As college students, many of us know that sleep is often hard to come by. Between work, tests and extracurricular activities, students rarely have a moment to relax. There’s a saying that you can only have one of the three: a social life, good grades or enough sleep. While that may be true with our hectic schedules, here are some reasons why choosing sleep may actually improve your social life and your grades.
Improve your memory. It has been proven that while you are sleeping, you retain and solidify information that you learned during the day. According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard, “memory consolidation takes place during sleep through the strengthening of the neural connections that form our memories.” That means that the information you learned during class can become more concrete as you sleep. So, instead of pulling an all-nighter before a test, go to bed at a decent time and catch some zzz’s. The extra sleep can actually improve your brain function the next day.
You’ll be in a better mood. Although sleep will not guarantee to make the following day go perfectly, sleep has been shown to improve your overall mood. Most of us can all agree that after a night of little or no sleep, we are cranky and not fun to be around. “Not getting enough sleep affects your emotional regulation,” says WebMD freelance writer R. Morgan Griffin. This means that getting enough sleep the night before can make hanging out with your friends much more enjoyable the next day.
Affects us physically. Not getting enough sleep can affect the way we look, how we feel, and how we perform. With the recommended eight hours of sleep each night, our skin pigment and muscle tone can greatly improve. Also, getting the right amount of sleep can improve your immune system and keep you from getting sick. So, before your next big night out on the town, grab a little extra sleep to look and feel your best.
Although taking eight hours out of your day to sleep seems impossible, the benefits are worth finding the time for. Giving your body the chance to wind down and rest is essential to your overall health. In return for 8 hours of your day, sleep can give you the extra strength you need in school and your social life. Do yourself a favor and get into a serious relationship with sleep!