Should I stay up late revising? (2023)

Should you stay up late to revise?

Avoid cramming

Staying up late cramming may seem like a good idea, but it's counterproductive.

Four benefits of being a night-time reviser

Heading into the night you are guaranteed to encounter less distraction and far quieter spaces than you would do during the day. If it's a 24-hour library it could well be virtually empty, if you revise at home then likely everyone else will have hit the sack.

"Trying to stay up late and cram for a test is probably the very worst thing you could do," Saper said. Early to bed, early to rise: For the inevitable late night studying you'll be doing the night before a midterm, it is better to get to sleep at a reasonable hour and wake up early than to stay up for that extra hour.

Study somewhere that works for you

Find a revision environment that works best for you. Make sure it is somewhere quiet and don't revise in bed (you will be way more productive sat at a desk).

It impairs your cognitive function

Sleep deprivation impacts your cognitive function by affecting your memory, ability to concentrate and your problem-solving skills. Put simply, you're not at your best after staying up all night, which means it's the worst time to take a test.

Better Memory

Indeed, it appears that sleep actually 'prioritises memories that we care about' (something that is particularly handy during revision). An undeniable part of success in exams is the ability to recall knowledge – something that sleep can clearly help with.

Staying up all night should never be thought of as positive or beneficial and should be avoided. Even in circumstances when pulling an all-nighter seems like it could help, such as to give you extra time to study or work, it's still typically a bad idea.

Sleeping between 90 and 110 minutes gives your body time to complete one full sleep cycle and can minimize grogginess when you wake. But any sleep is better than not at all — even if it's a 20-minute nap.

Getting a good night's rest is definitely important, but sleep can also help with the recall of study material. Especially on those exams for which you only study once, it is better to stay up late and get some sleep after memorizing terms than to wake up early and cram.

Is sleeping late but getting 8 hours of sleep okay?

This depends upon your genetics, health, and lifestyle. Generally, an adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. A person will generally stabilise in how much sleep they require during young adulthood and stay at the same level for the rest of their life.

Go to bed earlier or wake up later in the days before you know you're going to have to study all night. Just an extra hour or two can help you stay up all night. This extra time can cue your body to the all-nighter as well as give you some extra hours of sleep reserve on which to draw when the night comes.

Cramming just before an exam can (in theory) allow you to remember information in the short term and enable you to take in enough information for the exam. However, this may will most likely mean that you'll have no lasting connections to the knowledge, and you won't develop any deep understanding of the information.

And the more we use our brain to perform mental tasks, the more energy (i.e. glucose) is being used. This results in less glucose in the blood for other parts of the body, leading you to feel extreme exhaustion after long hours of thinking.

Adequate sleep contributes to a student's overall health and well-being. Students should get the proper amount of sleep at night to help stay focused, improve concentration, and improve academic performance.

Over time, forcing the body to stay awake also affects blood pressure and levels of inflammation, resulting in an increased susceptibility to heart disease and cancer. So those are the long-term issues.

Avoid late-night study

If you're using a laptop or tablet, the blue light from these devices will also interrupt the release of melatonin, the hormone that brings on sleepiness. You can prevent this by switching off blue-light devices and closing your textbooks at least two hours before bedtime.

You may experience restlessness, fatigue, dizziness, poor alertness, low endurance and readiness levels, and microsleeps during the day. Not to mention that lack of sleep may also increase your pain sensitivity or reduce pain tolerance levels. If you experience body pains, not getting sleep may worsen your symptoms.

All-nighters have become synonymous with college life, but, realistically, they aren't that common. According to Medical News Today, 20% of college students pull an all-nighter every month, and 35% stay up past 3 AM at least one night every week.

Generally speaking, yes. Most of the time, catching even just a few zzz's is better than nothing. When you truly have less than one hour, power napping for 20 minutes might be your best option.

How many hours of revision is too much?

Attempting to take in a lot of information all at once is really hard on your brain and helps contribute to a lack of concentration, boredom and that constant nagging desire to check your phone! In short, seven hours a day is too much revision.

You really need at least an hour of revision a day if you want to pass your GCSEs. Too many students make the mistake of doing the bare minimum, but I'm afraid that just won't cut it when it comes to GCSEs. If you don't revise for at least an hour, you'll end up with a lot of gaps in your knowledge.

While pulling a late night once in a while isn't great for your health, repeated all-nighters could lead to permanent brain damage.

“It's better to sleep until you just naturally wake up,” says Dinges, which means you may sleep 9 or 10 hours. That will be the true recovery from your sleepless night, he says.

