Title: The Negative Impact of Time Management on Sleep Deprivation

Authors: Diane DeLosSantos, Adan Khan, Ifeoluwa Tugbobo

 

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if poor time management leads to an increase in sleep deprivation in college students at the City College of New York (CCNY). Using an online survey system, participants were asked a series of questions that assessed their time management skills and sleeping schedule, during a busy and non-busy week of school. The results showed that the majority of the participants receive about 6-7 hours of sleep or less daily and possess intermediate or poor time management skills that need to/should be improved on. Therefore, it was concluded that the majority of the participants are sleep-deprived and their lack of time management skills may be what’s causing them to sleep less, especially during a busy week of school. Lack of time management skills most likely causes these students to rush to finish their work/study and stay up late to finish their work, which, in turn, causes them to be sleep deprived and sleep even less, during a busy week of school. All in all, it seems like being able to properly manage your time is a key characteristic that all college students should possess in order to prevent sleep deprivation and negatively impacting their academic performance.

 

Introduction

To be in good health, you need sleep. While we are sleeping, our bodies are working to support healthy brain function and maintain our physical health (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). So, it’s no surprise that when we don’t receive enough sleep, our mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety are threatened (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). In fact, studies show that sleep deficiency can cause people to have trouble making decisions, solving problems, and controlling their emotions and behavior (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Sleep deficiency is also known to slow down people’s reaction time, cause them to be less productive at work and school, and make it difficult for them to stay awake throughout the day (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Lastly, ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of diseases, such as kidney disease, high blood pressure, and obesity (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Therefore, sleep deprivation, which is when a person doesn’t receive enough sleep, should be avoided to ensure good health (Somnique Sleep Health).

Sleep deficiency and sleep deprivation can occur when people don’t leave enough time for sleep, which implies that time management can impact people’s sleep schedules (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Time management involves organizing, planning, and designating time for specific activities (MindTools).  So, when a person is able to manage their time properly, they’re able to get more things done in lesser amount of time (MindTools). On the other hand, when a person is unable to manage their time properly, they get less things done in a greater amount of time (MindTools). They often find themselves running out of time and not being able to finish tasks or finish them on time (MindTools). Time management is especially key in school and college.

Time management skills has been linked to poor sleeping habits in college students. In fact, in 2006, there was a study that investigated the relationship between college students’ sleep habits and academic motivation (Edens 2006). In this study, they found that 42% of the students who participated in the study experienced excessive daytime sleepiness and these students were more likely to procrastinate than those students who didn’t experience excessive daytime sleepiness (Edens 2006). So, this implies that a reason these students experienced excessive daytime sleepiness could be that they would put off doing their work and studying and then, end up rushing and staying up late to finish. But, there aren’t many other studies out there that link sleep deprivation to time management skills or sleep deprivation to procrastination. In addition, according to an article written by the University Health Center of the University of Georgia, college students are sleeping less and most college students are not getting enough sleep. So, in light of all this, we decided to investigate whether or not poor time management leads to an increase in sleep deprivation in college students.

We hypothesized that if a college student does not know how to properly manage their time, then he or she will experience more sleep deprivation than they normally would. Now, according to the National Sleep Foundation (2015), college students aged 18-25 years old should receive 7-9 hours of sleep each day.  Therefore, in our study, we identified college students as sleep deprived if they received less than 7-9 hours of sleep each day.

 

Materials and Methods

      To conduct this study, an online survey was created, using the program Google Forms. There were a total of 11 questions in the survey. Participants were asked to disclose information about their gender, their age, the number of hours of sleep they received last night, the number of hours of sleep they normally receive, the average number of hours of sleep they receive daily during a busy week of school, their type of time management skills, whether or not they submit assignments/prepare for tests early or late, whether or not they’re usually rushing to finish their homework or study, and finally, whether or not they usually stay up late to finish their work. A link to the online survey was sent directly to college students at The City College of New York. A total of 77 college students completed the survey. Of the 77 college students, 22 were male, 54 were female, and one identified as nonbinary. In terms of age, 32 of the college students were 18-year-olds, 20 were 19-year-olds, 13 were 20-year-olds, 7 were 21-year-olds, and there was one 17-year-old, 22-year-old, 23-year-old, 26-year-old, and 31-year-old.

 

Results

           In Figure 1, the number of hours of sleep participants normally received was depicted through a bar graph. The highest number of hours of sleep participants normally received was 6-7 hours. The second highest number of hours of sleep was 5 hours. The third highest number of hours of sleep was 8 hours.

Figure 1: Number of Hours of Sleep Normally Get

In Figure 2, the average number of hours of sleep participants received daily during a busy week of school, in which there were multiple assignments due and/or multiple exams, was depicted through a bar graph. The highest number of hours of sleep participants received daily during a busy week of school was 6 hours. The second highest number of hours of sleep was 4 hours. The third highest number of hours of sleep was 5 hours. The lowest number of hours of sleep was 1 hour.

Figure 2: Average Number of Hours of Sleep Received During Busy Week

In Figure 3, the type of time management skills the participants possessed was depicted through a pie chart. 50.6% of participants reported possessing intermediate time management skills that could be improved. 23.4% of participants reported possessing good (standard) time management skills. 15.6% of participants reported possessing poor time management skills. 10.4% of participants reported possessing excellent time management skills.

Figure 3: Type of Time Management Skills

  

 

In Figure 4, how frequently the participants submitted their assignments/prepared for tests early was depicted through a pie chart. 35.1% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests early often. 22.1% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests early sometimes. 24.7% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests early rarely. 9.1% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests early never. 9.1% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests early always.

