The official UCSB nap map

As rewarding as college life can be for UCSB Gauchos, it can also be rigorous, exhausting and time-consuming.

Whether you’re up late studying for finals, rising early (or late) for work, netflix-binging  till three in the morning or out in IV drinking the night away, it is highly likely that you are sacrificing a vital life-sustaining activity- sleep.

Studies suggest that adequate shut-eye each day is very important for maintaining good health, improving your learning and consolidating memory. It may seem better now to choose that late-night raging DP party over a good night’s rest because, let’s face it, chances are that when you’re older, you won’t be reminiscing on the times when you stayed in at home to sleep. But scientific research shows; however, that if you don’t get enough snoozing time you might be having trouble remembering much at all.

“The paradox of sacrificing sleep is that as we become more stressed, lack of sleep only exacerbates our stress and grogginess which, in turn, decreases the quality of our sleep. It’s a vicious cycle”, says Mental Health Peer for the University of California Santa Barbara Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) department, Chidi Agu. And a vicious cycle it is, especially for UCSB students. According to a study the fitness tracking technology company Jawbone released, UCSB is the third most sleep-deprived college in CA. The study showed that Gauchos fall shy of seven hours of sleep during the week and get even less sleep on weekends.

With finals among us, it’s probably worthwhile to prioritize sleep.

Here are some tips summarized from sleepfoundation.org that’ll help you manage your time and health better and that will practically lull you to sleep.

• Stick to a sleep schedule
• Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual
• Power naps are great but avoid them if you have constant trouble sleeping
• Exercise daily  
• Invest in a comfy durable mattress!

Check out this UCSB nap map created with Google My Maps by Torrey Trust, a writer at UCSB Grad Post, back in 2012.  Trust also encourages you to add more spots onto the map, “to add a nap spot, click on ‘Edit’ then click on the blue balloon symbol on the map and click on the location on the map to add your nap spot”, she said.

@ozkahr7