Sleep in bed, not in life

Sleeping is a superpower.

Real-world superhumans like Kobe Bryant and Elon Musk are known for being highly effective, creative, and high achievers. In addition, they are known for a very particular characteristic: they sleep much less than average people. Although their lack of sleep is NOT one of the attributes related to their remarkable success, we may see it as the key element that contributed to their achievements (Less sleep equals more hours of work, right? It seems to make sense). This misunderstanding has led many of us to consider sacrificing our sleep to achieve our goals and dreams, especially those related to school performance and professional careers. But is it actually true that if we sleep less, we accomplish more?

Sleeping plays a vital role in developing human capabilities and has been one of the subjects of research and study for many decades. There have been many interesting findings regarding the importance of sleep. However, none of them has even gotten close to suggesting that lowering the amount of sleep an individual has will result in any form of success. Furthermore, Dr. Lawrence Epstein, MD, medical director of Sleep Health Centers in Brighton, Mass., and instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, "Recent studies have shown that adequate sleep is essential to feeling awake and alert, maintaining good health, and working at peak performance. After two weeks of sleeping six hours or less a night, students feel as bad and perform as poorly as someone who has gone without sleep for 48 hours." In other words, Dr. Epstein said that there is no correlation between thriving and lacking sleep. Therefore, the fact that Kobe Bryant's sleep habits worked for him does not mean that it's sustainable and it will work for everyone.

Now, let's go back in time to your childhood, even earlier, when you were just a baby. Imagine how nostalgic it would be to see the young version of your parents and to see yourself as a baby. Among the things you would notice, you would see your parents taking such good care of you. You would see them making everything possible for you to grow healthy, strong, and intelligent. You would see your parents treating your sleep schedule as something sacred, something that couldn't be skipped or interrupted. You would see them missing out on parties, sports events, friends' gatherings, movie nights, and other social events. Their reason for those sacrifices was simple and undoubtedly important: "the baby (you) needs to sleep at that time."

Let's pause and consider why your sleep schedule was so important to your parents. Why was it worth so many sacrifices?

Now let's come back to the present. Have you ever heard someone say about their New Year's resolution, "This year, I will prioritize my sleep. I will sleep better. I will plan to sleep"? You probably have never heard someone say that. In contrast, we hear people listing all sorts of other things: "getting an A in all the classes," "doing an internship at the dream company," "going to the gym every day," and the list goes on. Interestingly, most of the resolutions we hear from people are purely outcomes, things we wish to happen.

The message of this article is simple: if you commit to a strict and constant sleep schedule—if you plan to sleep—you'll see improvement in all areas of your life that are important to you. Therefore, let's focus for a moment on things that will make that happen.

First, make your sleep a priority on your list. As an international student and first generation college student in my family, I had to figure this out by myself. During my first four semesters at BYU, I constantly struggled with a lack of energy and fatigue throughout the day. Consequently, my academic performance was very poor, and my self-confidence went down. Every semester I started with new resolutions that I thought would help me thrive. Some of those resolutions were "Planning my week" or "studying every day for one hour for each class." I found out that those goals had such little impact on me because I still lacked energy and was tired throughout my day. I thought that it was because I was waking up too early and working too much; I even tried taking naps during the day; however, I found myself waking up more tired than before.

One day, thinking about people I admire (I’m not talking about famous people, but normal
people like me and you), looking for patterns in their lives that could benefit mine, I found
something very interesting. I noticed that people who got the grades I wanted and had the balance I longed for had something in common. They were very responsible with the
number of hours they slept; they didn’t let anything get in the way of sleeping. That day was indeed an "Aha" moment in my life. It is empowering to be aware of how important sleep is. Small changes in one's daily routine can have a huge impact. Having sleep as one of my life's priorities has been the driving force for change.

Second, plan to sleep. After I became aware of how important sleep is, I made it a clear priority in my life, and my weekly planning switched to planning everything around my hours of sleep. Knowing that my body needs at least 7 hours of sleep was very relevant in
determining how to organize my week. It was less hard to say no to certain things because
knowing that the outcomes I had written in my beginning-of-the-semester resolutions list
depended on it.

A study directed at students at Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy suggests that there is an association between the hours of sleep you have and the score you get on a test. Individuals who sleep for 7 hours or more get better scores compared to those who sleep 6 hours or less. Therefore, this finding proves that cognitive performance is very fragile and can be negatively affected by inadequate sleep duration. Furthermore, Salisa
Westrick, PhD, MS, James E. Foy Hall, Health Outcomes Research and Policy, Auburn University, explained more, "Inadequate sleep decreases general alertness and impairs
attention, resulting in slowed cognitive processing. Lack of adequate sleep also interferes with the function of brain structures critical to cognitive processes." Along with the subject of adequate sleep duration, it is also relevant to mention that there won't be long-lasting results without consistency in the time you go to bed. Yu Chih Chiang and Susan W.
Arendt, two Online Learning Faculty Fellows and professors of hospitality management at
Iowa State University, conducted a study that suggests not being consistent with a sleep
routine is a common problem associated with poor sleep quality. They said, "The results of
our study suggest a high prevalence of both an irregular bedtime schedule and insufficient
sleep among university students in Taiwan. Students with an irregular bedtime schedule
may experience poor sleep quality."

As one becomes more aware of the importance of getting a good night's sleep, making sleeping a priority will come naturally. As you plan to sleep, make sure to focus on two important aspects: sleep duration and a regular bedtime schedule. However, be aware
that neither of these two key aspects will significantly impact your life without consistency. Therefore, as students commit themselves to the strict routine of making time to sleep one of their top priorities, their grades at school and the quality of other aspects of their lives will improve significantly.

Sources:
1. Straten, Tim van. 2021. “Kobe Bryant Wound up Regretting the Astonishing Lack of Sleep He Got throughout His Career: ‘why Am I Playing like Crap?’ - Sportscasting.” Sportscasting | Pure Sports. November 14, 2021. https://www.sportscasting.com/kobebryant-wound-up-regretting-astonishing-lack-sleep-throughout-career-why-playing-likecrap/

2. “Importance of Sleep & Effects of Sleep Deprivation on College Students.” 2007. American Academy of Sleep Medicine – Association for Sleep Clinicians and Researchers. November 30, 2007. https://aasm.org/college-students-getting-enough-sleep-is-vital-toacademic-success/

3. Zeek, Megan L., Matthew J. Savoie, Matthew Song, Leanna M. Kennemur, Jingjing Qian,
Paul W. Jungnickel, and Salisa C. Westrick. 2015. “Sleep Duration and Academic Performance among Student Pharmacists.” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 79 (5): 63. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe79563

4. Zeek, Megan L., Matthew J. Savoie, Matthew Song, Leanna M. Kennemur, Jingjing Qian, Paul W. Jungnickel, and Salisa C. Westrick. 2015. “Sleep Duration and Academic Performance among Student Pharmacists.” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 79 (5): 63. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe79563

5. Hannah G.Lund B.A. Brian D.Reider B.A. Annie B. Whiting R.N. J. Roxanne Prichard.
2010. “Sleep Patterns and Predictors of Disturbed Sleep in a Large Population of College Students.” Sciencedirect.Com. February 2010 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X09002389