Figure 4: Frequency of Early Submission of Assignments/Preparation for Tests

 

In Figure 5, how frequently participants submitted their assignments/prepared for tests late was depicted through a pie chart. 33.8% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests late rarely. 19.5% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests late sometimes. 29.9% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for test late never. 11.7% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests late often. 5.2% of participants reported submitting their assignments/preparing for tests late always.

Figure 5: Frequency of Late Submission of Assignments/Preparation for Tests

 

In Figure 6, whether or not participants submitted assignment(s)/prepared for test(s) late or right before it was due, during the last semester, was depicted through a pie chart. 66.2% of participants reported having submitted assignment(s)/prepared for test(s) late or right before it was due, during the last semester. 24.7% of participants reported not having submitted assignment(s)/prepared for test(s) late or right before it was due, during the last semester. 9.1% of participants reported possibly having submitted assignment(s)/prepared for test(s) late or right before it was due, during the last semester.

Figure 6: Submission of Assignments Late/Right Before It Was Due, During Last Semester

   

 

In Figure 7, how frequently participants were rushing to study or finish their homework was depicted through a pie chart. 53.2% of participants reported rushing to study or finish their homework sometimes. 37.7% of participants reported rushing to study or finish their homework always. 9.1% of participants reported rushing to study or finish their homework never.

Figure 7: Frequency of Rushing to Study or Finish Homework

 

In Figure 8, how frequently participants stayed up late to finish their work was depicted through a pie chart. 49.4% of participants reported staying up late to finish their work sometimes. 41.6% of participants reported staying up late to finish their work always. 9.1% of participants reported staying up late to finish their work never.

Figure 8: Frequency of Staying Up Late to Finish Work

 

Discussion

The results seem to support our hypothesis, which states if a college student does not know how to properly manage their time, then he or she will experience more sleep deprivation than they normally would.

First off, the results showed that out of the 77 participants, 40 were sleep deprived. As stated previously, the National Sleep Foundation recommends that college students aged 18-25 years old receive 7-9 hours of sleep daily. So, a little more than half of the college students reported that they normally receive less than 7-9 hours of sleep. Furthermore, of these 40 college students, 28 experienced a decrease in the number of hours of sleep from what they normally receive to what they receive during a busy week. In other words, more than half of the college students that are sleep deprived reported sleeping even less during a week, in which there are multiple assignments due and/or multiple exams.

To determine if their time management skills had anything to do with this increase in sleep deprivation during a busy school week, we focused on what type of time management skills these students had, whether or not they submitted assignments/prepared for tests late, whether or not they submitted assignment(s) late or right before it was due, during last semester, whether or not they usually rushed to finish their work/study, and whether or not they usually stayed up late to finish their work. So, what we found was that of the 28 sleep deprived college students who reported sleeping even less during a busy school week, 15 reported having intermediate time management skills that could be improved. In terms of the late submission of assignments/preparation for tests, 16 reported never or rarely doing so. In terms of submission of assignment(s) late or right before it was due, during the last semester, 23 reported doing so. In terms of rushing to finish their work/study, 15 reported always doing so. Lastly, in terms of staying up late to finish their work, 18 reported always doing so.

From these results, we concluded that lack of time management skills seems to cause college students to rush to finish their work/study and stay up late to finish their work, which, in turn, causes them to be sleep deprived and during a busy week, experience even more sleep deprivation. We also concluded that being able to properly manage your time is an key characteristic that college students should possess in order to get through a busy week of school, without losing sleep.

There were several limitations of our study. One limitation was that our results can’t be used to generalize to other populations of college students. First of all, we had a disproportionate number of male and female college students participate in our survey. Second of all, a majority of the college students we reached out to fill out the survey were enrolled in the Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program. Third of all, a majority of the college students that participated in the study were between 18-21 years of age, so we weren’t able to account for older college students. A second limitation has to do with outside factors, which could affect the amount of sleep college students receive, such as family troubles, financial problems, stress/anxiety, and state of health. A third limitation is that all the data collected was self-reported, which means that there’s the possibility that students didn’t recall information correctly or weren’t completely honest.

Further research needs to be conducted to determine if there is a strong association between sleep deprivation and time management skills, as well as sleep deprivation and procrastination. In future experiments/studies, it is recommended that the results be adjusted for compounding variables, such as relationship troubles, family troubles, financial problems, stress, anxiety, and state of health. It is also recommended for future experiments/studies that paper surveys or face-to-face interviews be conducted to ensure that equal numbers of college students are obtained, gender-wise and school-year-wise.

 

References

Edens KM. 2006. The Relationship of University Students Sleep Habits and Academic Motivation. NASPA Journal [Internet]. [cited 27 March 2019]; 43:432–445. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2202/1949-6605.1677

National Sleep Foundation. 2015. National Sleep Foundation Recommends New Sleep Times [Internet]. Washington (DC): National Sleep Foundation; [cited 2019 Mar 27].       Available from: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute;  [cited 2019 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/sleep-deprivation-and-deficiency

Somnique Sleep Health. Sleep Deprivation or Deficiency [Internet]. Portland (OR): Somnique Sleep Health; [cited 2019 Mar 27]. Available from: https://somnique.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-deprivation-or-deficiency/

University Health Center University of Georgia. Sleep Rocks! …Get more of it! [Internet]. Athens (GA): University Health Center University of Georgia; [cited 2019 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.uhs.uga.edu/sleep

MindTools. What Is Time Management? Working Smarter to Enhance Productivity [Internet]. London (UK): MindTools; [cited 2019 Mar 27]. Available from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm