Why Early Nights Should Become Your BFF

For those night owls out there - this is for you. We're sorry to break it to you…but did you know your late nights aren’t doing you any favours? In fact, late nights can be harmful to your health. Constant late nights lead to sleep deprivation, irritability, fatigue and even sickness. Here at Campus Living Villages, we want the best for our students. So we’re here to tell you to ditch the late nights! You’ll thank us later. 

So why are early nights really so good? Let us explain… 

Sleep helps to strengthen your immune system 

If this point doesn’t convince you to ditch the late nights then we don’t know what will! Not getting enough sleep can weaken your immune system - making it easier to catch a cold, and harder to fight off sickness. In fact, a recent study found that participants who slept less than 5 hours per night were 4.5 times more likely to develop a cold compared to those who slept more than 7 hours! (source) Crazy right? Getting extra hours of good quality sleep will help to keep your immune system nice and strong. So if you’re wanting to avoid the common cold - start with getting a good night's sleep. 

Enhance your productivity and concentration 

If you’re looking to enhance your productivity, then some extra z’s will most definitely do the trick! Good quality sleep helps to minimise feelings of fatigue, enhancing your concentration levels and overall performance. This is a major student win in our eyes. In fact, good sleep can maximise your memory and brain power. So ditch the late-night cramming and swap it for an early morning study session. Overall, early risers tend to be more productive simply because they have more up their sleeves to put to good use. So if you’re a night owl who’s finding it hard to concentrate, try a week of early nights! The first week is always the hardest, but we guarantee once you’re in your rhythm you won’t want to go back. 

Good-quality sleep helps to regulate your emotions & enhance your relationships

When we’re running on no sleep - we lose our ability to regulate our emotions properly. This can lead to general outbursts when stressful times arise in our lives. Like during exam week, or when the workload is high. Did you know that we may even lack empathy and lose our humour when we’re overtired? Which can have a negative impact on our relationships with others. So if you want to keep your emotions controlled and be your happy, healthy self - then opt for the early nights. 

The key takeaways

Like your exercise and nutrition - sleep should be a top priority. If you’re wanting to enhance all aspects of your life (which we’re sure you are), then start by prioritising your sleep. It’s important to note that you aren’t a machine that’s supposed to be up till ungodly hours of the night studying. It’s time to start taking care of yourself by taking care of your sleep. For optimal health, aim for 7-9 hours per night. To make it easier, try to get your housemates at your university accommodation on board with the early nights. The more moral support the better! 

For more tips on quality sleep, read our blog: The Key to a Good Sleep During The Exam Period.