Student Wellbeing – sleeping better

Regardless of which end of the candle you’re burning; student living isn’t always the most conducive to getting good quality sleep. You might have classes timetabled at different times on different days (with a combination of early starts and late finishes), or have work commitments in the evenings or weekends when you might normally catch up on a bit of rest. You might be living with others with differing wake/sleep cycles, or you might be living up to the tired old stereotypes of the nocturnal student. All these things make it difficult to get into a steady sleep routine.

Scheduling your daytime activities is a good way of keeping on top of all you need to do but scheduling your down time can be just as important for good mental wellbeing. We all feel a bit less stressed when we know we’ve planned out any work we need to do and have set aside ample time to do it. Similarly, it’s easier to relax into a good sleep pattern when we set aside enough time to do so. Where possible, try to get into a routine of going to bed at roughly the same time each night, and getting up at roughly the same time each morning.

Some of the below suggestions will aid your sleep hygiene:

• Avoid food, alcohol, caffeine, exercise too close to bedtime
• Develop a winding down routine for before bed (have a bath, put comfy pj’s on, read a book/listen to soothing music)
• Put your phone on flight mode or Do Not Disturb to avoid disruptions through the night, and activate blue light filter
• Try to keep your bedroom for night-time activities – if it’s your only personal space, perhaps zone out a work area and a relaxation area, to avoid just sitting on your bed to work or watch the telly

For some more tips around getting a good night sleep, have a look at these tips. And for extra help overcoming sleep difficulties, you can try Sleepio, which you can access from here.