Good Night, Sleep Tight

The Nyquil commercials have the right idea: sleep is a beautiful thing, especially for college students.  There are so many activities to balance, from class, jobs, internships, family and friends, sports, clubs, homework and studying, downtime, etc. that sleep can often not get the prominence that it deserves in our lives.  I hear so many of my peers talking about how they do not get enough sleep that I figured that I would give some tips on how I get sleep and the reasons why sleep matters.  Here is why sleep matters.

There are three main reasons  why sleep matters.  The first is the consolidation of our memory.  Retention from the short term to our long term memory is often better achieved with enough sleep.  This leads into the second reason which is that you will take in information better.  You won't be falling asleep in class, and instead can take better notes to help you with upcoming projects and tests.  The third reason for why sleep matters is your emotional regulation.  More sleep often equals better emotions.  I often notice that if I do not get enough sleep, I am often cranky.  Getting more sleep also will give you stronger motivation, better planning and problem-solving.  Now that I have discussed why sleep matters, I will give some advice on how to get enough sleep.

You want to make your sleeping environment quiet (with the exception of white noise, if needed.  Sometimes I can't sleep in complete silence).  This white noise can come from a fan, or there are phone apps that have white noises such as ocean waves, rain, etc.  It's also important to have a cool and dark room.  If you need complete darkness, you can get a sleep mask which you can buy pretty much anywhere, and as far as cool goes, you can get a small fan to blow over you at night.  Another piece of advice is to limit your late-night blue light usage.  Don't use your phone right before you close your eyes; the blue light in technology is like that of the sun and can cause you to not fall asleep as fast as if you didn't use the technology.  I always read before bed, which is relaxing and makes my eyes quickly start to fall.  You should also limit your late-night stimulants.  This means caffeine!!!  There are times where an all-nighter is necessary, but you should try to limit these as best as you can.  Taking a power nap after class that lasts 30 minutes to an hour can rejuvenate you to finish the day and can make you more relaxed at night.  The last piece of advice I have is how to turn your brain off at night.  I often find that my mind will start thinking about everything that I have to accomplish, which causes me to not fall asleep.  The solution I have to this is to keep a piece of paper by your bed so that when you think of something you have to do, you can write it down and then think about it again later.

I hope that this has given you some insight on how to get enough sleep at night.  Please let me know if these tips have helped you or if you have any other tips to add to the list.  Getting enough sleep is important for functioning in everyday life.  Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have pleasant dreams!

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