Here's the situation: your psychology exam is tomorrow. It’s been on your calendar for weeks, but you’re pretty sure it still snuck up on you somehow. That’s because you haven’t even touched that $200 textbook your professor made you get. You’re definitely not ready for this exam and you’re certain that you won’t be able to get all the information in by tomorrow. At this point, you have two options: sleep or pull an all-nighter. Which do you choose? Let’s go through each decision.
You choose to sleep.
1. Quantity and quality of sleep both matter. This means that if you’re not sleeping enough, you may gain weight or be in a terrible mood. It’s just overall unhealthy. It can increase your risk for heart problems as well. The bottom line is that more sleep equals better health.
2. When you sleep well, you can function better. Maybe this means that you won’t get a great grade on your exam, but were you really going to absorb all that material within a night anyways?
3. You won’t be starting bad habits early. According to Business Insider, Wall Street businessmen, and women, are likely to pull all-nighters. They’re obviously in a very high-stress job and work is important, but you have to weigh your options concerning your health.
You choose to step up.
1. First of all, as we’ve established, your health is at risk. PLEASE don’t have a heart attack at 30. You have such a full life ahead of you. Failing a test just isn’t worth it.
2. If you have problems with mood, you might not be sleeping enough. You don’t necessarily need 12 hours. Just pay attention to your body and how it functions. One all-nighter really won’t hurt. Just don’t make it part of your routine because grumpy people are in no way pleasant.
This one’s an anecdote. My boyfriend really hates when I bring this up because he still feels guilty about it. I just want to drive my point home!
Before he transferred, my boyfriend went to a school about an hour or so away. We decided that it would be fun to stay up and chat the whole night for no particular reason, even though he was driving me back to William and Mary the next day. We got in a pretty bad car accident around 11 a.m the next day, after staying up until 5 a.m that morning, when we were going to meet my family in Williamsburg for breakfast. Fortunately, my family came to our rescue, but it wasn’t worth staying up. I had whiplash, and he was without a car. We weren’t staying up for an exam, but I think this situation is similar to how you are treating your body by pulling an all-nighter.
Overall, just study beforehand. I’m a college student. I know very clearly that it’s easier said than done. Here’s what keeps me on track: a planner. It’s really simple but it does go a long way. May the exam preparation and odds be ever in your favor, my friends.
