Ever since Middle School, and throughout High School, I have been a night owl, going to sleep late around 11PM-midnight on most school nights (unless I stupidly procrastinated homework), and 12-1AM on non-school nights. Because Middle/High School starts so early in the morning I tend to have gotten tired at times, but rarely to the point where it hurts me in school.
I am now a first-year college student, and I thought things would be better in terms of sleeping since my first classes start later than in high school in all days of the week except Monday.
Instead, thing’s have gotten worse. I am procrastinating going to bed like crazy. Recently I haven’t been sleeping until 1:30-2AM on SCHOOL NIGHTS, and 2-3AM on non-school nights. This is becoming an issue for me, as I’m still getting under 6 hours of sleep on most days (I typically need to get up at 6AM).
Sometimes when I am super tired, I try to sleep in just a little bit more (10 more minutes)! Only to wake up again later than intended and either show up a bit late to my first class, or even miss it altogether (only happened twice so far, fortunately both in lectures). Furthermore I just get tired from lack of sleep and it hurts my focus sometimes.
I typically don’t stay out late, and I can easily go to bed no later than 11:30PM on school nights and 12:30AM on non-school nights. I just procrastinate going to bed. Roommate isn’t an issue because half the time he just sleeps in his house that is close to campus, and when he does sleep here he is a quiet sleeper, and while sometimes the kids in the halls are noisy I have a fan that acts as white noise to block them out.
I just need tips on how I can get myself to get to bed earlier. Most of the time it happens because I get addicted onto some some stupid game or go on a YouTube spree. I am worried it may soon be poorly affecting my college performance due to sleep deprivation. Furthermore I fear I may eventually miss my Monday Morning or Friday Morning class (my two earliest ones). Monday’s class is a lab and Friday I have a quiz every week. I NEARLY missed the lab last Monday because I somehow slept through the alarm or turned it off or something (I don’t even remember) but miraculously I woke up my own before class had started with JUST enough time to get ready. I fear that if I don’t turn this sleeping around, I will not be so lucky next time.
Error in my post (probably due to my current tiredness): I need to actually get up at 8AM on most school mornings for my first class, and I also forgot to mention that I sleep in until noon on weekends which is discouragingly late, before college normally I never slept in later than 10AM.
Get an app that turns you computer off at 11:30, or bugs you every minute, or something like this.
Turn off all of your devices an hour before you want to go to bed. Ask your roommate or a friend to help hold you accountable. Then start getting ready for bed - brush your teeth, pjs, etc… It will give you a bit of time for your body to relax and prepare for bed.
You need to set up a schedule and sleep train yourself to operate on daytime hours. Parents do this when they need to work with a child to get the off the summer vacation free-for-all and on the school schedule sleep routine. It takes about a week, may be two.
Start by going to bed one hour earlier for several days, adjusting the schedule back until you reach your desired time. Get up every day at 8am and get active, even if it is just taking a short walk in the hallway. Your want to be completely awake.
Use the advice above to turn off your devices. With your history of late nights, I would work on a habit to wake up and go to bed at the same time everyday, class or no class. Schedule your screen play time during the day and do some other activity before bed, such as read actual print, visit with others, begin a non-screen hobby.
This is a maturity step when you have to make yourself go to bed in order to be effective. It would be sad if you had to explain that you messed up school (or a job later) because you chose to stay up and play games.
This doesn’t work for everyone, but you could try to find a non-screen based thing like reading a book or listening to music that you look forward to each evening.
I print out copies of technical and professional articles and keep them next to my bed for evening reading. Sometimes, if my brain isn’t feeling up to reading, I will sit in bed and write out my to-do list for the next day, or make a list things that have been bugging me that I want to deal with. The action of getting things out of my head and onto paper can be calming.
I read myself to sleep with comic books. Reading real books can keep me up too late!
Try several soothing ways to unwind that don’t involve tv or computers.
Look for a mindfulness class on campus. Training yourself in mindfulness is a skill that will last a lifetime. Mindfulness brings you back to the moment you are in. It readjusts your thinking so that you don’t get lost in a you-tube spree.