You’ve seen the productivity videos on TikTok. Students waking up at 5 am, hitting workouts, and studying nonstop, creating this fake world of being productive.
But for many students, the reality is different.
It’s 2 am, and a student is in bed, rushing to finish an essay. The screen’s glow is the only light in the room, and their eyes hurt from exhaustion. Tomorrow brings a summative, a deadline, and sports practice all before sunset. Students feel unmotivated and burned out, running on sleepless nights and constant stress. They scroll through social media to relax, only to see unrealistic productivity videos where everyone seems perfect. This content normalizes “being productive” nonstop as if life is a race, forgetting that resting and sleeping can also be productive, too.
Productivity hacks are tricks people use to stay focused and manage their time better. The trend has taken over social media platforms over the recent years. Students follow these tips to study faster and more efficiently to have more time for extracurriculars and self-improvement. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube videos encourage viewers to “become their best version,” use every hour, boost success, wake up super early, or skip sleep and get ahead…
This is exhausting. The question is: How much more can we push ourselves?
Using available expertise, I reached out to Secondary counselors and students who had knowledge about productivity hacks and here I’ll examine how these productivity hacks negatively affect students’ sleep and overall academic success.
The Rise of Productivity: Where Did It All Start?
These hacks didn’t appear on social media overnight. They grew out of the “grind culture” which is a belief that constant work and extreme productivity are the only paths to success and often at the expense of wellbeing. On TikTok, around 34 million videos are uploaded every single day.
“The idea of being ‘productive’ is like a busyness trap. People feel guilty when they do nothing,” says Secondary counselor Scott Langston. “Productivity shouldn’t ignore things that help our mental and physical health, even if there’s no end product.”
With all the likes and attention these productivity videos get, influencers create even more extreme and engaging content. Grade 12 student Demir Y. says, “I do think that there is more pressure to be productive, because there are more ‘productivity contents’ that definitely push people to do more.”
“Many people post videos saying you must do these five hacks to be a successful student, and basically that’s just clickbait,” Langston says. “It just doesn’t make sense. People think they have to emulate it to be successful.”
Grade 11 student Defne A. concurs with this sentiment: “On social media, we constantly see people who can achieve the unachievable, making it seem like our efforts are never enough.”
The Hidden Cost of Doing It All
At AISB, many students frequently mention feeling tired. This exhaustion partly comes from procrastination. Once students get started, phone distractions may interrupt their work.
“Each time I have studied with my phone next to me,” explains Defne, “I always somehow end up on social media, scrolling and texting friends, resulting in losing time.”
Langston explains that scrolling on social media for 20 minutes may feel like a break, but your brain is still overstimulated. Even if your body pauses, your mind doesn’t, which makes it harder to focus when you return to studying.
Clete A. Kushinda, director of the Stanford University Center for Human Sleep Research, reports that the data shows “sleep loss leads to learning and memory impairment, as well as decreased attention and vigilance.”
There is ample evidence to indicate that the lack of adequate nighttime sleep can lead to disturbances in brain function, which in turn, can lead to poor academic performance.
Dr. Clete Kushida, sleep researcher
Despite these expert recommendations, many students sacrifice sleep to keep up with school work, extracurriculars, and personal life.
Grade 9 student Ale V., says he used to pull all-nighters to achieve his goals: “Even with 4-5 hours of sleep or less, I didn’t feel tired the next day. Staying up late felt productive because I like finishing school work early so I can focus on my personal projects.”
After doing some research on sleep deprivation, Ale stopped staying up late and has tried the opposite. “I wake up early every day now and it actually makes me more organized, as I can get things like exercise done before school and prime my whole day. Sleeping after midnight isn’t ideal, as it messes with prime melatonin and growth hormone production times, but biologically it depends on each person’s circadian rhythm.“
Ale also mentioned that he uses a productivity technique that counteracts against “Parkinson’s Law”, which is a theory that if we have one hour to accomplish a task, we will use that full hour even if it can be done in 10 minutes. By using his technique of a time limit, he finishes all his school work in 30-40 minutes because he focuses better under a time limit.
While some students like Ale find ways to finish work efficiently, others still struggle with phone distractions.
My sleep schedule is affected mainly by spending too much time on my phone; studying itself doesn’t prevent me from getting enough sleep.
Grade 12 student Demir Y.
This highlights that students can’t give their maximum effort and focus when they are studying with their phones.
