Raise your hand if you didn’t get enough sleep last night. OK, now you can lower it; you need to cover that yawn that’s on it’s way. Many university students don’t get enough sleep; for a lot of people, it’s not time to go to sleep until the clock blinks to single digits and it’s only precious hours before the sun rises. It’s tempting to resist the urge to sleep when Netflix auto-plays the next episode of The Office, but a lack of sleep can have serious consequences for university students (and I promise that Michael, Jim and Pam will still be there when you wake up).
According to an article from the Nature and Science of Sleep journal, 70 per cent of college students say they don’t get enough sleep. This can result in “lower grade point averages, increased risk of academic failure, compromised learning, impaired mood, and increased risk of motor vehicle accidents,” the article states. These are among the many compelling reasons to get more sleep.
Because here’s the thing: in university, we can’t always control the time we wake up at (8:00 a.m. classes, I’m looking at you). However, we can usually control when we go to sleep; and we can certainly control the factors that will lead us to getting a better sleep. One such factor is, as I’ve already touched on, technology. You’ve probably heard by now that the blue light emitted from screens can lead to difficulties sleeping; but even with Night Shift on, it’s still deceivingly easy to fall into the trap of scrolling through Instagram again and again (even if you’ve already seen that cute dog meme like 100 times).
It sounds stupidly simple, but try it anyways: force yourself to turn off your electronic devices a little bit before you want to sleep. When they’re powered off, you could read a book, write in a journal or (gasp) go to sleep. Disconnecting has a multitude of benefits besides just helping you sleep–so remember that the next time you’re tempted to text at night.
Another easy but effective tip is to manage your time well throughout the day so that you can actually sleep at night. If you misuse the time you have during the day… well, we all know that your politics essay isn’t going to write itself. Staying up late to finish schoolwork is tricky, since you may feel like you’re actually doing yourself a service by doing the work in the first place. While there’s some merit to this, it’s worth considering how tired you’ll feel the next day; if you can’t focus on your work during the day, then you’ll be forced to work at night again. If you sleep instead of work at night, then you will have energy during the day. It’s a win-win, really.
Keeping a consistent sleep schedule can also help; if possible, try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up around the same time. You probably set an alarm to wake yourself up, but you could even try setting an alarm to remind yourself to go to bed–set a sleepy song as the alarm and some yawning emojis to the title, and you’ve got yourself a persistent reminder to hop into bed (so long as you don’t hit “snooze” and stay awake).
All in all, there are so many ways to ensure that you get enough sleep; but none of them will work unless you truly believe that you need to be sleeping more in the first place. The average teenager requires 8-10 hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. This varies from person to person, though; so think about what amount of sleep helps you to function at your best, and then take the necessary steps to commit to reaching that amount of sleep every night. You’ll thank yourself for it later.