Sleep is important for learning and performance. Help students by pointing this out to them. Getting enough sleep is essential for storing information and improving performance. Researchers suspect that the positive influence of sleep occurs in two ways. On one hand, new information you have acquired during the day is reactivated during sleep. It's as if you think about it one more time. This likely ensures that the memory trace of the new information is more strongly stored in long-term memory. This idea is also known as the trace reactivation hypothesis. Research shows that you can remember information better after a night's sleep than when you stay awake (see figure (Walker, 2006)). On the other hand, sleep is necessary to prepare your brain to perform well. During the day, new connections are made in your brain as you gain experiences, increasing the number of memory traces in your brain. During sleep, connections that are unimportant are likely weakened or removed. This frees up space for new experiences and knowledge. This is also known as the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis. The importance of sleep should not be underestimated. Sleep deprivation has been linked to reduced attention and poorer academic performance, as well as mental and health issues such as obesity and depression. On average, we need eight hours of sleep per night - it is a myth that you only need, for example, 6 hours of sleep. That can be a habit, but more sleep will be noticeably positive. Explain to students the importance of sleep and how they can improve their sleep quality with the following tips: • Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same times • Drink as little coffee, energy drinks, and other caffeine-containing beverages as possible • Do not use the snooze function: snoozing wakes you up repeatedly from your sleep. As a result, you do not wake up rested and are less productive for the rest of the day. • Do not watch movies that trigger adrenaline before going to sleep • Keep your phone far away from your bed • If you worry before sleeping, write down your thoughts and deal with them the next day
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