The importance of sleep in adults cannot be over emphasized. Every adult student should get the proper amount of sleep at night to help them stay focused, improve concentration, and improve academic performance. Students who do not get enough sleep in the night have a higher risk for many health problems, including poor mental health, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and sometimes minor injuries resulting from domestic accidents.
When we sleep, our body works to support healthy brain function and maintain our physical health. In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development. Getting inadequate sleep over time can raise our risk for chronic health problems
When we get a good amount of sleep, it helps us to get sick less often and stay at a healthy weight. Sleep reduces stress and improves our mood thereby allowing us to get along with people better. It affects our ability to think clearly and do better in school and at work. It also helps to lower our risk of experiencing serious health problems such as heart diseases.
A lot of researches have been carried out in the past about sleep. The outcome of researches indicate that sleep does more than simply give students the energy they need to study and perform well in school. Sleep actually helps students learn, memorize, retain, recall, and use their new knowledge to come up with creative and innovative solutions.
When we do not get enough sleep, we tend to have weakened immune systems; thinking issues, and build-up of unnecessary body weight. Not getting enough sleep, may also increase the risk of certain cancers, diabetes, and even car or domestic accidents.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults within the ages of 18 and 60 years need seven or more hours of sleep every night, while teenagers up to 18 need eight to 10 hours in a 24-hour period.
In adults, less than seven hours of sleep a night on a regular basis can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, anxiety and depression. An ongoing lack of sleep has also been closely associated with decreased brain function, memory loss, lower fertility rates and psychiatric disorders.
Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between the amount of sleep that a student gets and academic success. Sleep plays a key role in helping students fix and consolidate memories, plus prevent decay of memories. Without sleep, students tend to work so hard but don’t do so well.
Poor sleeping habits may eventually lead to Insomnia. Mayo Clinic describes Insomnia as “a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake up”. Insomnia is linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. Over time, poor sleep can also lead to unhealthy habits that can hurt your heart, including higher stress levels, less motivation to be physically active, and unhealthy food choices. For better sleep, get enough natural light, especially earlier in the day to help the body clock activate sleep mode at night.
A research showed that the students who reported the most stable, consistent sleep patterns earned a higher GPA in school on average, than the students with the most variable sleep pattern. Students with regular sleep patterns also reported higher levels of well-being and vibrancy.
I therefore recommend that despite the tight work schedule and rigorous school workload experienced by EMBA students, one should make sleeping a priority no matter the level of pressure.
