[up_and_up]

> I have no idea what could be done about this problem

Um, how about judging people based on the quality and quantity of work/projects/whatever they produce, rather then what times of the day and for how long their rear ends are sitting at 'work'?

Destination > Journey ?

[wlesieutre]

Obviously, but try telling that to all of the world's office managers. Or try convincing college students that staying up all night to get a project done isn't going to impress anyone. Knowing what to fix doesn't mean you can implement it easily.

[suprasanna]

Agreed. Also part of the issue: staying up all night DOES impress (just not to professors aka no impact on your grade). Students stay up late with friends; complain about 90% of the time; plan fun stuff to do 'after they study'.

And so, in a weird way, pretending to be super-busy has its rewards. And this is part of why the problem even exists.

[up_and_up]

> Or try convincing college students that staying up all night to get a project done isn't going to impress anyone

Who cares fundamentally what other students/peers are doing? Focus on yourself, your own goals/aspirations, go out and achieve it. Stop worrying about what other people think or do.

[wlesieutre]

That's a solution for an individual person, not the problem as a whole. I don't do it, but you need to convince millions of people that staying up late is a actually problem, and isn't worth doing to impress people.

It's like saying "I've got an easy solution to HIV. Just have all the HIV+ people stop having sex or sharing needles and it'll be gone in a generation." It might be true, but you can't just wish it into happening.