Make College Better

Sleep is a vital part of our lives. While a good night’s sleep can leave you relaxed, energized, and ready to start the day, a bad night of sleep can leave you miserable.

We’ve all been there - you lay in bed for hours, knowing that if you don’t fall asleep soon you will have an awful day. And then, an hour before class or that big meeting, you finally do fall asleep - only to be awoken an hour later by your alarm to start what will surely be a long, long day.

The good news is that this scenario can be avoided. Following the steps in this guide will help you have a good night of sleep, and a great day. Everyday.

Before going to bed

What you do before going to bed could either greatly help or drastically hurt your chances of a good night of sleep. Things to avoid include late night exercise, caffeine or other stimulants, and heavy eating. Also, a recent study suggests that late night television or internet usage just prior to bed can cause insomnia.

To help you fall asleep, try relaxing before bed. Do whatever helps you calm down. Read, listen to music, or meditate. One thing that may prevent you from falling asleep is stress, so I like to write a to-do list of things I have to accomplish the next day. This helps me clear my thoughts; I don’t lie in bed worrying that I’ve forgotten something important.

Another thing to try before falling asleep is establishing an evening routine.

Falling asleep

Falling asleep can be the hardest part of the whole operation. Nobody likes lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. If you can’t fall asleep, I like to get up and do something. No use lying in bed if you aren’t tired - listen to your body. Getting up and reading for 20 minutes or having a light snack might be all you need to unwind and fall asleep. Then, lie back down and drift away…

The worst thing you can do is stress about your lack of sleep. Focusing on the fact that you have yet to fall asleep will only keep you awake longer. That is why getting out of bed for a bit can help.

While asleep

While this may sound strange, there are plenty of things you should control while asleep to help you stay asleep. These are preventative steps that will make sure your sleep isn’t interrupted.

• Turn your cell phone off, or put it on silent
• Turn your computer speakers off
• Let people around you know you are trying to fall asleep. If it is late, and you ask nicely, people will generally shut up in a dorm or house living situation if you explain that you are really beat and need to get some sleep. Then, they are also less likely to wake you back up after you’ve fallen asleep.
• Prepare for morning: Being woken up early by heat or light sucks. If you live in a hot area, keep a fan on you during the night to stay cool. Also, even though it is dark out now, pull your blinds so that early morning sun rays don’t catch your eyes or heat your sheets.
• Roommate control: if you have a roommate, especially one who snores, sleeping can be tough. Keeping a fan on even when it is not hot out can create enough white noise to dull that snoring. Also, try ear plugs!

Waking up

OK I lied, falling asleep is not the hardest part of a sleep schedule. Waking up is. Ideally, though, if you sleep right and for long enough waking up should be easy. But let’s be realistic, sometimes that is just not possible.

There are many tricks out there on how to successfully help you rise from your comfy bed. A few of my favorites (taken from the great blog linked above) include:

3) Smile.

Yes, it seems silly. How can a smile help get you out of bed?

For starters, you need to think of something to smile about. Think of something that you are grateful for in your life, and actually physically smile when you think of it.

You can’t just think happy thoughts - that won’t do it. You will be amazed at how much the physical act of smiling will bring your mind into focus on your life, and also start to shake off the cobwebs of sleep.

This has the added bonus of energetically setting yourself up to attract even more things to be grateful for, so you get two perks for the price of one by simply smiling like you mean it!

and…

5) Think of the benefits that come from getting up and getting your day started.

If you have a morning ritual that you enjoy or that brings an immediate benefit to you - and only you - think about how it will feel to get up and start enjoying that benefit.

During the day

How you spend your day can affect your chances of having a great night’s sleep. I highly recommend having an exercise routine. Using your energy for good will leave your body ready to rest, and it will feel good. Also, eating right is important. Make sure you have a healthy diet and your body will thank you.

That’s all on sleeping for now. Sweet dreams.

Enjoy this post? Stay tuned for the college guide to napping.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 11:47 pm and is filed under Health, Better Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.