The Importance of Sleep
With midterms coming up, it can be easy to lose track of how much sleep you get, especially when trying to balance all commitments, other assignments, and studying for these big tests. Some students take the approach of “powering through” long nights just prior to the tests, cramming information, and staying up all or most of the night.
Research done by the Harvard Department of Sleep Medicine shows that this is counter-productive to the learning process.
There are three stages of memory: acquisition, consolidation, and recall. The first and the last can only be done while awake, but studies show that the second process, consolidating the memories and making them stable, is best done in a state of unconsciousness. What does that mean? We may lose the ability to recall memories if they are not consolidated during sleep. This means that it is critically important to get adequate sleep during the midterm period!
Sleep affects more than just your memory. Sleep-deprivation leads to underperformance in other ways as well. It can contribute to lack of focus, attention, and judgment of situation.
To avoid the issue of sleep deprivation during these important test, planning is crucial. Using a planner, map out what needs to be done each day and execute it, so that you will have time to sleep. Extra activities may have to take the back burner during this period. For example, any sport, club, or commitments with friends will only extend your study time later into the evening. The good thing about this time of year is that winter vacation is just around the corner. Don’t worry about breaking commitments with friends; you’ll definitely have time to spare after finals are over. Remember, losing sleep isn’t worth the trouble – it will affect your overall grades!
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