From purchasing your textbooks to packing to move into the dorms, there’s a lot to consider when starting your college career.
However, while it’s easy to get swept up in the busy preparation process, it’s vital to consider how you’re going to live a healthy and productive life once you’ve settled into your college routine.
For example, think about your quality of sleep. As essential as quality sleep is for keeping students energized and engaged, getting enough sleep is among the most common struggles that college students experience while living in the dorms.
Because of this, it helps to know what can contribute to these issues beforehand so you can avoid them entirely once you move in. These are some of the things that could hurt your sleep while away at college and how you can mitigate them.
Your Old Dorm Mattress
Though it might not be fun to think about, there’s a good chance that several people have slept on your dorm mattress before you.
This means that, not only is your assigned mattress probably dirtier than it appears at first glance, but it’s also more broken-down.
Dorm mattresses aren’t too comfortable to begin with, so with advanced age and use, it can be a nightmare to drift off some nights.
Fortunately, there are several ways to get around this, including purchasing a memory foam mattress topper and using a mattress protector.
Having an Irregular Sleep Schedule
Starting off with an irregular sleep schedule could also set you up for sleep failure. As the internal clocks that tell our bodies when it’s time to get some rest, these schedules are pivotal to keeping ourselves rested, healthy, and energized each day. Neglecting to stick to a consistent sleep schedule throws off this internal clock and makes it difficult for our bodies to tell when exactly bedtime is.
This confusion can make it increasingly difficult to falls asleep, even when you want to, and will prevent you from feeling as energized as you could be the next day. Therefore, as tempting as it may be to enjoy the college nightlife, getting eight hours of rest at a similar time each night can really help down the line.
Stress and Anxiety
The inability to fall asleep and stay asleep can also be due to feelings of stress and anxiety. With the additional difficulty and pressures of college, it’s common for students to develop these feelings in their daily lives.
With the accumulation of stressors, these thoughts and emotions can begin to infiltrate your sleeping hours and keep you wide awake thinking about them. The key to success is to find ways to take your mind off these stressors as you’re nearing bedtime. This could mean performing breathing exercises, counting sheep, or winding down with a book.
other valuable tips:
Z’s Get Degrees: The Importance of Quality Sleep
6 Worst Effects of Sleep Deprivation On College Students & Its Solutions
Your Cellphone
Another thing that can hurt your sleep is the very thing attached to your hip all day—your cell phone. While our phones are crucial for contacting loved ones and tracking our schedules, they can cause more harm than good when it comes time to go to bed.
The blue light that our phones emit has a waking effect on our brains, leading us to stay awake even when we know we’re tired. For this reason, you should stop yourself from looking at your phone in the hour before bed.
Image Credit: hurt your sleep by envato.com
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