Whether it be an incoming freshman or a returning senior, along with new bedsheets and shower caddy a student never fails to pack an extremely optimistic set of goals to a new semester.
Whether it be stocking up on bulletin boards and day planners, or scavenging the productivity applications for smart phones, these hopes of staying organized and practicing effective time management are higher than ever with the clean slate of new classes.
As the semester begins, these overly ambitious expectations begin to fall by the way quickly. Discouraged, students can begin to adopt poor time management habits. This can include the denial that sleep is a necessary function, putting off assignments until the very last moment, and adopting a schedule that a student cannot possibly maintain. Soon, how much procrastination and how little work students can do while still keeping their heads above water become bragging rights.
Being able to claim the same grade from writing a paper in one night as a student that revised for weeks may seem to come at a small price. However, the cost of forsaking a healthy sleep schedule can prove fatal to a busy week, especially if you’re drifting to sleep during your lectures the next day.
This diminishing sleep schedule can quickly perpetuate throughout a semester if not kept in check and can become a very difficult habit to break. Being sleep deprived can not only makes attending lectures difficult, but can lead to memory problems and increased difficulty in logical reasoning.
But late night studying is bound to happen to even the most prepared student and these sessions are almost unavoidable. If last minute cramming becomes the primary method of study for a student, grades and health (not to mention sanity) can be affected severely.
A USAToday article which studied sleep deprivation in college found that “if you use all-nighters, your GPA is slightly lower on average.” This kind of sleepless lifestyle also leads to a diet laden with coffee and energy drinks which can also impair cognitive function along with your waistline.
I spent the vast majority of my freshman year at SMU living this kind of lifestyle and the negative effects along with the stress are not worth putting off any particular assignment.
Small, and slowly made changes are more likely to form habits that a student will stick to throughout the year.
It will be a constant struggle in a time where college seems to be a 24/7 job and as I type the last few sentences of this article minutes before the deadline, these changes do not
come easily.
Scarlet Gray is a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
