep per night for teenagers and young adults, but a study by the University of Cincinnati reported that 55% of participating college students sleep for fewer than seven hours a night.
I know I’ve had some late nights followed by early mornings during my time at UVA, I know Club Clem is usually well populated in the morning’s wee hours and I know that, consequently, staying awake through a lecture isn’t always feasible. But I wonder, does it have to be this way?
A good night’s rest is one of the best things you can do for your body. Sleeping helps you solidify and consolidate memories, retain information, grow muscle, repair tissue, synthesize hormones, maintain a healthy weight, and look and feel better. But college students, especially those studying somewhere as socially and academically intense as our university, often have other priorities.
I wanted to make sleep important again.
Don’t get me wrong, I love sleep. Alas, I also love watching Project Runway, receiving passing grades on my assignments and spending time with friends. Squeezing all of that into 24 hours usually leaves 5.5 to 7 hours left for sleep, on a good day. For this challenge I would just have to be conscious of how I was spending my time.
My experience was, in a word, amazing. Nine hours a night really does make all the difference. I was more focused, more attentive in class, and less cranky. I lost the pesky dark circles that usually sit comfortably right under my eyes. I just generally felt brighter. But I was still tired enough to take three two-hour naps during the week, which probably says a lot about my current habits.
So why not do this every night? Easy answer: I’m totally irresponsible.
In order to finish my readings and papers for class the next day and make it to bed by 12 p.m., I’ll shamefully report that I had to cut out an episode of America’s Next Top Model. And leaving the festivities of our apartment’s living room each night, hours before my roommates went to bed, always left me with serious FOMO. When the weekend hit, I chose to stay up late which meant I would end up sacrificing half of my day to meet the nine-hour quota.
With enough planning, and some semblance of self-control, eight to nine hours a night is very sustainable. But I think you need to be an adult first.
Sure, some nights will be easier than others, when there’s no giant test the next day or you haven’t forgotten about an eight-page paper. It’s all about finding a balance and planning ahead.
Next week, I’ll finally take my mom’s advice and read for pleasure for at least one hour a day. In the queue so far: Slaughterhouse Five, The Kite Runner, and Cloud Atlas.
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