As college students, many of us live by that old adage, "sleep is for the weak." We wear our all-nighters and our exhaustion as a badge of honor. We are so consumed in the activities of our daily lives, and between being social, doing homework, studying, working, interning, participating in clubs and sports, we have little time to take for ourselves. We stay up into the odd hours of the morning during the weekend to keep on partying or binge-watching Netflix, and during the week we pull all-nighters and stay up past dawn to finish those papers we procrastinated on and study for our exams. We all know that we need sleep, but we've challenged ourselves to sleep the least amount possible in order to make sure things get done. Arianna Huffington, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post, is trying to change that, one college campus at a time.
On Friday, April 8, Huffington kicked off her #SleepRevolution College Tour, an initiative to reframe how we talk about sleep, by providing information and resources about the importance and power of sleep. HuffPost is visiting 15 college campuses and bringing along free swag to help students get a better night's sleep and free copies of Huffington's latest book, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life One Night At A Time.
Huffington talked about how sleep is one of the first things we tend to make cuts to. Though we do it all of the time, it can actually be quite harmful. Huffington talked about a personal experience with exhaustion and the toll it took on her life, and how that experience motivated her to work with experts and look at the consequences of not sleeping well or not sleeping enough. One of her biggest pieces of advice for students is to unplug before bed. We've become so obsessed with our technology, and the data in her book, she notes, shows that leaving our technology outside the bedroom, away from our bed, and stopping our usage at least five minutes before we decide to go to bed, can improve our quality of sleep.
DU's campus is not the only campus on her tour, just the first. Upcoming campus visits can be found here, as well as various other resources, like her Sleep Revolution Manifesto.
In light of the kickoff, I decided to ask some current college students about their relationships with sleep.
Stephanie, University of Denver
How many hours of sleep do you normally get per night? Four to six hours
Why is sleep important to you? Sleep is important to simply function, and as a college student, I need to be alert and ready fro the day since my job is literally to absorb information.
What are your thoughts on the Sleep Revolution Tour? Sometimes it's important to hear what you already know from others, especially experts and people who have truly suffered the consequences of not sleeping. I also love that they are taking time and planning this tour in order to reach one of the most sleep-deprived communities.
Alexandra, Aims Community College
How many hours of sleep do you normally get per night? I get nine hours of sleep.
Best places on campus to take a nap? I'd say the music/art hall, but I'd rather sleep at home.
Why is sleep important to you? Sleep's important to me because I deal with a lot of people on a daily basis, and it keeps me sane.
Sarah, University of Denver
How many hours of sleep do you get per night? Six or seven hours
Why is sleep important to you? Sleep is super important for me because of my medications, and I really enjoy sleeping well. But in reality, I sleep poorly more often than not.
Krystin, University of Northern Colorado
How many hours of sleep do you get per night? I tend to get anywhere between five and eight hours of sleep on average. Sometimes life gets in the way and some things become more important than getting a good, full night's sleep. It's strange; sleep used to be my escape for when life became too overwhelming. But now, it's the opposite. Whenever I am stressed, or depressed about something, I stay awake.
Why is sleep important to you? Being a Psychology major, I understand how important sleep is for an individual not only cognitively, but emotionally and physically. Lack of sleep can lead to a decrease in concentration in certain tasks, such as a job; it can affect you as a parent; it can make you either more or less emotional; and it makes you more stressed because your body is not getting the time it needs to relax and rejuvenate.
Best places on campus to take a nap? As far as places to nap on campus, well, the only place I've ever napped was in the library. I curled up in a small but comfy chair. It was quite nice.
Michaela, University of Denver
How many hours of sleep do you get per night? I get around six hours of sleep per night on average, but if can vary drastically on a daily basis. Some nights I get four hours of sleep, other nights I get eight.
What are your thoughts on the Sleep Revolution Tour? I appreciate that the Sleep Revolution College Tour is acknowledging the importance of sleep for college students, for performance, well-being, and overall success. Too often, sleep is considered an optional way to spend time, or the thing that is first sacrificed in order to prioritize socializing, school work, or jobs.
Best places on campus to take a nap? Napping in a hammock in the sun is definitely an ideal napping situation.
Why is sleep important to you? Without sufficient sleep, it's difficult for me to be engaged in what I'm doing throughout the day, whether that's classes, homework, volunteering, or hanging out with friends. Going through the motions of anything without energy and just constantly wanting to go back to bed isn't nearly as productive or healthy as making time to sleep and take care of yourself. It's easy for me to push myself to stay up late to finish assignments, but I recognize that I may end up learning and benefitting more by resting first, then tacking my assignments with a fresh mind.
Sleeping is a vital form of self-care, and though we're notorious for making it a last thought, it might be worth trying to make it a priority.
