Sleeping In College Research Papers

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Sleep is a beautiful part of life. However, as a college student nearing the end of a semester, sleeping does not happen as frequently or as regularly as it should. College requires massive amounts of accomplishments each day with minimal sleep, so how does sleep work and how can an individual sleep most efficiently? Nightly sleep is composed of different phases creating cycles of non-REM and REM patterns which are more commonly known as light sleep and deep sleep. Non-REM sleep begins the minute you close your eyes - it begins with a couple of short muscle contractions before the muscles relax and you fall asleep. As you begin to sleep the short beta waves are replaced by slow alpha waves and eventually your body begins to experience …show more content…
During this stage, the skeletal muscles act as though they are paralyzed, and the eyes move around rapidly, hence the name. This state of Paralysis has many benefits because without this we may act out our dreams which could be dangerous. A full sleep cycle typically lasts about 90 minutes, so the cycle is repeated several times in one night. Without the luxury of a consistent bedtime and wake up time, how can one sleep more efficiently each day? The typical adult requires 7-9 hours of sleep each night, but even when this amount of time is available, sleeping 6 or 9 hours is better than sleeping 7 or 8 because of the sleep cycle patterns. The prime wake up time is during the Non-REM phase, where the body can wake up easily and comfortably. Napping should be planned, for oversleeping a nap can cause grogginess for the rest of the day. A 10-20 minute nap is perfect for alertness because you wake up before your body hits REM, and makes it easier to get up and go. When you are particularly sleepy, drink a cup of coffee right before a 10-20 minute nap, and you will wake up restored! 30 minutes of napping will not make you feel better because your body begins to enter REM and will wake up during deep sleep which will make