Left it until last minute to study for that eight AM exam you have tomorrow morning? You decide to pull an all nighter to make sure you get through every piece of information and are well prepared for your test. While doing so, your eyes begin closing after each sentence you read, but the satisfaction that you’re studying will make you not feel as bad when you get your test scores back. You’ll be able to say, “Well I studied all night.” At least that’s what I do. Ever think that getting more sleep and putting your books to the side would actually be more beneficial to you? Well believe it, it actually may work!

Although studying is a key factor to academic success, believe it or not, so is an efficient amount of sleep. Here is one study I found: 535 students were chosen ranging from grades 10th-12th grade from three schools in California.The study wasn’t necessarily done in a lab, but instead in the homes and throughout the daily routines of these students. For 14 days, the students were asked to keep track of the amount of sleep they got, amount of studying they did, and their performance in school the next day, either their ability to grasp something taught in class or their outcome of graded assignments (tests,quizzes or homework’s)(Weeler para. 10). Researchers  concluded that students who spent more time studying/preparing for the next day, had worse results(poorer test scores and etc.) They also mentioned that as students get older, they tend to get less sleep, therefore their performance the next day is worse.

I do not think they can entirely blame sleeping on poor performance, the study conducted was so vague. Basing the results off students journal entries leaves a lot of room for error, the students could have lied about the information. They also have to take into consideration the fact that as you do get older the work load increases and so does the difficulty. This may be the third variable leading to the increase of poor results. Although more sleep can be linked to better performance through this experiment, it needs to be conducted better. I think that the students need to be kept track of by the researchers instead of keeping track of themselves.

This experiment is not saying you shouldn’t study, but instead that you should manage your time wisely because lack of sleep due to cramming in can be very ineffective. Lack of sleep lowers our levels of alertness and this is why many may do poorer on tests when staying up late cramming everything in. Lack of sleep may not only effect performance but it also effects other things as well. According to this article provided by Harvard, “Sleep deprivation negatively impacts our mood, our ability to focus, and our ability to access higher-level cognitive functions.” So next time you are studying for a test, don’t cram it all in for last minute. Manage your time wisely and rest up! Plus, an efficient amount of sleeping can improve your overall mood and well being the next day!

“Sleep, Performance, and Public Safety.” Healthy Sleep. Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, 18 Dec. 2007. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

Wheeler, Mark. “Cramming for a Test? Don’t Do It, Say UCLA Researchers.” Newsroom. 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.