For students, getting enough sleep can be difficult. We may lay awake not able to get to sleep. We may feel exhausted, but our thoughts are racing and we cannot stop thinking about what we need to do. There may be a party we want to go to, or we may have long lists of assignments to complete. Sleep is essential to relaxation, and when we get enough sleep, our perceived levels of stress tend to drop. Insomnia can lead to lack of energy, irritability, poor performance, memory difficulties, concentration problems, and a compromised immune system.Fortunately, there are things we can do to improve our sleep habits. Learning to have good "sleep hygiene" will help improve the quality of our sleep. Sleep hygiene refers to our sleeping habits, particularly to controlling environmental and behavioral factors related to sleep. Working on improving our sleep hygiene can help us get more restful, regular sleep, which can help decrease stress symptoms and increase our ability to use the relaxation response.
Some of the items on the list may not work for you, but trying to make small changes to improve your sleep hygiene will help improve your quality of sleep.*Sleep hygiene list found here
