Joel Silva has been waking up every morning at 8:00 a.m — a change from the start of term when he was getting up at noon.

“For the first three weeks, I was going to bed around 1:00 a.m,” he said. 

Silva, a senior advertising major and resident assistant who has experienced many changes to campus life since the start of Spring term — including having to move from the Hamilton Residence Hall to Kalapuya Ilihi — was unhappy with his sleep schedule. 

“For me it was really hard finding a good sleep time,” he said, pointing to the shift to online courses at UO, which made it hard for him to find consistency in his schedule, compared with the more structured fall and winter terms.

Deciding to go to bed around 11:00 p.m. means Silva  gets nine hours of sleep. “It makes my day way longer and it just syncs up with me.”

The CDC recommends adults — ages 18 to 60 years old — get 7 hours of sleep, but a study from the health center at the University of Georgia, found most college students on average get between six to 6.9 hours of sleep. The shift to remote learning and the move back home for some students, has affected sleeping patterns — some not for the better.

For Brenda Ortega, a UO sophomore and human physiology major, remote learning has made it harder to feel motivated. It’s also meant more to do for school. “I’ve been working way more than I should,” says Ortega.

She’s been getting less sleep than previous terms. Her bedtime used to be 10:00 a.m. and now she says she goes to between midnight and 1:00 p.m.

Ortega still wakes up around 8:00 a.m. and says she’s been getting between 6 and 7 hours of sleep. “I’ll also find myself sleeping in the middle of the day, when I shouldn’t be.”

COVID-19’s disruption of sleep schedules has been more pronounced for some international students, like SeoYeon Park.

Park, a junior advertising major, flew back to South Korea for the spring term — a 16 hour time difference. 

On Wednesdays and Fridays — Tuesdays and Thursdays in Eugene time — Park wakes up at 4:00 a.m. for her online courses. 

Park said she could get eight to nine hours of sleep when she was living in Eugene and taking classes on campus. Now, on her 4:00 a.m. days, she usually gets four hours of sleep. 

“I feel less motivated and I always feel tired,” she said. It’s been frustrating for Park, who thinks it’s affected her academic performance.

Park initially planned on enrolling in summer classes this year, but has decided against it. “I don’t want to repeat this situation again.”

Students like Jennifer Moffat, however, have seen improvement in their sleep schedules this term. 

“I would say with online learning my sleep schedule hasn’t changed much. If anything it’s gotten better,” says Moffat, a senior public relations major.  

She says she’s been getting between seven and seven and a half hours of sleep, but while she says she’s been getting slightly more sleep, it’s not necessarily the best quality of sleep. 

“Overall, I would say I’m getting a little more sleep, but not sleeping as soundly,” said Moffat, saying she often wakes up in the middle of the night, attributing it to anxiety over her online course work. 

Moffat, however, says her new sleep schedule has not negatively impacted her work ethic.  “I’ve been kind of diligently trying to finish the senior year strong.”