Fixing your sleep cycle

Did you wake up today wishing you could press the snooze button again? If the answer is yes, you might have an irregular sleep pattern. As students, it is well to us known that we have a bad reputation when it comes to sleeping. Remember those all-nighters we pulled trying to catch up on the lectures we missed by sleeping in late? And I think we all certainly remember the nights we’ve spent drinking and dancing instead of sleeping. But isn’t this what we are supposed to do in the best years of our lives? In theory, we could spend some time working on our sleeping patterns without cutting the fun. It’s a good idea to get a handle on your sleeping patterns, as quality of sleep directly affects your mental and physical health. Your productivity, memory and your emotions are influenced by how often you get a good night’s sleep.

Do the statistics support the notion that students are bad sleepers? Research has shown that even if we get seven hours of sleep per night, we tend to go to sleep quite late and at irregular times. Jawbone (the company which made the wearable UP tracker) released a study of thousands of students aged 18-22, which monitored their sleep habits over 1.4 million nights since 2013. According to the study, students are not as sleep-deprived as we might think. The overall average sleep time was seven hours and three minutes. However, the study did highlight that students do tend to fall asleep after 1am and at irregular times.

Now you might wonder why is it such a bad thing to go to sleep late if you get the recommended amount of sleep of seven hours per night? To answer this, I will refer to the circadian rhythm, or in simpler words, your inner clock which works on your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. Getting in sync with it is very important since altering your sleep schedule by a couple of hours leaves you tired and moody. Think of it as you were constantly jetlagged: if you are repeatedly changing time zones, your body doesn’t have enough time to adapt to a new sleeping pattern and, consequently, you would be prone to all the problems caused by an irregular sleeping pattern.

But how can we improve our sleep and in the same time, keep up with our social life and academic responsibilities? Professionals have got us covered with several tips on how to work on our sleeping patterns:

1) Go to sleep at the same time 

First, find out how much sleep you need to feel rested. If you find yourself becoming tired and unable to focus during the day, you ought to add one or two extra hours per night. It may be worth implementing a sleeping schedule. Try to go to sleep at the same hour every day. It’s easier for your body to recover after a night out when it has a schedule to get back into the swing of.

2) Set up a calming sleeping environment 

Studies have shown that it is easier to fall asleep when your body is cooled down so try to get the temperature in your room at around 18 degrees Celsius. Another recommendation would be to turn off all the lights. This includes those pretty little fairy lights and bedside lamps. Your body needs complete darkness to relax and to get into a deep sleep. Make sure your bed covers are comfortable and that your mattress is firm.

3) Unplug from the real world

Stay away from your phone or your laptop within one-two hours before going to bed. The blue light which these electronics emit tricks your brain into thinking that it’s daytime, which is obviously bad for bedtime!

4) Create a bedtime routine

Read a chapter from your favourite book. Drink some chamomile tea. Practice some yoga. Do  whatever makes you calm. The residual stress from your day can keep you up at night.

5) Look after yourself

Try to exercise during the day, or at least take a 15 min walk, as even this type of light exercise can improve your sleep. However, do not exercise right before bedtime since it gives your body energy that could keep you awake. Also, it would be a good idea to avoid caffeine and nicotine. These are two stimulants which could disrupt your sleep up to 10 hours after you consume them. Lastly, try to limit naps to 20 minutes in the afternoon. However sweet that in-between lectures nap might be, it will affect how quickly you will fall asleep at night.

If you feel that you are having significant issues with sleep and tiredness, it is incredibly important that you seek professional help. Nobody understands your body better than you, so if you do not feel well, make sure you book a visit to your GP.