25 Napping Facts Every College Student Should Know

1. It makes you smarter
   According to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California, napping for as little as one hour resets your short-term memory and helps you learn facts more easily after you wake up.
2. Abandon all-nighters
   Foregoing sleep by cramming all night reduces your ability to retain information by up to 40%. If you can, mix in a nap somewhere to refresh your hippocampus.
3. It doesn’t mean what you think
   If you know you have to pull an all-nighter, try a “prophylactic nap." It’s a short nap in advance of expected sleep deprivation that will help you stay alert for up to 10 hours afterwards.
4. You can’t avoid that down period after lunch by not eating
   Human bodies naturally go through two phases of deep tiredness, one between 2-4 a.m. and between 1-3 p.m. Skipping lunch won’t help this period of diminished alertness and coordination.
5. Pick the right time
   After lunch in the early afternoon your body naturally gets tired. This is the best time to take a brief nap, as it’s early enough to not mess with your nighttime sleep.
6. Hour naps are great
   A 60-minute nap improves alertness for 10 hours, although with naps over 45 minutes you risk what’s known as “sleep inertia," that groggy feeling that may last for half an hour or more.
7. But short naps are best
   For healthy young adults, naps as short as 20, 10, or even 2 minutes can be all you need to get the mental benefits of sleep, without risking grogginess.
8. Drink coffee first
   The way this works is you drink a cup of coffee right before taking your 20-minute or half-hour nap, which is precisely how long caffeine takes to kick in. That way when you wake up, you’re not only refreshed, but ready to go.
9. The NASA nap
   A little group called NASA discovered that just a 26-minute nap increases performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. Pilots take advantage of NASA naps while planes are on autopilot.
10. Can’t sleep? Don’t stress
    Even if you can’t fall asleep for a nap, just laying down and resting has benefits. Studies have found resting results in lowered blood pressure, which even some college kids have to worry about if they are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure.
11. Napping may save your life
    A multi-year Greek study found napping at least three times per week for at least 30 minutes resulted in a 37% lower death rate due to heart problems.
12. More nap benefits for the brain
    Not only will napping improve your alertness, it will also help your decision-making, creativity, and sensory perception.
13. But wait, there’s more
    Studies have found napping raises your stamina 11%, increases ability to stay asleep all night by 12%, and lowers the time required to fall asleep by 14%.
14. The ultimate nap
    According to Dr. Sara Mednick, the best nap occurs when REM sleep is in proportion to slow-wave sleep. Use her patented Take A Nap Nap Wheel to calculate what time of day you can nap to the max.
15. Fight the Freshman 15
    Research shows that women who sleep five hours at night are 32% more likely to experience major weight gain than those sleeping seven hours. A two-hour nap isn’t feasible for many, but napping is a good way to make up for at least some lost night sleep.
16. If it was good enough for them…Presidents JFK and Bill Clinton used to nap every day to help ease the heavy burden of ruling the free world. Of course, they also had other relaxation methods, but we won’t get into those.
17. Do like the Romans doIn ancient Rome, everyone, including children, retreated for a 2 or 3-hour nap after lunch. No doubt this is the reason the Roman empire lasted over 1,000 years
18. Don’t wait too longThe latest you want to wake up from a nap is five hours before bedtime, otherwise you risk not being able to fall asleep at night.
19. Sugar is not a good substitute for a napWhen we are tired, we instinctively reach for foods with a high glycemic index, but after the initial energy wears off, we’re left more tired than we were before.
20. It’s a good way to catch upIf it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep at night, you are sleep deprived. If you never can seem to get to bed earlier at night, a mid-day nap is a great way to catch up on sleep.
21. Underclassmen need more sleepFreshmen and sophomores who are still in your teens: you need up to 10 hours of sleep to feel rested. So odds are, you are sleep-deprived.
22. You’ll have to leave the party soonerAfter one school-week of not getting enough sleep, three alcoholic drinks will affect you the same way six would when you are fully rested.
23. Don’t drive drowsyDon’t be afraid to take advantage of an “emergency nap" on the side of the road in your car. Every year, as many as 100,000 traffic fatalities are caused by sleepy people behind the wheel.
24. The Einstein MethodIf you are concerned about sleeping too long, do what Albert Einstein regularly did: hold a pencil while you’re drifting off, so when you fall asleep, the pencil dropping will wake you up. (We do not guarantee you will wake up with a 180 IQ.)
25. Missing sleep is worse at your ageFor people ages 18 to 24, sleep deprivation impairs performance more significantly than in other age brackets.

