It’s almost the end of the semester, and I slept for 12 hours last night. Granted, it was a holiday weekend, but I was nonetheless impressed, and somewhat ecstatic, with the amount of sleep I got. I felt rested and awake. During the weeks before and during midterms and finals, I usually get between four and a half to six (if I’m lucky) hours of sleep a night.Those are generally extremely unpleasant weeks; I’m forgetful, cranky and stressed out. What’s frustrating is that I don’t even produce good work or retain information once I pass a certain point — the quality and my concentration decreases the later (or earlier) it gets.
I’m certain that I am not the only college student suffering from sleep deprivation during exams, or (let’s be honest) at any time. I know that I should sleep more (common sense says so), but it doesn’t seem possible. How much does my body really hate me during finals week?The National Sleep Foundation (a nonprofit organization) states on its website, “The first thing that experts will tell you about sleep is that there is no ‘magic number.’”
Apparently, sleep requirements vary, not only in terms of age and gender, but also from person to person. The site goes on to explain things like “basal sleep need,” “sleep debt” and “circadian dips.” Basal sleep need is defined as, “The amount of sleep our bodies need on a regular basis for optimal performance.” Which, in my case, is definitely more than four and a half. Guess I’m not performing optimally during exams. “Sleep debt” the website defines as, “…the accumulated sleep that is lost due to poor sleep habits, sickness … or other causes,” (e.g. projects, portfolios, essays, presentations and exams).
Unfortunately, your sleep debt doesn’t get any smaller until you get more sleep than you “need.” Even though you may have technically gotten enough sleep, you can still feel tired because you have sleep debt.That sounds familiar. “Circadian dips” are the times during the day when the human body is biologically hardwired for sleepiness, like at night, or in the afternoon. If you have sleep debt, this is when you start to drag. (Sorry, two and four o’clock classes!)
So, even after the hellish weeks are over, I’m still carrying around the painful ramifications of them. That’s an unpleasant thought. It seems that my body hates me a lot during the aforementioned weeks and then holds a grudge. A long, long grudge. The National Sleep Foundation also lists some “coping” techniques (a sort of wilting olive branch, if you will) to help people sleep better at night and reduce daytime sleepiness. Unfortunately, some of them are almost as impractical as sleeping eight hours a night during finals week.
Their suggestions include: don’t smoke, don’t exercise right before bed and don’t drink caffeine. But my three favorites are “establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine, such as taking a bath or listening to music,” “use your bedroom only for sleep and sex” and “avoid alcohol close to bedtime.”
Clearly, researchers at the National Sleep Foundation have forgotten what it’s like to be in college, specifically what it’s like living in a dorm. Listening to music is feasible, but taking a bath on campus? Even if you could … I wouldn’t.Now that I’ve looked up all sorts of fun facts about things that I should be doing and either can’t, or won’t, I’ve got a plan of action, or a sort of set of guidelines. Well, really I’ve only got two of them.Only stay up past midnight if you’re working on a paper or studying — no clicking around on Facebook or Icanhascheezburger.
Once finals week is over, sleep for 12 hours a night for the next month. No, make that two months. I’ve got sleep debt to work off. Let’s see how well the first bit works for me for the next two weeks and if my body will forgive me in a few months. Hooray for finals!
Alysia Sawchyn can be reached at asawchyn@spartans.ut.edu.