8.7 Myth: I’ll Catch Up on Sleep On Weekends

Many people assume that they can make up for sleep lost during the work or school week by sleeping more on weekends or days they don’t have work or school. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep a person should be getting and the amount they actually get. Sleep debt increases every time we are cut short on daily sleep. Sleep debt accumulates over time, and it’s difficult to make up for what’s been lost after several nights of little or poor sleep. Also, due to our natural circadian rhythm, our bodies can’t adjust quickly to different sleep schedules. Therefore, sleeping later on the weekends does not help individuals function better overall (Klerman & Dijk, 2005). Sporadically sleeping in or getting long periods of sleep can also interfere with circadian rhythm and make it harder to get up throughout the week, contributing to poorer sleep quality and increased sleepiness. This defeats the initial purpose of sleeping in in the first place. Finally, research has shown that, on average, sleeping in on weekends is associated with decreases in GPA (Trockel et al., 2000), whereas sticking to a regular sleep schedule is correlated with higher academic performance (Phillips et al., 2017).

Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, regardless of the day of the week, will provide the most restful sleep. Consistent daily rise time is particularly important, even when getting to bed a bit later than usual on any given night (Carney et al., 2006). When planning ahead, taking a late morning or early afternoon nap or going to bed a bit earlier than usual the next night might be necessary to get sufficient rest.

Student Perspectives: How Do You Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule?

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