Whats better- getting more sleep before your test or staying up all night studying?

The truth is, neither is as good as studying a little every day, and getting a normal amount of sleep every day. Of course this requires some discipline and commitment to maintain, but will result in much greater retention of information than "cramming." If you can keep up with your homework and studies, you'll find that you don't need to stay up studying for exams.

Hi Stephanie,

A new study has confirmed the benefits of getting some sleep in between study sessions, showing that catching more z’s may make it easier to recall what you studied and relearn what you've forgotten. The researchers looked at how repetition and sleep influence memory when they are combined.

"Our results suggest that interleaving sleep between practice sessions leads to a twofold advantage, reducing the time spent relearning and ensuring a much better long-term retention than practice alone," said psychological scientist Stephanie Mazza of the University of Lyon. "Previous research suggested that sleeping after learning is definitely a good strategy, but now we show that sleeping between two learning sessions greatly improves such a strategy."Previous studies have shown the correlation between improved memory and both repeated practice and sleep, but there is little research investigating how repetition and sleep influence memory when they are combined.

Mazza and a team of researchers examined a group of 40 French adults that studied and then recited 16 French-Swahili word pairs in random order. Twelve hours after the initial session, participants translated the words again, practicing the whole list until all 16 words were correctly interpreted; sleeping in between sessions seemed to allow participants to learn in less time and with less effort.

"Memories that were not explicitly accessible at the beginning of relearning appeared to have been transformed by sleep in some way," Mazza said. "Such transformation allowed subjects to re-encode information faster and to save time during the relearning session."

Mazza and colleagues concluded that alternating study sessions with sleep might be an easy and effective way to remember information over longer periods of time with less study.

In: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/for-better-grades-study-more-often-on-more-sleep/ar-BBvVqHL?li=BBnbfcL

Good dreams and good studies!!

STUDYING! But also you need at least 5 hrs of sleep and a ton of caffeine the next day. But to avoid this focus in time management <span style="background-color: transparent;">You have to set a routine for yourself and stick to it for the most part. Once you get into the groove of a routine it will be much easier for you to manage your time and have enough time for everything you need to do (including relaxing). Make yourself to-do lists on a weekly basis, use Google calendar or a planner to keep track of events, deadlines, and due dates. In addition to setting a routine and sticking to it, plan out relaxing activities into your day. Or set aside a time, after everything is done for the day, that you can have "me" time. I have also personally found it essential to not only find time for myself but also make use of that time in a way that is best for me and my holistic wellness. I have found the HeadSpace app to be an essential tool in helping me relax and generally feel more relaxed throughout the day, Guided meditation, even if you have a busy schedule, will make you feel more at ease and relaxed throughout the day as a whole (not just when you have the time to relax and focus on that "me" time).</span>

<span style="background-color: transparent;">Set a routine.Use Google Calendar.Set aside Me TimeWrite weekly to-do lists and use a planner.Find a peaceful and restful activity that will help you feel relaxed.</span>

My straight answer, it depends. In my experience, it depends on the material you need to know and how well you know it already. If the test is over facts, like "Columbus sailed in 1482", that can be memorized, and you have a good chance of sticking that in your brain. If its more complex information, if you don't already know it, it's not likely that you'll remember all the processes once you get to the test. If it can be memorized, you at least have a shot at remembering it the next day. If not, you're likely just torturing yourself for a 3% grade difference than if you didn't deprive yourself of sleep. My advice is to start studying early! Learning your material instead of just remembering it for a test is the best thing you can do.

Hi Keith! i think you need to find a balance, i normally study a lot the day before, i woke up early and study mostly all day, and at night i have time to go out, maybe go to the movies, relax and get my sleep, this really help me, but for example a friend was the oppossit she stayed up all night and arrive at the test almost directly, and it help her, so i guess try and see what works for you!