With finals coming up and the semester coming to a close, I'm sure all of us are experiencing at least some pressure and stress to get everything done and done well. As a result of those increased levels of stress caused by the ever-growing mountain of things you need to do, you may be or will be pulling more late nights and even all-nighters than you are used to. And while I understand the pressures of wanting to finish everything and get good grades, losing that much sleep to do so is not good for you or those around you. It's OK to have one of these nights every once in a while (and I'm sure we all have at some point or another—hello, this is college), but compromising your health and well-being for the sake of one good grade is not, lest you want to end up like this.
So if you are already experiencing this or feel that you will be after this finals week, I thought I'd do my part by reminding all of you (and by extension myself) about the importance of getting a good night's sleep.
So without further ado, here are some finals-related benefits of getting enough sleep:
1. Your memory can Improve.
Getting enough sleep helps improve your memory and enhances your learning and problem-solving skills, which in turn can help improve your grades. This is one of the more important benefits for those of us with big final exams in our future.
2. You'll make smarter decisions.
Getting enough sleep aids your abilities to make decisions, control your emotions and behavior, and cope with change—all of which are necessary for success during finals week.
3. You'll be more alive the next day.
Getting enough sleep at night allows you to function better throughout the day. Studies have shown that sleep-deprived people are less productive, take longer to finish tasks, have slower reaction times, and make more mistakes. I know that's not how I want to be functioning during finals.
4. You'll pay better attention.
Getting enough sleep helps sharpen your attention and decrease the risk of microsleeping ("light sleep that lasts from five to 10 seconds during which the brain goes to sleep involuntarily") during class or, worse, during your final exam. I'll explain more later on.
5. You'll be more creative.
Getting enough sleep spurs creativity and helps you be more creative, which is a benefit for those of us writing papers or doing other artistic, creativity-based projects for our finals.
6. You'll be less stressed.
Getting enough sleep helps lower stress and maintain emotional stability. It has been shown that a good night's sleep can reduce anxiety, impatience, irritability, and your chances of developing depression.
7. You'll be healthier, weight wise.
Getting enough sleep helps you maintain a healthy weight. This benefit's not directly related to finals, but between all the food we ate at Thanksgiving, the food we will be eating at Christmas, and any of the junk food we may be stress-eating leading up to finals, it is definitely an important one.
8. You'll be healthier overall.
Getting enough sleep helps maintain your immune system's ability to fight off colds or infections. When living, working, and studying in such close quarters on a college campus, this is another important one if you want to stay healthy during finals.
So as you can see, getting an adequate amount of sleep each night really is beneficial not only for your physical, mental, and emotional health, but also for your performance during finals week. Take it from someone who knows. As a procrastinating night owl who stays up later than she'd like to admit for the sake of getting her work done, and who is often sleep-deprived and sick during finals week as a result, I can tell you firsthand how important sleep is not just for finals but for normal, everyday functioning. If you don't believe me, why don't you check out this nice little video (courtesy of my cousin, Taylor) of a sleep-deprived me microsleeping during a class my freshman year:
And as I sit here writing this article into the wee hours of the morning, I can't help but think that maybe I should start following my own advice and finally call it a night so that I can get some much-needed rest too.
Good night and sleep tight, everybody!
