By Everyone has experience studying in bed. While it is habitual for some people to study in bed, others do it due to circumstances such as fatigue and backache.
After a hectic day in school, all you want is to do your revisions in a comfy environment, but you do not have a comfortable sit in your room. The only option you have is to abandon that uncomfortable desk and use your bed.
Studying in Bed
The idea of studying in bed seems excellent to many students. You get to study as your body relax. It is also an excellent option to run to during winters. Who wants to go to that cold library when it is freezing?
There has been a debate on whether studying in bed has any impact on a student’s grades. There is no conclusive answer to this question. No scientific research has linked studying in bed to poor grades.
Some people are very comfortable studying in bed. Others have to find a desk and sit upright. Many things might happen if you habitually study in bed; therefore, experts discourage studying in bed.
For a student to get high grades, they have to find a comfortable spot and posture to study. Studying for high grades need concentration and focus; nothing should distract you. Avoid sitting on chairs that will strain your back or neck. The desk and the chair should allow you to study without straining.
Below are some of the reasons why you should not study in bed.
You are Likely to Fall Asleep
Our bodies subconsciously know we get to bed to rest. When you take your books to bed, we confuse the subconscious mind. It becomes hard to concentrate. You are likely to lose focus and fall asleep.
Beds are very comfy. When you lie in bed with your books, the bed soothes you, and after a short while, the mind shut down, you will wake up after several hours having creased the pages of your book.
Our parents understood this fact well; that is why they never allowed us to study while lying on the bed, sofa or the floor.
You Will Damage Your Eyes
When you take your studies to bed, there are four possible positions you will assume to study.
First, you may sit on the bed, place a pillow on your lap and then your book or laptop on top. The position is ideal as you will not fall asleep quickly. If you have to take your studies in bed, I recommend you study while sitting. However, it has its downsides that we will address later in this article.
Second, you may use your pillow as support and sit while reclined. The position will be comfortable with your eyes and your back. However, falling asleep in this position is inevitable.
Third, you grab a book, lie on your tummy and place your book below you. It is not a very comfortable position; you can only study in this position for a short while. That brief period can cause irreparable damage to your eyes. When you study lying on your tummy, your eyes are in a 90 degrees angle to the book. The light that strikes the book hits your eyes at a very sharp angle. It can damage your retina leading to permanent eye damage
The fourth and final position is when you lie on your back and lift your book. If you do not fall asleep fast, you can read your book for hours. However, there is a downside to this position. When you lift your book, the light hits the book on the outer side. The pages you are reading remain in the shadows. You, therefore, need to strain to see the words. Your eye retina widens to allow enough light. When you look aside, a large amount of light strikes your inner eye causing you to have blurred vision. The eye will then adjust to see well. When you continuously strain your eyes like this, you might lose your eyesight.
It is so unlikely for a person to study in bed in the first two positions. The other two positions are more comfortable and with serious effects. It might affect your grades when you have to waste a lot of time with ophthalmologist appointments.
You Will Harm Your Back and Neck
When you get to your room after a tiresome day, you desire the comfort of your bed or couch. And because the exams are around the corner, you do not want to waste a single moment. You grab a book anywhere you are.
Many times we do not mind about the positions that we take. Some are very straining to the back and neck. When you lie on your tummy, you strain your back, and it pains a lot, you will not focus on your studies; consequently, your grades will drop.
Why does laying on your stomach cause back pain? The reason is simple. When you lie on your stomach, you interfere with the spine curve. You raise your shoulders and neck, curving the spine beyond the limit, staying in that position for long strains the muscles and nerves causing severe back pain.
You will interfere with Your Sleeping Pattern
A bed is a place to relax. When we get to bed, our bodies release some hormones to relax our body. However, our bodies adapt to different situations. When you make studying in bed a habit, your bed ceases to be a comfort zone. It will be sending mixed signals to the brain. You will find that it will be hard for you to catch sleep, and sometimes you will suffer amnesia.
Lack of enough sleep affects the performance of a student. Studies have shown that student who sleeps less than six hours perform lower than their average.
You Will Not Concentrate
Studying needs a lot of focus. A bed is too comfy for studies. When your body is very comfortable, your mind begins to wander. You think of a lot of things far from your books. You end up wasting a lot of time. The time you spend trying to study in bed is not in any way productive.
