Explained: The Relationship Between Sleep And Academic Performance

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.¡± ¡ª JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom

If one were to determine the three pillars of physical health- which are irrevocably linked to mental health, they would be sleep, exercise and what we eat. It would perhaps be a safe assumption that many of us tend not to take care of one or all of these pillars¡­even as adults.

Most parents have enough experience and information on how children who do not get enough sleep are exhausted, cranky and irritable.

How lack of sleep is affecting students

As children grow, most parents are also perturbed by the fact that a lack of sleep will interfere with their child performing well academically.

They worry that lack of sleep will affect cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, and problem-solving skills, which are crucial for academic performance. A meta-analysis by Lim J et al in 2010 found that total sleep deprivation leads to poorer short-term memory, attention, and processing speed.

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Reasons for lack of sleep among students

The struggle with sleep and its discipline peaks around the ages of 2 and also in adolescence.
Melatonin is the naturally occurring hormone that is cyclically released in anticipation of darkness and is credited with preparing humans to sleep. It turns out that adolescents have a delayed release of regular daily melatonin, which causes them to become sleepy later at night, hours after nightfall.

Early school timings make 8- 10 hours of sleep quite improbable. Because most teenagers are awake, they spend time on social media and thus, device usage and its resulting brain stimulation adds to the lack of sleep.

Sleep hygiene and habits play an important role in getting adequate sleep. Sufficient sleep can improve focus, mood, and overall health, leading to better academic outcomes.

How to get a good sleep

Some strategies that can support creating a consistent sleep schedule are:

Having a fixed time of going to bed every night. Fluctuating times of going to bed interfere with the body creating its own bio-rhythm.

Avoiding heavy meals for at least 3 hours before bedtime and caffeine for 7 hours

In a research for adolescents, Crowley SJ, found that avoiding too much light in the evening hours may be a reasonable method of preventing melatonin suppression and the resulting delay in melatonin release. Yellow/ warm golden lights in rooms would work better than white light.

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As a family, have a cut-off time for using devices at night. Role modelling the habits we expect from our child goes a long way in them adopting the same.

The last hour before sleep is best used for winding down activities- storytelling, colouring, calming music, warm water bath, and a warm beverage- for all ages.

If the child is older and needs a device to study at night, suggest and support them to plan the portion of the study that does not require the device at night.

Reward the efforts of the child to get a routine into place

As a parent, try not to connect the child¡¯s sleeping habits with the device or spend time with friends. While it may indeed be a vicious cycle, the blame game leads to resentment and a lack of connection between parent and adolescent

If you cannot sleep- try not to worry about being unable to sleep because that builds a stress loop and keeps one further awake. Instead, lie with eyes closed, practice deep breathing, hear some relaxing music or a sleep meditation and invite sleep as and when it comes.

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If you can¡¯t sleep for more than half an hour, get up and do something calming and boring and try again after half an hour

For those who worry and overthink- especially middle school students and adolescents- create a thought journal to ¡°empty¡± your thoughts before bedtime. Resolve the ones you can and suggest to yourself that the rest will be dealt with tomorrow. ¡°Now it is time to sleep¡± is an auto-suggestion one can give oneself

As it is said, there is nothing one cannot achieve after a good night¡¯s sleep. Building good sleep habits and prioritising sleep is one of the most important decisions we can make for ourselves. So¡­ why not?

About the author: Nooraa Sinha is the Head of Counselling and Wellbeing Department SNS, Noida. All views/opinions expressed in the article are of the author.