Sleep hygiene refers to sleep practices, habits and environmental factors that are necessary for getting quality restorative sleep. Very few of us get education on effective sleep practices and many of us take sleep for granted. In OHE, the very favorable response to our sleep campaign told us how important sleep information and encouragement to sleep can be for college students.
In terms of duration, the recommended eight hours per night works best for most students. The greater challenge for Penn students appears to be their sleep-wake cycle, which is regulated by our internal circadian clock. Like other circadian rhythms, our bodies function best when we maintain fairly stable sleep-wake schedules. A regular waking time in the morning strengthens the circadian function and can help with sleep onset at night. Regardless of whether you consider yourself a “morning person, a “night” person or somewhere in between, try to get to sleep on the same day as you wake up. On weekends, limit your extra awake time hours to two.
Viewing sleep as a time management issue may also be helpful. Some students set an alarm to remind them to go to sleep which can be just as important as setting an alarm to wake up in the morning!
For other practical sleep guidelines specific to college students, see our How To Guide.
Researchers still do no understand all the functions of sleep but most agree that sleep impacts cognitive abilities such as information processing, learning and memory consolidation.
Catching up on sleep on the weekend or “sleep bulimia” (a phrase coined by Harvard psychiatrist and sleep researcher Robert Stickgold) may not be the best strategy for enhancing academic performance. To perform well on exams, Dr. Stickgold believes it is more important to get regular sleep than timing sleep right before a test. Regular sleep not only helps us to retain information learned during the day but also contributes to solving complex problems at night.
Naps can be beneficial if the nap includes both REM sleep (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep. But experts caution against frequent naps longer than 10-15 minutes in duration. (Weaver, 2004.)
Alcohol consumed prior to bedtime affects the second half of the sleep period causing restless sleep and frequent awakenings.
