Over half of college students get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night. Experts say maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is critical to one’s physical and mental health.

Shobhan Gaddameedhi, an associate professor in the department of biological sciences and principal investigator in the Circadian Clock and Genotoxic Stress Laboratory, said the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle is a circadian rhythm, meaning it is coordinated by an internal biological clock that is set by external cues. Gaddameedhi said a common disruption to students’ sleep-wake cycle is called social jetlag, which occurs when people stay up late and sleep in on weekends. This shift in one’s sleep schedule affects the circadian rhythm similar to traveling across time zones.

“By Monday, for students trying to go back to their normal schedule, it’s forcing against their biological clock,” Gaddameedhi said. “Our physical clock changes, but our biological clock doesn’t change like that.”

Disrupting the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle can influence one’s mental health because the circadian clock plays a role in balancing mood, Gaddameedhi said.  

“Neurotransmitters, which connect our neurons in the brain, play a role in stabilizing the mood and behavior of an individual,” Gaddameedhi said. “When there is sleep disruption or circadian disruption such as social jetlag — where a student, because they have to study a lot, they don’t sleep well — that could affect their serotonin levels or dopamine levels, which are mood stabilizers. Students could feel depression symptoms. That’s why maintaining a balance of sleep is very important.”

Khyati Desai, a master’s student in engineering management, said her sleep schedule is largely predicated on the balance between her part-time job, classes and social life. 

“Last semester, I used to sleep only four or five hours, and it was really bad,” Desai said. “After that, I had to pick up less shifts, and I had to work on my sleep schedule because it was affecting how I looked and how I felt.”

Gaddameedhi said the sleep-wake cycle is heavily influenced by light, so one strategy to help avoid disrupting your circadian rhythm is exposure to light — ideally sunlight — when you wake up.

“It’s called ‘bright light therapy,’” Gaddameedhi said. “When you wake up in the morning, sit in front of the dining table or in the living room under a bright light and have breakfast. That really activates our circadian clock and plays a role in balancing neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.” 

Desai said she avoids late-night homework sessions that disrupt her sleep schedule by preventing procrastinating on assignments. 

“I invested in a scheduling board and I have a marker, and I wrote down my entire January schedule,” Desai said. “I know that if I have an assignment due on Sunday, I won’t start on Saturday or forget about it.” 

Gaddameedhi said one’s diet can play a role in the quality of their sleep. 

“Our metabolism is really slow in the nighttime compared to the morning,” Gaddameedhi said. “To have a good night’s sleep, you should eat light food and less heavy food, because it digests much faster. Less fried food, more salad.” 

Jasmine Khakhunmalee, a first-year studying electrical engineering, said she builds her class schedule to include time for homework, which helps her avoid staying up late and preserve time to sleep. 

“I prefer morning classes,” Khakhunmalee said. “I think if you do morning classes, you have the whole afternoon. You can do homework in segments for each subject since some of them might be hard and some of them might be easy. Use the afternoon to do your assignments.”

Gaddameedhi said students should also be mindful of their exposure to blue light, as this can interfere with their sleep-wake schedule.

“For a lot of the younger generations like students, the day doesn’t pass without smartphones or computers,” Gaddameedhi said. “When you use smartphones or computers, make sure you use blue light filters on the device.” 

To learn more about sleep, check the Circadian Clock and Genotoxic Stress Laboratory’s website.