Dr. Matthew Walker published a book in 2017 called Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. In the book he warns of the serious long term dangers (cancer, heart attacks, obesity, infertility, ADHD, decreased immunity – and many large-scale epidemiological studies that all conclude that the shorter you sleep, the shorter you live).
But lack of sleep is much more insidious for learners – and this is compounded by the time demands that learners are often subjected to. The icing on the cake is the lack of public attention that this very serious issue gets despite the World Health Organization declaring lack of societal sleep as a global health epidemic (p. 4) and the Centers for Disease Control declaring insufficient sleep as a public health epidemic (p. 296).
When discussing with students the importance of sleep (FYE courses are a brilliant home for this conversation), it might help to reiterate some of Walker’s most pointed arguments:
- You are most likely sleep deprived if, after waking, you can fall asleep again by 10 or 11 or need caffeine before noon (p. 34). Other indicators include desperately relying on your alarm clock and re-reading information several times to process it (p. 35)
- “Struck by the weight of damning scientific evidence, the Guinness Book of World Records has stopped recognizing attempts to break the sleep deprivation world record. Recall that Guinness deems it acceptable for a man (Felix Baumgartner) to ascend 128,000 feet into the outer reaches of our atmosphere in a hot-air balloon wearing a spacesuit, open the door of his capsule, stand atop a ladder suspended above the planet, and then free-fall back down to Earth at a top speed of 843 mph (1,358 kmh), passing through the sound barrier while creating a sonic boom with just his body. But the risks associated with sleep deprivation are considered to be far, far higher. Unacceptably high, in fact, based on the evidence” (p. 133).
- One of the most common reasons given by students for pulling an all-nighter is cramming. While we know that this is ineffective from a cognitive science perspective (spacing is much more effective), Dr. Walker has conducted a study that showed a 40% deficit in the ability of sleep-deprived learners to cram new facts into their brain – that’s the difference between an A and an F (p. 153).
- Sleeping gives the brain an environment to cogitate acquired knowledge and contextualize that knowledge into a network, thanks to REM (p. 219). But the converse is not analog; learning impairments can occur when deep sleep is prevented by distractions such as infrequent sounds (p. 154).
- In a 1924 study that has been replicated many times, memory retention sees a benefit of 20% to 40% with healthy sleep habits (p. 113).
- Insufficient sleep at night after a day of learning has an irrecoverable effect; learners cannot “catch-up” on their sleep. As Dr. Walker puts it, “sleep for memory consolidation is an all-or-nothing event” (p. 156).
And one of the issues that makes all of these findings even more potent is sleep deprivation is remarkably easy to fall victim to.
- Only ten days of sleeping six hours a night showed impairment equivalent to not sleeping for twenty four hours. Even scarier – performance deterioration accrues the longer the short sleeping happens (p. 136).
The solution is clear – students need sleep to combat learning deficits. This requires a self-interrogation of how to manage time (also a great FYE topic). The solution also includes better sleeping habits. Dr. Walker includes six tactics (p. 291):
- Establish a regular bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends
- Go to bed only when sleepy and avoid sleeping on the couch early/mid-evenings
- Never lie awake in bed for a significant time period; rather, get out of bed and do something quiet and relaxing until the urge to sleep returns
- Avoid daytime napping if you are having difficulty sleeping at night
- Reduce anxiety-provoking thoughts and worries by learning to mentally decelerate before bed
- Remove visible clock faces from view in the bedroom, preventing clock-watching anxiety at night
Students can also use strategies like spacing to avoid cramming.
Educators can be part of the solution too. Talking to students about the long term effects of sleep is helpful – especially if the topic is revisited from time to time. Additionally, adjusting the time that assignments are due can reinforce to the student your commitment to healthier sleeping. Although the default time for assignments in Blackboard is 11:59 pm, why not use noon? Noon is equally as easy to remember as midnight but it encourages better habits. Unless work is going to be graded at 12:01 am, there is no functional reason to have the work due then.
Get some sleep this weekend – especially with Daylight Savings this weekend (which Dr. Walker claims is the largest study that happens twice a year about the power of sleep, but you’ll have to read the book to know the results. Spoiler alert: it isn’t pretty).
If you are interested in hearing more from Dr. Walker, you can pick up his book, listen to his mind-blowing interview on the Joe Rogan Experience (#1109), see his TED Talk, check out his appearance on the TED Radio Hour from NPR, listen to him on the Finding Mastery podcast, or hear him on the Nike Trained podcast. Or read about what Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian says about the book.
