Health & Wellness

5 Tips to a Better Sleep for Students

5 Tips to a Better Sleep for Students
Long gone are those late nights out and silent alarm clocks. It’s time to get back into a regular schedule, and yes, that means sleep schedule too. There is such a thing as “sleep hygiene” and researchers have found specific and regular practices that you can follow to make sure that you get a restful night’s sleep, every time. And as a student, there is nothing more valuable than a good night’s sleep.
 
Follow these steps to help you adopt a healthier sleep hygiene routine.
Keep to a schedule  
Bedtime and wake up should be at the same time every day.  Yes, weekends included.  Your body gets easily accustomed to patterns and can easily be thrown off. When events prevent this, get back into your usual schedule right away.

Avoid naps
Yes, those few moments of shut-eye before dinner after a long stressful day can throw off your internal clock.  When you are feeling sleepy, drink a full 8 ounces of water – or more, and see how you perk up! Sometimes dehydration causes sleepiness and most people will typically grab a coffee instead of water.

Keep your bed for sleep 
Hear us out on this one. Take your Netflix, snacking and homework cramming habits somewhere other than on your bed. When you associate your bedroom with resting and sleeping, a space to recharge and rejuvenate, your body will begin to automatically condition itself to this environment and allow sleep to come quicker and easier. 

Avoid vigorous exercise in the evening 
While consistent exercise is great for overall health, an evening sweat won’t encourage sleep. Avoid heavy lifting and cardio after 6pm and opt instead for a restorative evening yoga class. Yoga can help relax the body and stretch away the anxieties and pressures of the day. 

Keep it quiet
If you live near a busy street, highway or perhaps have a whistling old radiator that discharges every hour on the hour, consider ear plugs.  Additionally, using white noise machines can also cancel-out any annoying sleep-preventing sounds. Consider using ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), which are relaxing sounds that promote restful sleep. One episode of Bob Ross, The Joy of Painting featuring his soft voice and satisfying paint strokes are all you really need to whisk you gently off to sleep.  


How Sleep Contributes to Your Academic Success

The concept of sleep has always been long regarded as an important facet of human existence. For students, research offers that sleep actually contributes to not only your physical wellbeing but also your academic success. Read below to learn more about the scientifically proven ways that sleep actively intensifies your academic ability.

Enhances Memory Stability
Early psychological research offered the idea that sleep enhances our ability to retain information, by isolating the mind from all other stimuli that is not related to memory retention. However, new neurological findings have proven that sleep heightens our ability to form memories through a concept called consolidation. Essentially, as you sleep, Ron Davis, chair of the TSRI Department of Neuroscience argues “dopamine neurons become less reactive to stimuli and this leads to more stable memories.” Therefore, regular sleep patterns contribute to stable memories and a better likelihood of retaining information for longer periods of time!

Cutting Synaptic Pathways
Our brains are constantly creating neural pathways in order to think and understand our perceptions of the world around us. Some of these pathways are necessary and lead to dead ends, taking up space in our minds. As we sleep, our brains get rid of unnecessary pathways and make room for new ones, allowing room for new information and memory storage. This newfound space can then be filled with study notes and information on cue cards, allowing you to effectively study and retain new knowledge!

Stable Sleep Patterns and Higher Grades
Many students assume that the hours slept per night, regardless of how erratic these hours are, are the main factor in healthy sleep patterns. However, a study was done that proved the consistency of the time students sleep and wake up are as important as the actual duration slept. The research found that students with more consistent hours of sleep (those who slept and woke up at the same time each day) had higher academic averages and grades in comparison to the students with erratic schedules.

The Negative Effects of “All Nighters”
When cramming for an important final, students may have the urge to pull an all-nighter in order to make the most out of their limited time and prepare for their upcoming exam. This may seem like a good idea in theory - grinding out your work for a few hours in order to retain all the important information - but in practice, it actually leads to worse performance in the exam room. 

Being sleep deprived while writing a test, results in delayed response time and a higher likelihood of comprehension errors. Getting a good night’s rest, regardless of how much you’ve studied, will make you sharper and more attentive while taking your test!

In summary, sleep is a highly effective tool in enhancing your ability to learn, be present during exams, and retain memories and information. There are direct links between better sleep schedules and high academic performance, and sleep should be regarded as a way to improve your physical, emotional, and academic wellbeing!




University is, all-consuming, stress-inducing and sleep-depriving, but there is a plethora of ways to fight back. Start the year off on the right foot and make sleep an important priority. Establishing a good sleep-hygiene routine is definitely the foundation to a successful academic year.