Making sure you sleep enough every night and stick to a consistent sleep schedule requires discipline. There will always be other activities available that may keep you up late or prevent you from studying and mean you need to pull an all-nighter to catch up. However, adopting better sleep habits is crucial for your overall health. Rather than just setting a goal to improve your sleep, you need a strategy to ensure you get at least seven hours of sleep every night. Here’s how to start.
1. Create a Bedtime Routine
Just as you have routines for other parts of the day, make a routine around your bedtime. At least on weeknights, never allow anything to interrupt this schedule.
A few hours before you want to be asleep, start winding down. For instance, you may like to prepare yourself a caffeine-free tea, dim the lights, and find an activity that relaxes you. When bedtime arrives, try using an eye mask or playing some soothing sounds to fall asleep faster.
2. Turn Off Your Devices
Your bedtime routine must definitely not involve any devices that emit blue light. This includes your phone, laptop, tablet, and TV. The effects of blue light last up to a couple hours before you try to sleep, keeping your brain awake and alert. This makes it harder to fall asleep and lowers the quality of your sleep.
One way to stay away from screens is to schedule homework earlier in the day. You also need to find more activities that don’t involve screens, such as reading, art projects, or gentle exercise. Lastly, you should set up sleep mode on your phone to stop receiving notifications.
3. Have Fun Without Sacrificing Sleep
Don’t let your sleep routine stop you from having the full college experience. If your friends want to go out on Fridays or Saturdays, decide if you can give yourself a little extra leeway. This will only be an option when you don’t have activities early the next morning, as may be the case if you’re a student athlete, you work on the weekends, or you have other commitments.
4. Separate Sleep and Studying
To keep sleep and studying separate, you should never study while sitting on your bed. However, you may also like to avoid using the desk in your room at times because it may mean you’re spending many hours in the same place. It’s worth searching for other places to study, such as the campus library, your local coffee shop, or a common area in your student housing.
You’ll find it much easier to stick to a healthy sleep routine if you at least have your own room. Moving into Foundry Lofts will mean you have a private bedroom in a suite you’ll share with just three or four other students. Our alternative to Niagara College residence also provides you with a full kitchen where you can prepare a delicious breakfast to incentivize yourself to get out of bed in the morning, a games room where you can socialize without screens, and study spaces to give you a change of scenery. Apply today while there are still some units available.