By: Alannah Wallace, SFU Student
You tell yourself that you need a good night’s sleep because you have two assignments, one paper, and one test to study for tomorrow. You settle into bed at 10:30 p.m., but lay there awake unable to sleep. Either you don’t feel tired even though you’ve struggled to make it through the entire day without drifting off or you are stuck in that weird, tired-but-restless state. You keep mentally calculating your GPA after you bomb this test or you’re cursing yourself for not starting your project earlier. Sound familiar? You have probably been experiencing sleep issues for most of your academic career along with the rest of us.
It is estimated that 70% of university students do not sleep enough and that 50% of college students struggle with fatigue during the day. These sleep issues can negatively affect our GPAs, abilities to learn, and overall mood. So, what can we do about this?
Exercise
Yes, that’s right, you’ve heard this super top secret tip before. But what is often missing from this piece of advice is how to exercise. “I did some yoga at lunch and some jumping jacks in the morning, that should help me sleep, right?” Well no, probably not. The duration of exercise and the time of day in which you choose to exercise has the largest effect on sleep. Exercising in the morning can make some people ready for a deep eight-hour sleep by midday, and trying to sleep right after a workout while still experiencing that post-exercise adrenaline rush can be tricky. A study conducted on older adults found that for the best night’s sleep, it is best to partake in around 40 minutes of moderate exercise a few hours before bed.
Trust me, this is the one activity that will not make you feel bad about procrastinating. Gather a list of your favourite songs and go for a jog at sunset. You will feel great after you exercise and a few hours later you will feel the sleepiness hit you. Another plus side of exercising to help sleep is that it is healthy, can be done inexpensively, and does not have the negative side effects that other aids such as sleeping pills can have on the body.
Napping
I thought you weren’t supposed to nap during the day if you wanted any chance of a full eight-hour sleep in the night, right? Not necessarily. While it is true that a 2–3 hour nap at 4 p.m. is probably not a good idea, just a 10–15 minute nap can improve your mental alertness and increase productivity. It can be hard to make yourself wake up and continue working after those 10–15 minutes of dreamy sleep, so try drinking a caffeinated beverage right before your nap. This way, the caffeine will kick in right as you’re waking up.
Not only can napping make you feel more alert and rested so you can continue on with your day, but it also reduces stress and the risk of heart disease. It’s pretty hard to be stressed out while you’re cuddled up in a pile of pillows and soft blankets. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed to the point where your worrying is getting in the way of your productivity, take a short nap!
Another problem can be the desire to nap too often. Many students complain that doing their readings puts them to sleep. Make sure you are not reading in an area that is too comfortable like your bed. Go to the library and create an upbeat playlist that will keep your energy levels from dropping. It’s hard to feel sleepy with rave music playing in your ear, isn’t it?
Tea
Have you ever suffered a serious bout of insomnia only to have your parents suggest to you . . . tea? It seems too simple to work. Maybe it’s one of those placebo effect things, generated by an old wives’ tale. That’s what I thought too, until one day I picked a random tea from my cousin’s cabinet and was surprised that 15 minutes later when I felt a wave of fatigue hit me. I was drinking chamomile tea, apparently known for producing feelings of sleepiness. Additionally, chamomile can also help with an upset stomach, nausea, and anxiety — that’s right, relaxed and sleepy. This sounds like the perfect tea for a stressed out student. If you’re looking for something a bit more flavourful than just plain chamomile, many tea makers combine this herb with lemongrass, hibiscus, and other great flavours such as the tea Sweet Dreams by DavidsTea.
Clear your mind
Nothing is going to help your sleeping patterns if you’re having a mental breakdown every night because you just didn’t study for the three midterms you have coming up. While everyone is genuinely busy and stressed, one of the best ways to stop being stressed about procrastination is . . . to stop procrastinating. But this is easier said than done. Here are a couple quick tips to help you get going on those assignments.
- One problem that many people struggle with is starting a task that will take a long time or a lot of effort. In the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, it is recommended to avoid becoming overwhelmed by a large task by first telling yourself you will only work on the task for 30 minutes and then take a short break. Not only is 30 minutes better than not starting it at all, but it keeps the commitment low and less overwhelming. If you start this habit early on before the due date, you will find that chipping away at the task makes it a lot less daunting. Many times, you will even find yourself on a roll and continuing with the task past your designated 30 minutes.
- Identify your overarching goal, and then start small. If you have to make a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation for class, start by first jotting down some ideas of what will go onto your slides, create an outline, and then eventually start planning out a few slides at a time and adding more detail to your outline. The idea is to just start, even if your start is small.
- Lastly, even if we have the best intentions to start working on that assignment or presentation, life can easily get in the way — that is, if you let it. Practice saying ‘no’ to friends and family who often offer up other ways to spend your time. Create a schedule that only includes crucial obligations, and then be very sparing about planning anything else while you are suffering through midterm or finals season.
So give these tips a try! Somehow, once you have a good night’s sleep, everything else seems to fall into place. Life seems easier. The two assignments you are working on become less overwhelming, that math equation seems easier to solve, and you get through your readings twice as fast.
