Quality Sleep: Primary

Did you know?

Students are one of the most sleep-deprived populations.
Research at Brown University has found that approximately 11% of students report good sleep, while 73% report sleep problems.
Because sleep affects concentration, memory, and learning ability, sleep deprivation has been related to poorer GPAs in students.

In an ideal world, everyone would wake up feeling refreshed. But, in reality, we all know that saying it is easier than doing it. It's difficult to get enough rest. And you don't always feel rested when you do sleep. When sleeping problems persist they can significantly affect our mental health, making it hard to participate in daily life like work, school, and social activities.

Regular and restful sleep is essential for good health. Everyday activities such as going to class, working out, or working on a computer can strain your mind and body, but sleep helps you feel less stressed and even helps you to maintain a healthy diet. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, can have a negative impact on critical elements of your mind and body, including your mood, vitality, ability to learn, memory, good judgement, reaction time, and efficiency.

Most children require about 8-12 hours of undisturbed sleep per night. However, this differs from person to person.

Tips to achieve better sleep:

Get some physical activity

Exercise can promote more regular sleep and wake patterns. But, avoid exercise and other vigorous activities 3-4 hours before going to bed to avoid awakening the body even more

Have a regular meal schedule

Eat smaller meals and be especially careful to avoid heavy meals near bedtime. Also avoid food that has high fat content or is hard to digest for dinner.

Practice time management with your school work

Worrying in bed about the next day or week can keep you from falling asleep. Try to stay on top of your work to decrease your overall stress, and to reduce last minute cramming.

Avoid all-nighters

While all-nighters and late-night study sessions may appear to give you more time to cram, they are also likely to drain your brainpower.

Use the bed only for sleeping

Avoid doing other activities such as studying or using your computer or phone. This ensures that your body will not associate the bed with these activating tasks.

Have a sleeping schedule

Going to bed and wakeing up as close as possible at the same time every day will help your body get used to a sleeping schedule.

Stay away from screen

Stop using all technology 30 minutes before bed - no cell phone, no laptop, no TV, no gaming system.

Sleep deprivation raises hormone levels, which can alter mood and stress. It can lead to problems with concentration, memory, judgment, problem solving and reaction time, and worsen symptoms related to your mental health disorder. If you aren't getting enough sleep, your coping abilities and academic performance will suffer. It may be more difficult to pay attention in class, study, and, most importantly, perform well on an exam.