The struggle to balance sleep, studies and a social life has been an age-old topic of conversation. Although the ideal quantity of sleep varies for each individual, research from Harvard Medical School suggests getting at least seven hours of quality sleep per night.
Stellenbosch University modules each have a credit system in which one credit is awarded for every 10 notional hours. A notional hour is the average learning time a student must spend in order to achieve the learning outcomes of the module.
For instance, let us consider a second year BA (Humanities) student. This individual needs to obtain 128 to 136 credits to pass the year, which translates to about seven hours of academic work per day, seven days a week. When you factor in the minimum seven hours of sleep students should supposedly be getting, one is left with a meagre ten hours of free time per day. During this time, students are expected to find time to eat, run errands (for example, doing laundry), maintain a healthy social life and still excel in extramural activities such as sports.
This puts into perspective why a balanced lifestyle seems so unattainable for most students. Although this may appear to be the case, time management, prioritisation and planning can help students navigate all their responsibilities while still sustaining a healthy lifestyle and avoiding a ‘burnout’.
Gugu Nontshiza – Postgrad LLB (with undergrad in BA (Humanities))
“I spend around 6-7 hours sleeping because I have to travel from Capetown to ‘Stellies’ everyday. When I have 8 a.m.’s I wake up at 4:30 a.m.”
Chad Franklin – BCom(accounting) – 2nd year
“I average like 5 hours. I don’t think I have a great balance [between work and sleep]. On weekends I sleep too much and on weekdays, too little”
Georgy Meyerson – BA(humanities) – 2nd year
“I usually get around 3-4 hours…I’m trying to get a better sleep habit but it’s kind of hard because I work really late. I usually go to bed around 2 or 3 a.m.”
Alzerize Losper – BCom(management accounting) – 3rd year
“Just under 7 hours. Work is stopping me [from getting more sleep]…I spend about 5 hours a day [on academics outside of lecture times].”
Luke Taylor – BSc(earth science) – 2nd year
“I sleep about 6-7 hours a night. I try to get 8 but I mean at the moment it be a little bit hectic. I have a bit of procrastination so I’m bad at time management … I’m still getting used to getting into the second year mindset.”
Nnabatho Mkoektsi – BSc(food sciences) – 4th year
“It depends, sometimes I get 5, sometimes 4 or 6. It really varies depending on how busy I am… During the weekends I try to catch up on sleep.”
Julia Sheldon – BA(humanities) – 2nd year
“I think I get like 7 hours of sleep a night but I miss a few lectures…I’m tired all the time, like I wake up and I want to go back to bed.”
By Holly Clowes
