How to tackle sleep issues at university
I used to pride myself on living the late nights, whether it be spent partying or just being awake with mates; the ‘uni way of life’. I wore the bags under my eyes with pride, my badges of certified student living. Not anymore!
University is ultimately a place of education, however I noticed that my crazy sleeping patterns were reducing my productivity immensely and caused sleep issues. I may be speaking for myself here; some people can manage to thrive through days on just 4 hours sleep. Not me. So I thought to make a guide on sleep as it’s surprising how such simple task can be so hard to achieve at times.
Ways to get to sleep
1. Tea/Hot Coco
I’ve found that a cup of tea in bed helps me get to sleep much quicker. Especially in such cold conditions, it could be helpful to have something warm in bed to help kick start your dozing. Normal teas like PG, Tetley but I do recommend Red Bush; that does the business.
2. Music or a bland documentary
Since secondary school, I have relied on music to get me to sleep. No matter where I am, if there is a way I can either play my music off my phone or plug my earphones in, I will do it. Create a play-list that has slow and relaxing songs. Another thing is sticking some David Attenborough on, his voice is the next best thing to a lullaby.
Here’s my bedtime playlist. If yours is any sadder and slower than mine, tell us via twitter or post it in the comments box!
Tips to wake up
1. Alarm Clock
This is an obvious one that works a treat if you have the most annoying song on as your alarm tone. On days that I know that I have to be up by a certain time, I set at the least 5 different alarms on my phones. Each of these alarms is set at half an hour intervals, with the last two being 15 minutes apart, for what I think, is maximum effect.
My most annoying song at the moment is ‘Gangnam Style’ and prior to that was ‘Call Me Maybe’. What’s yours? Get involved with our poll or tweet us!
2. Curtains
Keeping your curtains open when you go to bed ensures (granted that your window positioning permits) that light enters your room in the morning. So when you do finally wake up, you don’t wake up to a dark room but the effect of bright lights will help shake the groggy death-like-feeling off quicker.
What to avoid
1. Naps
If you can, please avoid napping. These things are immensely deadly. I discovered that once I took that first nap in the middle of the day here at Uni, my life changed dramatically. My sleeping pattern had no direction and there’d be days that I’d stay up till 7/8 am. Though I was awake, my brain was too scattered to produce any good quality work. So my advice is to avoid naps like the plague if you can’t trust your body clock to operate properly.
2. Eating after 10pm
Okay this is a given. It’s actually a good habit to consider, though the student life may make this harder. No matter how much KFC, Iceland pizza or whatever your flatmates stick under your nose, resist temptation. Personally I’ve realised that when I eat after 10pm I just have unnecessary energy. Not good when you have a 9am lecture the next day. Medically its’s not a wise move either. If you want to lose weight or want a peaceful sleep, eating after 10 messes with your digestive system. This means your body is focused on processing the food rather than resting to sleep.
If you have any tips of methods of your own, please leave them in the comments!