The good news is that following a single night without any sleep, you'll only need to bank an extra two to three hours than normal to return most functions and your mood to normal.

“A power nap is a nap that's short — less than 30 minutes long,” says Safia Khan, MD, a specialist in sleep disorders and an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine and the department of neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Sleep Deprivation

A major con for those studying at night. An average of 6-8 hours of sleep is required for adults. However, because we choose to study at night, we voluntarily give up hours of sleep. This result in sleep deprivation that is inevitably linked to losing focus during the day.

And while the occasional long sleep is generally nothing to worry about, oversleeping several days a week could be a sign that something more serious is going on.

The answer to whether it is better to sleep for two hours or not at all is… neither. Staying awake all night poses health risks in the long and short term. Not sleeping at all can be risky if you have a difficult or manual job, drive, or work in healthcare.

Anxiety, stress, and depression are some of the most common causes of chronic insomnia. Having difficulty sleeping can also make anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms worse. Other common emotional and psychological causes include anger, worry, grief, bipolar disorder, and trauma.

How long is the average person awake a day?

In college, students often are able to pull "all-nighters" – studying only overnight the day before the exam – and still do well. Not in med school. With the vast amount of information, it is not possible to cram it all into just a day or so of studying.

Getting enough sleep is an under-valued but crucial part of learning. Contrary to students' belief that staying up all night to cram for an exam will lead to higher scores, truth is, the need for a good night's rest is even more important than finishing homework or studying for a test.

Studying at 3 AM is a good idea for those who have more brain power and higher energy levels in the wee hours of the night. The same is true for those who can focus more at night as they have accomplished their everyday tasks already and have fewer distractions and interruptions to worry about.

Although resting with your eyes closed doesn't start up your REM cycle and allow you to clock in some sleep time, it does still provide some hefty benefits. Closing your eyes calms your mind and relaxes your muscles and organs. Many refer to it as “quiet wakefulness”.

This is because our brain is constantly forming new connections while we are awake. The longer we are awake, the more active our minds become. Scientists believe that this is partly why sleep deprivation has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression. However, there are negative outcomes of this, too.

There is a persistent myth in popular media claiming we can't catch up on a lack of sleep. However, significant evidence suggests we can in fact recover from the effects of acute sleep debt by getting extra sleep.

That said, science has indicated that learning is most effective between 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 10 pm, when the brain is in an acquisition mode.

studies dating from the 1990s suggest that due to natural variations in our cycle of alertness, we can concentrate for no longer than 90 minutes before needing a 15-minute break.

Most of the students prefer to study in the early morning, generally from 4 or 5 AM in the morning as the brain is more likely to concentrate. It could be the best option for students who have more stamina early in the day.

What is the 20 minute rule in studying?

The 20-minute rule means focusing on one particular task and solely focusing on that chosen activity for 20 minutes without interruptions. Nass adds that if this is done for two weeks, people could become more productive.

Follow the “15-minute rule”

This is where the 15-minute rule comes in: Take 15 minutes to solve the problem any way you can. If you don't have an answer after 15 minutes, you must ask someone.

Fortunately, a week can be enough time to get ready for a test. Just study a little every day so you can keep your stress levels low. You might even have fun while you study!

What Is Academic Burnout? Academic burnout can be defined as a negative emotional, physical and mental reaction to prolonged study that results in exhaustion, frustration, lack of motivation and reduced ability in school.

(2) Time management is important. Read out all the questions carefully before writing anything on the answer sheet and always start your answering from the questions which will carry maximum marks as well as which you think is tougher.

What's the best time to revise...? Time of day - Think about when you work best (morning, afternoon or evening). When you need to learn facts, try to revise when you are most alert and focused. Taking breaks - Take regular breaks to let your memory recover and absorb the information you have just studied.

Take a nap

Many people think that sacrificing sleep for study time is a must the night before their exam, but multiple studies show that getting enough sleep (6.5 – 8 hours) is a vital way to consolidate key information.

Get a calendar and write down the date of your exam. The day before will be a full revision day, then count backward two days from the last revision day and that will be the next revision day, do the same for the next 3, 5, and 7 days and you'll have a perfect revision calendar.

According to The Student Room, most students spend around 15-20 hours revising over a working week. That's around three-to-four hours per day. If that still sounds like a lot, don't worry – it's just a guide.

Is studying at 3am good?

Studying at 3 AM is a good idea for those who have more brain power and higher energy levels in the wee hours of the night. The same is true for those who can focus more at night as they have accomplished their everyday tasks already and have fewer distractions and interruptions to worry about.