Hey all,
It’s time to sleep! Sleep is so important because it helps you study efficiently and is essential for your mental health.
Here are some tips to help with sleep during stressful times:
- Have some calm time before you sleep – Read a book, dim your lights and turn off your electronics. This will help get your body ready for sleep and allow you to fall asleep faster.
- Drink camomile tea – I do this a lot! Camomile tea is great for relaxation, which in turn will help you get into that calm state before you go to sleep.
- Exercise early in the day – Exercising daily is key for maintaining your mental health, however, exercising right before bed can actually make you more awake. Try to reserve exercising for the daytime, up to four hours before you want to go to sleep.
- Try to keep to a schedule – Go to sleep around the same general time every night. This one is pretty obvious – if you sleep late one night, it will be difficult to sleep early the next night – so try to stay consistent.
- Use your bed only for sleep – This is a tough one for a lot of students. I generally study in my bed but I have realized it actually isn’t a good thing to do. When the bed is only used for sleeping, you associate your bed with sleep and as a result fall asleep faster and easier.
- Try to clear your mind – This can be a tough one for me. Before exams I often can’t sleep, especially if it’s an exam I’m worried about. One way I’ve tried to work through this is by doing something that’s not study related right before I sleep, like listening to some relaxing music or having a light snack. This clears my mind from the stress of the exam.
- Don’t drink a lot of caffeine – I usually don’t drink caffeine at all, but when I do, I can stay up so late – and its strange because I’ll be really tired but I won’t be able to sleep. It becomes really frustrating because I feel as though I’m wasting time that I could be sleeping. So, during exam period, even though it may be super tempting, try not to drink a lot of coffee. Sleep is more important than staying awake the extra hour to study – believe me… I know from experience!
I hope these tips help you all get a good night sleep over the next week.
Bye for now!
The views expressed in this blog are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the University of Victoria. I monitor posts and comments to ensure all content complies with the University of Victoria Guidelines on Blogging.