As college students, sleep seems to be lower on our list of priorities. However, it is one of the biggest keys to success and therefore we should be doing our best to make sure we are getting the most out of the sleep we get. Here are 8 ways to get a better night\u2019s sleep:<\/p>\n
1. Create a healthy sleep schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n Your body works best on a set time clock so do the best you can to respect that and your body will thank you for it. Pick a bedtime and try to stick to it each and every night. With that being said, try and wake up at roughly the same time each morning \u2013 as college students with alternating schedules, this task can be a hard one, but if you keep yourself from sleeping in, especially on weekends, you\u2019ll find yourself with more energy than you would if you spent the entire morning in bed!<\/p>\n 2. Keep\u00a0a comfortable room<\/strong><\/p>\n Turn off the lights, keep your room cool, give yourself some background noise (like a fan or soothing music) and open your windows in the summer. Sleep is meant for rest and relaxation so do whatever you can to give your body those signs that it only recognizes as you sleep. This way, your brain has an easier time shutting down and you don\u2019t have to try so hard to get that rest you need.<\/p>\n 3. Limit daytime naps<\/strong><\/p>\n Naps are good in moderation. Be careful not to let those food comas you get at odd times of the day make you sleepy. Once your head hits that pillow or you find yourself snuggled up on the couch, drifting off is nearly inevitable and the next thing you know, three hours have gone by. If you find that you\u2019re in need of sleep in the middle of the day, take a cat nap (lasting no longer than 20 minutes) as your body will get the rest it needs without falling into a deep sleep. It may not seem like enough, but you\u2019ll wake up more energized than you think!<\/p>\n 4) Exercise<\/strong><\/p>\n Get your body moving and wake up your mind. Any sort of exercise from walking the track to lifting weights gets your blood flowing. This will help wake you up during the day, relieve stress, and you may be more physically tired as you lay down that night but this will keep you healthy. Plus, your body will definitely be ready to hit your bed that night!<\/p>\n 5. Get out in the sun<\/strong><\/p>\n Sun helps you in a variety of ways \u2013 it makes you happier, gives you vitamins, and often gets you active! Being in the sun and spending time outside can give you unintentional exercise as well as a healthy body that won\u2019t keep you up at night!<\/p>\n 6. Manage your stress<\/strong><\/p>\n Stress can most definitely tamper with your sleep cycle and often times, as college students juggling everything we do, it\u2019s hard for our minds to turn off as the sun goes down. However, the less stressed you are (or that you can trick your brain into thinking you are), the better sleep you\u2019ll get. If you take a few minutes for yourself each night before bed to help you relax, it can really help.<\/p>\n 7. Turn off all technology<\/strong><\/p>\n We are all attached to our phones, computers and TVs, but when it comes to lying in bed, make it a point to put down your technology. If you can get yourself into a habit of leaving that out of the bedroom, it can calm you and leave the temptations where they aren\u2019t as accessible. So, finish that last text, Netflix show, or homework assignment before crawling into bed and you\u2019ll be amazed at how much faster you\u2019ll fall asleep and how well-rested you\u2019ll feel in the morning.<\/p>\n 8. Watch what you eat and drink<\/strong><\/p>\n Over-eating during a meal (especially dinner) can cause you to be tired. It\u2019s not real drowsiness; it\u2019s just your body absorbing everything you\u2019ve eaten and making you feel weak. Therefore, make sure to watch how much you eat and what you\u2019re eating so that you don\u2019t feel sluggish until it\u2019s time to sleep. It\u2019s also important to make sure you stop drinking caffeine after lunch as it can stay in your system for up to seven hours! And for those who like to drink tea before bed, make sure you stay away from caffeinated versions as well!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Winona State University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":2816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellness-blog","category-winona"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/02\/better-sleep-300p.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQJv-fM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6753,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions\/6753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}