Why you NEED to get a good night’s sleep

With the rise of productivity culture, a lot of students have been putting off sleep in order to study more. While it might seem like a good decision at the time, a bad sleep schedule can seriously decrease your productivity!

What is a good sleep schedule?

For most people, 8 hours is the ideal amount of time to sleep. Less, and it won’t be enough for your brain; more, and you’ll start to feel groggy. It’s also important to keep your sleep schedule regular, and avoid napping too frequently, since this can mess with your sleep schedule!

Improved grades

Here’s the benefit that everyone wants! Better sleep schedules are linked to better grades. Statistically speaking, more regular sleep schedules are linked with a 0.45 point increase in your GPA! This is most likely because better sleep can improve your memory and your attention span. 

Better memory

Memory formation has three stages: acquisition, consolidation, and recall. Consolidation is when you transform temporary memories into long-term memories. This happens during sleep, therefore it’s super important that you get enough sleep so that your short-term memories can stay in your brain as long-term memories!

More focused

A lack of sleep, or a night of interrupted sleep, can make you tired and fatigued the next day (we’ve all experienced it!) It also negatively affects your concentration: your attention span shortens, and you find it more difficult to stay focused. That’s why it’s so important to get enough sleep so that you can stay focused while studying!

Health benefits!

There are tons of health benefits to getting a good night’s sleep! This is important for many reasons. First of all, sleeping enough not only lowers the risk of getting diabetes and heart disease, but also decreases how often you get sick. It can also help you stay at a healthy BMI, improve your athletic performance, and even strengthen your heart!