The cuddles of your soft pillow and your soft comforters will press the snooze buttons. In no time, your mind will be far from books.
In the effort of remaining awake while studying in bed, you will start doing other things like eating a snack, playing with your teddy bear or playing candy crush on your phone. Your focus will divert from the books, and the time will not be productive.
You will Waste Time Doing Other Things
As we have stated earlier, you will not be able to concentrate for long in bed. In your wandering thoughts, you will sneak into Facebook, Pinterest or other exciting social platforms. It will eat into your precious study time.
Many people take snacks while studying. It only takes a few minutes of wiping snack residue from a desk. When you study in bed, your bowl of snacks will soil your beddings. You wi be forced to do laundry more times than necessary. That time wasted could be spent in the library or in with study buddies.
Pros and Cons of Studying in Bed
People hold different beliefs about studying in bed. Some are comfortable studying in bed while others strongly discourage it. You can choose to study in bed after you are sure how your body reacts to a comfy environment.
The following are the pros and cons of studying in bed.
Pros
- You study in comfort. When your body is comfortable, your mind understands and absorbs information faster. The few minutes you concentrate on your studies in bed are very productive. To enjoy the optimum benefits of studying in bed, read your books or notes in the morning hours.
- You can study even in a hospital bed. Hospitals do not have libraries and study rooms. In a case, you are laying in a hospital bed, and you can always do your studies there and catch up with your peers, do not fear reading in that bed.
- You reduce the time wasted when moving from your room to the library or study hall.
- You can comfortably study after eating. Just elevate you back a little, and you will not suffer any heartburn.
Cons
- You get so comfortable you are likely to fall asleep. You forget everything you read in the last 10 minutes of study before you sleep. There will be time wastage when you keep in repeating pages you covered before sleeping.
- You are likely to damage your eyesight. We need our eyes to study, and when your eyes cannot function optimally, you end up lowering your grades at the end of the semester. There is also an aspect of wasting time with frequent hospital visits to see an ophthalmologist.
- When you strain your back, oy will be difficult for you to sit upright. Therefore, you will need several hospital visits to get your back to shape. You will be wasting precious time on evitable hospital visits.
- When your eyes and body are unwell, you are affected psychologically. You will not be able to study in class or anywhere else. The stress will reflect at the end of semester grades.
- You cannot focus a lot when your body is very comfortable. You will start thinking of other things, hence affecting your studies. Since there is internet access in your room, you cannot avoid social media distractions.
- When you get a habit of studying in bed, you will affect your posture. You will develop various problems like backache, neck pain, breathing problems and gut problems. All these add to psychological stress.
- Your bed will seize being your comfort zone. You will not have a place to relax your mind. Once you get to bed, you will not stop thinking. It makes it hard for t\you to fall asleep. In the end, you will experience brain fatigue, slowing down your brain function.
- You will not get optimum productivity while studying in bed. Some studies are so intense. They require a lot of books and other material for research. Although the bed has a large surface, it is hard to spread and organize all the material there. You are also likely to procrastinate any tough topic that you stumble on while studying in bed.
Thoughts
We all want to study in a comfortable environment. Many times we choose to study in bed because the comfort is assured. We jump to bed with the books or laptop without thinking of the dangers we are exposing ourselves to.
Before you study in bed, ask yourself if you are conscious of the consequences. Take the necessary measures to ensure you do not harm your health. We need to remain healthy throughout the semester to perform well.
Alternatively, Have a comfortable desk or a recliner seat in your room. It will be useful when you need to study in your room than using your bed.
Studying in bed does not affect your grades directly. There is no scientific study that has shown the correlation between studying in bed and academic outcome.
However, the consequences of studying in bed will affect your grades indirectly.
You waste a lot of time nursing injuries and sprains. You could use the time lost to cover a few topics in psychology, or master some new English vocabulary, or solve that tough math problem.
Stick to the recommendations of experts- avoid studying in bed. The habit does not have an instant effect on your studies. You might not notice the impact in the first or second semester in school, but it will catch up with you later. By that time, you will not think the drop in grades is due to the habit of studying in bed; you will probably assume that the studies are getting harder.
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