Sleep & Success

"Tonight, I will burn the midnight oil! I am going to study like a king. Won't sleep till I finish reading everything!"

I am sure many might have thought like this some or the other time during their student days.

Some might have even executed this.

But is it wise to sacrifice your sleep before exams?

Is it safe to do that?

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Let's first understand why we think like this?

1. It's quite natural to think that if you sleep less, you will have more waking hours and therefore you will be able to study more.

2.Another thought behind this could be your belief that "Sleeping is a luxury or sleeping is a sign of laziness"

3. Or it could be due to certain beliefs passed on to us like,

"Dreams are not what you see in sleep,

Dreams are something that don't let you sleep!"

Clearly sleeping implies, you are a careless, lazy person according to such beliefs! But such toxic positivity is actually biologically unsustainable.

Having a good sleep routine, taking proper rest is the key to achieving sustainable 'success' in any field.

If you think you can do well by all of a sudden reducing your sleep drastically right before exams, then it's a myth. I can tell you this from personal experience too.

When you don't sleep well, it becomes difficult to be focused, alert and difficult to recall the material already learnt.

Not sleeping also leads to poor memory consolidation.

Sleep deprivation has many far-reaching physical and mental health outcomes.

Remember, no wars are won by practising on the last day! Same goes for exams or other important things in life.

So don't unnecessarily sacrifice on your sleep last moment and harass your body unnecessarily. Trust the processes and stick to it.

Don't change your sleeping habits right before exams.

Also, don't self prescribe medicines for inducing sleep.

If you have difficulty sleeping, contact a Psychiatrist near you.

Don't worry, Psychiatrists don't just offer sleeping pills. That's a myth for another day.