Succeeding in College: Rest

The semester after I gave birth to my son, I taught a literature class composed of a mixture of traditional college students and students in the TAMS program (a hybrid high school/college program). We were having an informal discussion, and one of the high schoolers raised his hand: “How often do you pull an all-nighter?” The question was fair. Although I had completed all my coursework, I was technically still a student, working on my dissertation while teaching two classes. However, I had been up with my newborn multiple times the night before, and I could imagine nothing worse than intentionally depriving myself of sleep.

As an undergrad, I remember pulling two all-nighters. The first was a study session with friends my freshman year. We crammed for a test and grabbed Whataburger at 2 AM. There was something magical about sitting outside with no one to answer to as we giggled through our delirious state. And yet, while I have no recollection of the test itself, I cannot imagine that the time spent reviewing material under the buzzing security lights outside the library helped my grade.

The second time I pulled an all-nighter was the night of my 21st birthday. I had a big paper due the next day, and I had done most of the research but hadn’t started writing. After classes were out, I went to grab dinner and a beer with a friend (you have to celebrate a little, right?), and then went back to my apartment to begin writing. I finished just before morning and snuck in a power nap before class.

The thing is, I didn’t need to stay up all night either of these times. Yes, the work was due the next day. Yes, I hadn’t finished it yet. However, the professors didn’t announce the test the day before or assign a paper the afternoon before the due date. I had known about these assignments from the beginning of the semester and had received additional details along the way.

This could easily be an entry about time management, and you’ll likely see one from me in the future, so I don’t want to belabor the point about the importance of breaking assignments into manageable parts or starting early. But this is an entry about rest. Pulling an all-nighter isn’t an essential part of college but rest is. And no, sleeping in your clothes for a couple hours before you roll out of bed and stumble to class is not enough.

There is a reason that primary and secondary schools send reminders to parents to make sure their kids get plenty of sleep before the night of a standardized test. Research has shown that “Students with less sleep and higher reported levels of sleepiness generally have lower grades and alertness.” This is because sleep is necessary for “memory formation and consolidation, emotional functioning […], and executive functioning.” These connections are especially significant in adolescents and adults. In other words, not sleeping or not getting enough sleep may mean that a) your brain doesn’t synthesize the information needed to perform on that big test, b) you are more likely to feel stressed or emotional about a test or project, and c) you can’t make the connections that normally come naturally to you.

It’s not just sleep that’s important, however, but also rest between activities. Recent research on attention span has provided inconsistent results. From the suggestion that the average human’s attention span is 8 seconds (less than that of a goldfish!) to the rebuttal that shows most adults have binge watched a show (spending 5+ hours focused in on a single storyline), our understanding of attention span is varied and incomplete. And yet, any study focused on attention span will point to some limit (whether it be 8 seconds, 10 to 15 minutes, or more).

Anecdotally, I’ve learned that I can focus on a single project for about an hour. After that point, my attention wanes. I start surfing the internet. I remember that I need to make an appointment for an oil change. I start thinking about the pile of laundry piled up in the bedroom. I start to tense up, my eyes start to blur, I become physically and mentally distracted.

If a stay at my desk, my pace becomes slower. The connections between ideas become less sharp. However, if I take a 10 to 15-minute break—maybe to call and make that appointment or to throw in a load of laundry or even to do a quick yoga session—I can return to the same project with new eyes.

This is not unlike the experience of running or other physical activity. I recently started a training plan for another half-marathon. It’s been 4 years since I ran my last one, and I’m not sure I actually want to sign up for a race. I now live at a higher elevation (approximately 6000 vs. 900 feet), and I haven’t been able to get my speed or endurance up since our move 2 years ago. But I realized that I missed the feeling of accomplishment of going out and running longer distances. And I missed getting to vary my routes on the longer runs. So, I go out and I run…and I also walk…a lot. I walk because my legs are tired or I’m out of breath or my heart rate is getting too high.

Sometimes it’s hard to walk because I don’t feel like a real runner. And maybe you feel like this as a student—that if you don’t keep pushing you are somehow not worthy of being where you are—that you are not a good enough student. Maybe you feel like those 5-hour sessions in the library are proof that you are serious—that you can wear the badge of "studious".

But the rest does something transformational. As I walk, I notice the tightness in my back fade. My legs loosen just a bit. My heart rate and breath return to their normal range. I get a chance to check the map and make sure I’m still headed in the right direction. And then I get going again. I’ve been able to regulate my breath and now I can go further, much further than I could have gone if I had just stopped when I ran out of breath the first time.

*****

Both physically and mentally we need breaks. We cannot expect our bodies and our minds to continue grinding hour after hour on the same task. I’ve heard students say that they can never go to a sporting event, can’t participate in a club that seems perfect for them, or that can’t make friends because these distractions will prevent them from doing well in school.

But I want to suggest the opposite is true. We need sleep, we need breaks, and we need connection. Students are not machines, and those of us who have lived through a culture of pulling all-nighters, spending the entire weekend in the library, and missing out on opportunities can break the cycle by sharing this truth.

Is it important to get one’s work done? Absolutely. I’m not suggesting abandoning commitment or shrugging off responsibility. However, succeeding in college does not require pulling an all-nighter. And, spending 3 separate, focused hours on homework is probably going to produce a higher quantity and quality of work than 5 consecutive hours with waning focus, an aching back, a lack of clarity of how to proceed. I hope that student from my literature class now knows that you can get all you need to get done with better planning, acknowledgment of what is important, and a little bit more sleep and rest.