The school year is slowly coming to an end with only a few more weeks left. Perhaps leaving the hardest part left to conquer such as exams. Everyone is usually wrapped up in the thought of getting better grades and studying harder than usual to be able to do well on exams. Usually with more work and stress comes lack of sleep. If it’s related to staying up to finish work for school, or just really wanting to finish another episode of your favorite show, sleep is prioritized less than other activities.

You all should know that sleep will improve your overall performance in school, which makes sense. If you’re rested and if your brain is rested then you’ll have more energy throughout the day.

Here are some tips if you can’t remember the last time you woke up feeling awake and energized.

STAY AWAKE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.

If you ever feel like you want to take a power nap before starting your homework or doing your extracurricular activities and find that it’s harder to fall asleep at night, you should stay away from small naps. Clare Kittredge’s research says it takes a 15 minute nap for you get rested except therefore your body won’t want to fall asleep later at night.  

DON’T LOOK AT YOUR CLOCK.

Do you ever toss in your bed trying to find the right position to fall asleep and every few seconds you look to see what time it is. STOP, hide the clock. Not only is it increasing your stress, the light from the clock is keeping you awake. (make sure to not check your phone or computer in the night, the blue light suppresses melatonin in your body making it harder to fall asleep).

10-MINUTE BREAK.

If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night, not being able to fall asleep no matter how much you toss or twirl for more than 15 minutes, try getting up and doing a 10 minute activity that requires your hands and your head such as : coloring a book,  solving a jigsaw puzzle or reading.

LISTEN TO MUSIC.

It said that if you fall asleep listening to classical music or any music that has a slow rhythm of 60 to 80 beats per minute improves sleep quality.  Some examples of songs are “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars, “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and “Under the Stars” by John Legend.

WRITE DOWN YOUR WORRIES.

If you always go over a checklist every night before being able to finally fall asleep. Write down everything that you need to tackle the next day and you’ll have a anxiety free night.

MAINTAIN A NIGHTLY ROUTINE.

If you do the same thing every night before you go to bed, this will be a “sleep trigger” to tell your brain that it’s time to slowly go to sleep. Kristen Stewart from “Everyday Health” said to make sure that the routine is one hour before you plan on going to bed. This can be taking a shower, doing a puzzle or reading.

DON’T EXERCISE BEFORE SLEEP.

The National Sleep Foundation said that it’s not healthy to exercise three hours before sleep. If you do, it will keep you energized and it won’t let your body cool down for the night. If you walk a few flights of stairs and stretch to bring your heart rate up a little, it will tire you down which is good for sleeping.

KEEP A CERTAIN SCHEDULE THAT WORKS FOR YOU.

If you find a good time for you to go to sleep and wake in the morning, leaving you enough time for sleeping and getting ready for work or school, then you should stick to it. Mayo Clinic said that changing your sleep schedule everyday or every other day will confuse your body and brain. You’ll get to the point where even if you want to sleep, you won’t be able to. Even on weekends sticking to a similar sleep routine will really improve your sleep.

Everyone has a different sleep schedule and pattern. Some people need more sleep to stay energized and some need less. Overall we all need 8 to 9 hours of sleep. If you cut the amount of sleep you get, you could see your stress rising, of not getting as good grades, not being able to focus in class and overall being less awake during the day.

Hopefully these tips will help you get better sleep leading up to final exams. Make sure to pay attention to your sleep habits and concentrate on having a routine that works for you.

Maya Rodic