How you can get more sleep
You’ve all heard it before. Everyone needs to get more sleep. Every few months or so, a new sleep study is published and hits the media circuit, and we’re told that a lack of sleep affects our memory, job performance, brain functioning, mood, proneness to accidents, stress levels, among much else. For teens, who the National Sleep Foundation states need 9.25 hours of sleep each night, proper sleep is particularly important. We all know WHY we need to get more sleep, but for some of us, the question isn’t of why but of how. How does one, a stressed out student with papers to write on deadline and a series of tests to take for five different classes, get more sleep when they can barely calm down enough to eat a proper meal?
It may seem difficult to squeeze in a good night’s sleep when you’re so busy with everything else, but what is daunting is not impossible with the right attitude and these 5 tips on how to get more sleep.
5. Want to get enough sleep.
Like all things, you need to make sleep a priority if you are going to get enough of it! If you plan your day around getting enough sleep, you’re more likely to do so. And why wouldn’t you plan your day around sleeping? Sleep is, by the way, nearly half of your life. All in all, it’s probably the most bioloically important thing for you to do all day. So plan around it.
4. Don’t OD on caffeine.
Not only can caffeine be harmful for you, but drinking coffee or Red Bull close to your bed time can severely throw your whole schedule off balance. Instead of drinking a soda while doing late night homework, stick to water or a non-caffeinated drink.
3. Establish a sleep schedule.
Bedtime isn’t just for elementary school. Most adults I know try to set a bedtime and stick with it. Not merely helpful for getting enough sleep, a set bedtime is also an effective way to set structure into your day. Knowing you should be in bed by a certain time makes it more likely you will try extra hard to get everything you need to get done during the day, done.
2. Nap away.
Napping isn’t bad for sleep as long as you don’t sleep too much. Power napping can actually increase productivity. Have you ever dozed off briefly and woken up feeling refreshed, renewed, reenergized? Conversely, have you ever taken a four hour nap only to awaken into a sluggish fuge? 20 minutes is the time to aim for during your power nap. Studies have shown that this amazing 20 minute siesta is more effective in brightening up that cognitive state than 20 more minutes of sleep any given morning.
1. Lists, Lists, Lists.
Make a to-do list that structures your day. Writing down things you need to do will make it easier for you to remember your tasks – so you don’t forget anything or leave things to the last minute. Take things one step at a time. Instead of focusing on the length of your list and scaring yourself out with the gargantuan nature of everything you have to do, do one thing at a time and cross things off as you go. Focus on each individual leg of the race, not on the race itself. Doing so will diminish your stress, as well as make your day more productive so that you can go to sleep at night with an easy conscience.
And one more, for good measure…
You can actually trick your body into going to sleep at night. One thing I like to do when I go to sleep is focus on my breathing, like in yoga, with deep inhales and exhales. Then I pretend that every little part of my body is falling asleep one bit at a time. “My feet are asleep,” I think, then focus on the feeling that I’m losing sensation in my toes, that they’re falling asleep. By the time I get to my head, I’m usually already asleep.
If that doesn’t work, you can always count sheep. It’s a tried and true remedy, because it works!
