What if I told you that I don’t stay up to the early hours of the morning every night studying? I told this to my friends one day, and they all laughed, saying that I was foolish, and I wasn’t studying enough. Not to toot my own horn, but I still finished my first term with honours. I’m not even one of those people who are “just naturally good at everything”. All I did was sleep, and focus in class.
I learned so much in lectures because I wasn’t deprived of sleep. While other people were falling asleep, I was engaged and picking up all of the relevant material. Then when I got home and started reviewing, I didn’t have to start from scratch. The basic material stuck with me. This led to shorter review sessions, earlier bed times and pretty good grades.
You may be aware that professors often post lecture slides and/or videos online. So what’s the difference between going to class and watching the videos? The difference is that you have to watch the 50-minute video on your own time, which cuts into your review time for other classes. Skipping one class to sleep means that another class will have to be skipped in order to watch the video or you risk pulling an all-nighter to watch the video. It’s a cycle, and it doesn’t let up easily.
Success in university is a combination of good study habits and sleep. Yes, you have to know the material, but that step is easier when you get some sleep. Try it from the beginning of the term; focus during lectures and sleep at night. You may just find that 8:30 am lectures aren’t that bad after all.