Studying Tips: Heading off to College or University for the first time

Transitioning from highschool to college can be an exciting but also stressful period of life. You may find yourself living at a new place, learning how to adapt or recreate your studying strategies, finding or making new friends, keeping up with old friends, managing extracurricular activities, or figuring out whichcourses to take.  This post were some advice/tips that I created when I was in 3rd year aimed to help others in similar positions. 

Advice 1: You’re not alone.  

There are other first year students too who are facing just about the same things. You would even be surprised if you talked to another first year and ask how they are doing, they will tell you a similar problem as above. For example, a common one is “waahh, I failed my midterms.” 

I really emphasize acknowledging that you’re not alone and that once you realize this, do not be embarrassed to ask for help. 

In my first year, my first impression after failing my first few midterms was that I didn’t belong here. I was probably overrated. So I felt embarrassed to let anyone know thinking I was the only one. This was until I started making friends and to others that I realized that I was not alone.

The standards in university or college are much higher than highschool. People who get in are often the best students. So the midterms, exams, pacing of the course are much higher than average. You do really find yourself in a new environment. 

For me, my main challenges were of course getting the grades I wanted or had always gotten, studying efficiently, making connections with the right people, finding the resources I needed, managing my commitments on extracurricular. As a result, my grades were severely impacted, because I didn’t fully acquire these resources. 

I started attending seminars and talking to other students and professors about how to manage my grades. Over time, I learn that I was not the only one who was having all these challenges. Other first years students who I talked to had them as well. Then we started talking and sharing our experiences, and over time, helped each other improved. 

So definitely reach out. You will feel less alone, and you will be able to move forward. 

Advice 2: Use your resources to help you achieve your goals. This includes the following: 

 a. Making connections with senior students who can give you advice on studying or share their personal success stories or recommend courses or which professors to take classes with. They can even lend notes or sell you textbooks and save you time looking for them.  
 b. Talk to your professors or teaching assistants on a regular basis about the class topics. You’ve paid them to teach you, so make use of their time. Some professors and teaching assistants are glad that you are asking them questions because it shows them that you are finding an interest in their class. They may even write reference letters for you in the future or tell you about possible job or volunteer opportunities.
 c.  Form study groups with students in your class. Study groups are usually consist of two to four people and you usually meet up once a week or a couple times near exam time and talk about the materials. 

Advice 3: Choose the courses that interests you and are part of your degree requirement. A common downfall for first year students is taking too many courses and courses that their friends are taking. Take fewer courses and only the courses that you need to take or courses you think you will be interested in. First, taking too many courses will take you too away of your studying time. Second, because you are in the stage where you are just learning how to study, you will have a hard time. Lastly, if you take courses because your friends are taking or courses that you don’t think you will enjoy, you will not be very motivated.  

Advice 4: Do not skip classes and keep up with the course materials.This point is strongly recommended. If you ever find yourself behind on your readings or assignments any point in time, it is a clear sign that if you don’t catch up, you will have so much trouble when to studying for exams. You want to make sure your exam studying time is used reviewing materials and not learning new materials. 

Advice 5: Come up with some studying philosophies. For instance, if you want to become a doctor, and you see someone across or next to you on the bus with his or her textbooks opened, you might want to open your textbooks as well and study.