Intro Music:

ALYDA OVERGAARD: Welcome to the podcast that explores all realms of sleep, your routines, schedules, hacks, and crazy stories.

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ALYDA OVERGAARD: Today we’re looking at all-nighters, the pros and cons of pulling one, and the effect that they could end up having on your health. I’m your host, Alyda Overgaard, and you’re listening to Running on Empty.

Disclaimer:
ALYDA OVERGAARD: Disclaimer, listening to this podcast is not a substitute for medical or mental health advice. If you are experiencing a disconcerting lack or abundance of sleep, extreme fatigue, or insomnia, please consult a medical professional.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: According to the National Institute of Health, all-nighters disrupt the flow of key blood proteins, putting people who sleep less at a higher risk of diabetes and chronic illnesses. The NIH also recommends that teenagers, ages 13 to 18 should get eight to 10 hours of sleep, especially due to the fact that when you don’t sleep enough, you might have trouble focusing on tasks during the day or thinking clearly. Sleep deficiency can also occur when you take naps during the day or don’t get the proper amount of sleep. Sleep deficiency can lead to struggle learning new information, reacting, and even interpreting other people’s emotions. Students pull all-nighters during sleepovers, on plane rides, and especially when cramming for tests and exams. I spoke with ninth grader Olivia Fox, sophomore Peony Steele, and senior Coda Wilson about what they think about all-nighters.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: Have you ever pulled an all-nighter before?

OLIVIA FOX: Yes.

PEONY STEELE: Does staying up until five AM count and getting one hour of sleep?

CODA WILSON: I think so.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: How did you feel in the days after?

OLIVIA FOX: I slept, for the entire day.

PEONY STEELE: I was out of it the entire day, and I got one hour of sleep and I could not function.

CODA WILSON: kind of just not good, really tired, probably really tired. I’m guessing that the fact that I can’t fully remember means that I was especially tired.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: What would be your biggest reason to pull an all-nighter now?

OLIVIA FOX: because I have something really stressful the next day, and I’m either nervous or staying up getting ready

PEONY STEELE: To try to understand the material.

CODA WILSON: Now it’ll probably just be playing video games.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: I sat down with Claire Roney, one of SPA’s counselors, and we discussed how she sees a lack of sleep in everyday SBA students, and some suggestions she has for students who struggle with balancing academic and extracurriculars without losing the time to sleep

CLAIRE RONEY: When I am working with students who are trying to manage lots of academic responsibilities, lots of extracurricular responsibilities, sometimes a job, they are limited on time and trying to figure out how to manage their time. And I often hear that sleep is compromised when there are lots of responsibilities that students are managing. And so I do hear students talk about how they are trying to fit all of that in and sleep sometimes is the area that is compromised.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: What are some suggestions you have for kids who are struggling with managing all the activities they are a part of?

CLAIRE RONEY: I think that when we can be proactive and thoughtful about busy weeks or busy months, whether it’s because you’re In a season sport or an activity outside of school when we can be thoughtful about how we break up our time instead of taking it, kind of moment by moment, day by day, then we can kind of figure out how to manage all of the moving pieces, Because ultimately, we don’t want sleep to be compromised. Sleep has such critical impacts on our brain and what we’re able to retain in terms of information, how we’re able to concentrate, how we’re able to function between sleep and nutrition and physical activity, those are, like the three critical pieces that we do want to compromise. We were really busy, but I think oftentimes those are the things that get compromised, but when we are able to plan ahead, and maybe that’s taking weeks at a time, and maybe on a day like Sunday, before the school week starts, you kind of sit down with a calendar, whether that’s on your phone, whether that’s a paper calendar and kind of map out; what does the week look like. That’s a great skill to practice in high school and kind of chunk out your time so that you can be really thoughtful about where you have windows to kind of take a breather, take a break, practice self-care, do some things that are fun, on top academic responsibilities, on top of extracurricular responsibilities because ultimately we are trying to find a balance, and when we are really really busy its harder to find a balance. But when we can look at our weeks ahead, and whether that’s in like a seven-day increment, then we can be really thoughtful about when we have those moments and taking advantage of some of those moments so our school work so that it’s not pushed late into the evening and interrupts our sleep schedule.

ALYDA OVERGAARD: This has been Running on Empty. Thank you for tuning in to the third episode in this series, and join us next time for Sunde Auderjonois’s deep dive into SPA students’ nightime routines.

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Transcribed by https://otter.ai