You may have already heard about the point of diminishing returns. It is an economic principle often talked about in relation to the mass production of products and economies of scale. The idea behind it is quite simple — increasing the input does not always lead to more output. There is a point at which the return on your investment starts to decay.
Consider this example. Say you have a factory that makes paperclips. The machines take cubes of solid steel and turn them into perfect paperclips, already packaged and ready for sale. Since the machines turn steel into paperclips, you may believe that the more steel you have, the more paperclips you’ll get. But that’s only true to a certain point.
Too much steel and you’ll wear down the machinery. Even if you don’t go above capacity, operating above the optimal speed will overheat the parts, increase wear and tear, and just overall lead to more costs than you anticipated. That’s what happens when you cross the point of diminishing returns — you start getting less value out of your input. And that’s what you have to keep in mind when it comes to sleep loss as a student.
How long can you stay awake?
University students are no strangers to pulling all-nighters, especially as they climb their way to getting Master’s and Doctor’s degrees. But staying awake longer only helps you produce more up to a point. Eventually, you’ll cross the point of diminishing returns, and you’ll be so drowsy that an hour of your sleepless study effort will only be worth as much as a half-hour of regular study.
Keep pushing and soon enough each hour will only be worth 15 minutes, then 5, and eventually you’ll be grueling over a text that you won’t even remember in the morning. Studying hard is good, but only when the results are worth the sacrifice. That’s why it’s important for you to be strategic about your sleep, rather than just staying awake no matter what because you’re worried you won’t meet a deadline if you fall asleep.
Sometimes, a short nap can help you reach your deadline, rather than hinder you. That’s what being strategic about your sleep is all about.
Sleep and self-care strategies
It’s important to remember that sleep does more than just allowing your body to rest. Your brain builds memories and assimilates knowledge during your sleep. On top of that, sleep helps regulate your hormone levels, which can help you feel both calmer and more energetic the next day. Sleep loss, on the other hand, accentuates feelings of anxiety.
This means that if you are going to skip sleep, you need to be smart about it. Don’t just stay up until you are done. Keep an eye out for the moment when staying up is doing you more harm than good. Is it worth getting through that next chapter if the sleeplessness will boost your anxiety, which might make you freeze the next day?
It’s also important to remember that sleep isn’t a binary choice. Don’t stay up just because you’ll only get an hour’s worth of sleep if you get to bed — that one hour can do you plenty of good. Yes, getting an hour of sleep will leave you disoriented by the time you wake up, but that’s nothing a cold shower won’t solve. You can even help yourself keep going by printing some motivational quotes on a custom shower curtain. And after that initial bout of disorientation, you’ll feel much better than if you had gotten no sleep at all.