Sleep is so important.
Sleep is something I took for granted a few years ago at university. I was studying for my exams, and thought that the less sleep I had, the more time I had to revise. I can remember in 2nd year of university I would get up at 5am to start revision. There is nothing wrong with getting up at 5am, but the issue is the number of hours and quality of sleep before.
As I would only go to bed around 12pm, it meant I was only getting around 5hrs of sleep. This simply isn’t enough, and for the majority of people, it won’t be enough either. I would get up early and feel really productive for the first few hours. But after around 2/3pm, I can remember I used to feel dizzy and sleepy, which meant my productivity took a hit. As a result, it counter-acted by idea of putting in more hours for revision, as those hours spent were far less effective as they should have been.
Fast forward to my final year of university, I had learned from this experience. I no longer set an alarm to wake up at 5am. In fact, I didn’t even set an alarm. I would go to bed at around 10pm and read my kindle until I dosed off. This on its own made a huge impact on my sleep, as it helped my brain relax before going to bed. It also meant I wasn’t looking at the blue light from a computer screen, which massively affects sleep. I have already written a blog about this here!
As I wouldn’t set an alarm, I would automatically wake up at around 8/8:30am. I would feel refreshed, as it meant I that I wasn’t forcing myself to wake up. As a result, my productivity and effectiveness in revision massively increased. Yes, I was sitting less hours at my desk; however, my output from those hours were much more. I was also generally more happy and enjoyed the whole process a lot more.
Because of this, my final year university grades were actually better than my second year grades. My revision technique had largely been the same, so I think the factor which had the most impact on my performance was definitely my sleep!
Yes, there are times where you will have to sacrifice some things in order to get work done. That could be your social life, sleep, sports activities etc. But you need to remember to keep a balance and know when your body starts to suffer.
There is no point in sacrificing a few hours sleep for more revision or more work, if it means that those hours will be less productive as you feel tired from then night before. Be smart about it and find what works for you.
