I’m currently enrolled in college, doing more than a full load, working for myself, and trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle with healthy relationships. When I started college I was told that I would never be able to prioritize my sleep, but I’ve managed to maintain at least 8.5 hours of sleep every night… (with a few exceptions of course…we all let a few assignments sneak up on us SOMETIMES)
Throughout the past year and a half, I have worked full/part-time in landscaping, retail, and entrepreneurial opportunities. I’ve been able to continuously bank a bit of cash while paying for any necessities, car repairs, and bills, and even a few luxuries…God bless fast food ?
When you tie in that amount of work with going to college full time, you’ll come to the realization that I don’t have a lot of time. As humans, we like to have free time to relax as well…all too often we fall into YouTube or Netflix binges into all hours of the night. This makes it difficult to prioritize sleep. But I’ve managed…and here is how!
No Sleep = Death. As morbid as this may sound…it’s true. And quite frankly, I enjoy being alive. So, I’ve chosen to make it a priority throughout my college life, and hopefully into my career.
I’ve managed to do this through 3 key principles. People say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” and while this is true, it’s been proving you will lose YEARS off of your life by not getting enough sleep. This means that by effectively using the 3 tips below, you might even live longer!
- 1. Organize, Organize, and Organize
At the beginning of the last school year, I started using Google Calendar to track all family events, work schedules, and school schedules. Any big meetings or reminders get added to my calendar. This has kept my sanity, but also lets me have peace of mind at night. If you are like me, your mind likes to keep your body wide awake at night, thinking about life…wondering if you forgot anything, or planning the next day. With my calendar, I can rest assured that I’m not going to forget my meeting with The Rock if I drift off into dreamland.
- Pick a bedtime
Now you might be thinking…Geo…a bedtime? I’m not 5 anymore. And while this may be true, there is definitely some validity to choosing a bedtime for yourself. By identifying a time for you to begin your nightly routine and relax your mind, you physically enable your body to begin to prepare for slumber. While it’s okay to occasionally break the bedtime, having a regular time for you to easily relax and fall asleep is crucial!
- Wake up consistently
Now, I know you enjoy your sleeping in on the weekends, and to be fair so do I. However, choosing to sleep in 2 days out of the week is a guaranteed way to mess with your sleep cycles, which will make you wake up groggy, disoriented, and cause you to feel sluggish throughout the day. Our bodies sleep in these roughly 90-minute cycles where we gradually fall off into a deeper sleep. If you aren’t able to quickly do the math, sleepyti.me will let you input a bedtime or wakeup time and gives you the amount of sleep you can get. Now if you wake up in the middle of one of these cycles while your brain is in its deepest rest, it will leave you feeling groggy and often affect your mental state for the rest of the day. I’ve recently been trying to only sleep in 90-minute time slots, generally 7.5 or 9 hours at night. And while I haven’t been doing it for very long, I have been waking up feeling rested and ready to start the day.
Overall
Consistency is key. If you are consistent in your sleep and are proactive with your sleeping habits, you are guaranteed to sleep better and feel more rested while awake. This lets your mind be more creative, awake, and strengthened, all of which will greatly benefit your work, school, and relationships.
I encourage you to go implement each of these steps in your life and let me know how they work for you in the comments below!
its is epic
Thanks dude! It’s been super helpful for me!