We’re at Caltech. Of course there will be people saying that without sacrificing sleep, you can’t get enough time to do your sets, your research, your socializing. But what came first – the advice or the lifestyle? That is to say, did people start staying up later, then realize because the people around them were staying up, it was impossible to do anything in the mornings, so they started staying up later too, and the vicious cycle perpetuated? Or is it truly that impossible to maintain a healthy sleep cycle at Caltech? Another thing to think about – do people stay up because Red Door is open until 2 so they can get their caffeine even late at night, or is Red Door open to cater to people staying up?
A quick survey revealed that one of the common reasons that people stayed up was to finish work that they felt they couldn’t go to bed without having done it. That could be because, on a 5-course schedule in addition to extracurriculars, it can be difficult to find time to do all your work and still save a little time for yourself. In the “Getting Better Sleep” workshop hosted by Lee Coleman and Grace Wong (and SWS), they introduced the concept of revenge bedtime procrastination, which is when you are sleepy but want some time for yourself after a long day where you feel like you haven’t had any down time. Whether this is scrolling Instagram/Youtube, spending time with friends, or unwinding in some other way, procrastinating your bedtime in favor of your leisure is not the best idea. Instead, the workshop suggested trying to make space for down time during the day, so you don’t feel like you have had no time for yourself at night. Now, I know this is easier said than done, but actually scheduling time for leisure on your todo list or calendar for the day will help make this happen – allowing you to get high quality you-time without necessarily sacrificing sleep.
As a mini experiment, this author asked a few members of the Caltech community to make a “Day in the Life” schedule. This could be on your calendar, a spreadsheet, or any other medium to keep track of everything you do in a day. After looking at the days in the life of students with different sleep schedules, it is in fact possible to sleep early and stay on top of things. Case in point: athletes. You may say that they are forced to have a disciplined schedule because of their training, but I promise there are other self-motivated people who are not athletes and still maintain a healthy social, work and sleep schedule – case in point: Sophia, rix ‘26, who manages to sleep by 10 PM (and sleep for 8 hours), while also making time to go on a run and water their plants, apart from doing their sets and maintaining 2 house memberships. So what stops us from trying to do the same? Imagine watching the sun rise without having pulled an all-nighter. Imagine being able to work out and eat breakfast before your first class. And sure, it may take time for any systemic change to occur on a campus like ours, but even a small change like starting our when2meet’s at 8 AM instead of 11 AM could slowly pop the idea to people to seize more of the day. At the end of this article, I know I might be a little bit of a hypocrite, but a girl can dream. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be sleeping at ungodly hours – but it’s hard not to when the fun stuff is all scheduled for then. Which is why, I urge you, try!