7 Tips on Getting Better Sleep this School Year

 With school back in session, getting that “8-10 hours of sleep” recommended for children 13-18 years of age, according to the CDC, is not always the easiest task. Between sports, homework, clubs, studying, and more, it seems like there is always an endless amount of things to get done for one reason or another. Nonetheless, sleep is still important, and just because your daily schedule might be full to the brim right now, your sleep schedule doesn’t have to suffer. Here are 7 tips to get more sleep during this school year.

1. Make sure your bed is a sleep-only setup 

Whether you sleep on a futon, bed, couch, you want to be sure that wherever and whatever it is, you only use it for sleeping. It can be easy to use those areas for homework, snacking, watching TV, and whatnot, but that is actually doing more harm than good. When you do this, you are training your brain to think that those areas are a place to do things besides sleep. As a result, when you finally lie down for bed, your brain doesn’t know whether it is supposed to sleep or be productive. 

2. Stay away from exercise/caffeine 3-4 hours before bed

While exercise and even caffeine can be good for you, you have to be strategic about when you are doing it and how much you are doing it as well. By exercising right before you go to sleep, your body is going to be extra tired, and while that might be what you need, your body will have less time to rejuvenate and hydrate prior to bed. The same goes with caffeine. Since you sweat through the night while sleeping, both caffeine and exercise can dehydrate you. You want to make sure that you are not doing either of those things too close to bed so that you have enough time to hydrate, rest, and make sure nothing interferes with your sleep.

 3. Don’t drink too much water right before bed

This tip might seem counterintuitive, as hydration is an essential for good sleep, so you are not getting up constantly throughout the night for water. As mentioned above, you lose water throughout the night by sweating, and because of that, you want to make sure you are hydrated before bed. However, if you drink too much on the counter, especially right before bed, you will be getting up constantly to use the restroom throughout the night, and that causes a lack of sleep as well. It is generally best to hydrate throughout the day to avoid having to hydrate a whole bunch in the afternoon, where you’ll find yourself constantly getting up all night. 

4. Try to lower your screen time

While this can be difficult, limiting the time you spend on screens can significantly benefit your sleep schedule. When you really think about it, we spend a good chunk of our day on screens. At school, we spend a lot of the day on the computer, come home to do more homework on the computer, and then we spend a lot of our free time on screens as well. Nevertheless, by finding other activities to do we can limit that. It is especially important before bed so that our brains don’t get overstimulated. 

wever, this doesn’t have to be all at once. If it is harder to limit the screen time, maybe change what that screen time is on with things that are more relaxing, like word games, versus scrolling through social media. 

5. Get in the sun during the day

This tip might sound weird—how does the daytime impact your sleep time? Well, similarly to the first tip about training your bed to recognize that it is for sleep, you want to train your brain to recognize that dark means bed time.

Getting in the sun and in the warmth during the day teaches our brains to recognize that those are the times to be up. Over time, if we build a habit of making sure our brain understands daytime is light, we can start making other habits that solidify that. For example, by doing things like turning out the lights and turning the fan on at night, those cooler temperatures and darker environments will eventually train our bodies to sleep more comfortably in those places. 

6. Build a bedtime routine

We may not need to hold someone’s hands before crossing the street anymore, but not much has really changed since we were toddlers. Things like routine are still incredibly important; we use them in school, clubs, and so on. With this, the same thing goes for bedtime. By building a routine you can stick to, even if it is only a few steps, it will get you into a routine that eases you into bedtime instead of just trying to fall asleep after hours of homework and scrolling. Let the other two things be stuff that you do already to help you fall asleep or things that relax you. That way, you won’t be tossing and turning for hours before actually falling asleep. 

7. Don’t procrastinate your must-do tasks

This is sometimes easier said than done, but keep away from putting off your day-to-day tasks. Every minute is an opportunity to be productive, and if you are putting off things on the front end, it takes away from the time you could truly be taking to rest each school night. To prevent procrastinating, make a daily list of your non-negotiable tasks, like homework, practice, exercise, etc. Then, create a checklist to help you get it done. 

Throughout the day, cross them off, and each day, give yourself a treat or reward of some sort for getting it done; that way, you always have something to look forward to and something to motivate you. 

At the end of the day, everyone has different schedules and different things they have to deal with, but amongst other things, one of the most important things we need to be doing is getting our sleep. Some people have sports, jobs, difficult classes, and more. If we are not allowing ourselves or making time for ourselves to get basic necessities, hydrating, eating food, getting rest, etc, then we are not doing ourselves or others any service. You can’t give what you don’t have, and if you don’t have the energy, you won’t be able to give it in whatever it is that you are doing. So, this school year, be sure to follow at least one of the tips, or maybe all if you can, to have one of your most well-rested years yet.