Hello world,
Once again, I have stayed up all night and slept the day away; not because I had to work or because I was up studying. No, it seems that I have simply become nocturnal. This is a common ailment of college students, given that most of us don't have full time jobs that naturally regulate our sleeping habits and the closer we all get to being on winter holiday, the worse the sleep habits get. Why is it that college students, in particular, find it impossible to follow the same schedule that the rest of the world does? No one knows for sure, but my guess is that we college students associate the day time with classes and studying. Night time is when the fun stuff happens. However, the time will eventually come that we will all have to enter into the real world and follow the same boring sleep schedule as the other nine-to-fivers, so here are a few steps that one can take to force your brain and your body to keep the schedule that it should and not just the schedule that it would prefer :
1. Make the room as dark as possible before you try to fall asleep. The human brain was programmed, long ago, to sleep when it's dark and to be active when it is light. The darker the room is, the more quickly you will be able to fall asleep and the longer you will stay asleep. Using a sleep mask is one way to trick your brain into thinking it's dark. I use one that's made by Earth Therapeutics, but they come in all colors, fabrics, and designs.
2. Expose yourself to light first thing in the morning. I have never been a fan of morning exercise (or morning anything for that matter) but exposing yourself to natural light right after you rise will really help your brain to wake up more fully. If you don't fancy taking a stroll first thing in the morning, it is a good idea to step out onto a patio or at least open the curtains to let in sunlight.
There are many schools of thought on the best way to maintain optimal sleep habits. One school says that the best way to get the right amount of sleep for your body is to go to sleep at night only when you are truly tired, but to set your alarm and wake up at the same time every day. This way, your brain will know when it needs to wake up, and will shut down on time to give you the optimal amount of sleep.
Here are links to a couple of articles on healthy sleep habits:
Photo of the day:
We will see if I can take my own advice. That's it for now, I have to go start my day and try to be at least somewhat productive with the time I have left.
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