Do Productivity Hacks Really Work?
So much of this content appears on social media that pulling an all-nighter is now seen as normal. Instead of managing time, students end up thinking they can just stay up late to finish an essay. This feeling of procrastination is normalized for students by online influencers whose true habits are unknown.
For example, grade 11 student Defne A. wanted to find a study routine that worked for her to get ready for DP. She attempted the pomodoro technique, but it “didn’t work” out for her too well, she says, “especially since it takes a lot of self-control and discipline to go back to studying after 5 minutes of break time. Also, in DP, you’re given a lot of things to work on and study, so it’s not very time-efficient either.”
Diana Gonzalez, a Spanish teacher at AISB who is known for her mindfulness and wellbeing practices, says, “Many students trust these methods because they promise quick results. There’s also a cultural pressure to look ‘busy.'”
These days, many of us tend to fall under a kind of ‘productivity spell,’ where being productive feels more important than being healthy or genuinely fulfilled.
Spanish teacher Diana Gonzalez
“Many students also try to multitask because they think it can help them get more things done,” the counselor, Scott Langston, says, “but multitasking doesn’t work: You just switch your attention and get less done.”
The Cost of Perfectionism
\When students try to excel in every area and sacrifice sleep, they become overwhelmed, burnt out, and exhausted at some point. This is unhealthy, as consistent effort is more effective than relying on last minute bursts of motivation to complete an assignment.
There is also a cost of perfectionism.
“Perfectionism at an extreme is a mental health concern. It goes one or two steps further than just doing your best and is actually quite damaging,” says Langston. “From a counsellor’s point of view, long-term, as a regular habit, it’s harmful. If you have an upcoming test and you need to study for it the night before, then there’s something wrong in with your management of time.”
Langston also added, “Many people say that they work better under a deadline because the extra stress gives them the motivation to complete the work, which is true; but if you do that regularly to your body, cortisol is a stress hormone and it damages your body long-term.”
AISB students report that towards the end of the year, they start to lose motivation and their schedule becomes harder to maintain.
It’s an inevitable experience as a student, but it feels horrible the next day. Waking up and going to school feels impossible, and when you return home it’s time to study. You’re too tired to even retain information. In short, it is really not sacrificing sleep, however, it is normal and unfortunately happens more than any of us would want it to.
Grade 11 student Defne A.
Finding Balance
Being productive isn’t just about working harder. It’s also about finding balance between work, rest, and wellbeing. In the road to long-term academic success, there is balance and consistency.
A mindful approach to productivity honors the connection between mind and body. Work in focused blocks, take mindful breaks, move your body, and keep sleep consistent. This makes learning more effective.
Spanish teacher Diana Gonzalez
In other words, maintaining a steady and manageable routine will positively impact students’ long-term learning.
For some students, relaxing hobbies help unwind and return to studying with better focus. Demir, for example, studies for two hours and then takes a 30-minute break to play the piano. He finds this very helpful in maintaining focus for the next study block.
“I do lose sleep trying to balance school, social life, and my interests,” says Defne, “but I manage it by planning my week and choosing what truly needs to get done first. Sometimes that means skipping a hangout or delaying an activity so I don’t burn out. I’m still figuring it out, but I’m trying to find a balance that works better for me in the long run.”
Grade 11 student Diandra G., on the other hand, handles procrastination by breaking her projects into smaller tasks and making a clear to-do list. In this way, she feels like everything is more achievable and less stressful.
Langston’s advice on finding balance is to figure out whether you’re a morning or a night person. Even if you prefer working very early or very late, you should fit it into a healthy sleep schedule and make sure you get enough sleep.
If you’re working in a dedicated, focused way in the evening, that’s probably how your physiology is designed to operate, and you’re better off sleeping in in the morning.
As our school counselor, he says that students should prioritize rest and take breaks without feeling guilty. If you’re exhausted, it’s better to email your teacher and ask for an extension rather than push yourself past your limits.
He humorously adds, “Now I don’t suddenly want 90% of the high school to turn in their work late and say ‘Mr. Langston said we could,’ because that’s, again, poor planning, but your sleep and your rest is long term more important than a grade on a test.”
Interesting article. Very well written and researched. I do think social media puts unrealistic standards on people but we just have to remember a 60-second video does not show their whole lives, and most of what’s on social media is misleading.
Thank you so much for this feedback!