Tips to cash in on our favourite pass time
For most university and college students, sleep is high up on our favourite activities. Yet, for that same majority, we’re often sacrificing sleep to catch up on school work, study for that midterm we procrastinated on preparing for, or even continue binge watching that recently available season of a Netflix exclusive.
All-nighters and nights with little sleep have become all too common for students, and we often don’t realize the effects our out-of-routine sleep schedules can have on our grades, other responsibilities, and, overall, our health in the long-term.
To make sure you’re getting the necessary amount of sleep required to stay healthy, keep up your grades, and have the energy to do the things you actually want to do, follow these simple steps.
Avoid caffeine at night. Students become quickly attached to coffee and caffeinated drinks, and that all begins with those tough mornings. Rolling out of bed might feel like the end of the world until you get your caffeine fix to trudge on through the day, but if you avoid drinking coffee late at night to keep you up, and rather, go to sleep at a reasonable time, you can also avoid the vicious cycle of needing coffee in the morning to make it through the day.
Don’t go to bed hungry. Your sleep and eating schedule go hand-in-hand, believe it or not. Eating right before bed can cause some irregularities in falling asleep, while going to bed hungry can further create a distraction from sleeping. There’s nothing worse than thinking about the feast of a breakfast awaiting you at 1:00 a.m. Knowing that, keep up a healthy eating schedule – have a proper dinner to avoid laying awake hungry when it’s time to get some rest.
Create and maintain a sleep schedule, even on weekends. I know asking a student to wake up at a normal time on a Saturday morning is walking a fine-line between outrageously unreasonable and insane. However, maintaining a proper sleep schedule will help condition your mind and body, making it easier to wake up on those mornings when the snooze button wins.
Disconnect. If anything will help in getting a better night’s rest, it’s keeping your hands off all electronics – your Instagram feed can wait until the morning. Of course, we’re all guilty of the “I can’t sleep” complaint, yet it would be fairly standard to assume most of those complaints come paired with a bright cell phone inches from our face as we constantly refresh a Twitter feed that hasn’t been updated since the last time you checked… three minutes ago. Put down your phone and close your eyes. It will do wonders.
Try to avoid naps. We can all agree that few things are better than a good nap in the middle of the day. Nevertheless, if you’re sleeping enough at night, you wouldn’t need to split up your day with that 30-minute power nap. If you feel you do need those extra minutes, however, try to grab them before 3:00 p.m., and avoid napping longer than 20 minutes. Any later or longer and you’ll have trouble falling asleep at a reasonable time that night.
Set an alarm… to go to sleep. Some of us might be night owls, so we do a lot of our work late into the night. If you’re the kind of person who loses track of the time, set an alarm to remind yourself to go to bed. Whatever you’re working on can wait for the morning, and chances are, the morning will prove to be a more efficient and effective work environment after a good night’s rest.