How to Adult: Going to Sleep

Being responsible, getting proper rest

As a college student there is no doubt that your sleeping schedule is, well, a bit messed up and irregular.

As you know sleep is very important especially with the stress and anxiety brought on by schoolwork and any other extracurricular activities you may be involved in.

Sleep as a college student is hard to come by as deadlines approach and projects get harder. It’s important to set aside time for actual sleep and not your Red Bull replacement.

A 17-to-25-year-old needs an average of seven to nine hours of sleep each night to feel and be fully rested. You may see that number and glorify it but there is no need to when managing your sleep is possible.

Believe me or not, as a college student you can be getting enough sleep. Still don’t believe me? Well, here are some tips you might want to try.

Have a set bedtime, whether it’s as early as nine p.m. or midnight, stick to the schedule. This will help you complete your work in a somewhat timely manner if you are trying to reach a goal of being in bed by a certain time each week.

It won’t be easy at first, but the more you stick to your bedtime the easier it will be to want to get work done and be in bed sooner.

Avoid caffeine, no you do not have to completely stop drinking caffeine, but you should avoid it in the evenings as it may disrupt your ability to fall asleep and cause you to be awake longer as its effects take hours to wear off.

Limit your screen time at night. Now this one will not be easy as phones are entertaining and a great distraction in the bedroom.

The more you scroll or the longer you scroll the less you want to put the phone down. It’s so easy to get stuck in a two hour Tik Tok binge so you need to set boundaries.

Set an alarm at a certain reasonable time to set your phone down, or set a timer for the time you will allow yourself to spend on it before you go to bed.

If this fails, which it might, go to your settings and set app time limits. This is a drastic step to make, but if you lack control you might just need to do it.

Getting a reasonably healthy amount of sleep as a college student is possible, but you must putintheeffortifyou’d like to count sheep at a reasonable hour.

Take the time, do the work and get some rest please.