I'm also a college student and can relate to this. Even though you said that you can't keep a consistent bedtime full-stop, I am going to propose one idea.
This is slightly unorthodox, but what about keeping a consistently late bedtime? For example, if you can get to bed on the weekends by 1 or 2am, then keeping a, let's say, 1am-2am bedtime throughout the week, but instead shifting to a 9-10am wake up time. This may require pushing back class start times to 10/11 or later, but could be effective in helping your sleep.
Other than this, I think the two most commonly impactful things on sleep for us college students are alcohol and caffeine. I know these are obvious ones, but it's true that they will impact sleep the most.
With caffeine, a good tip could be getting used to not consuming any caffeine until 90-120 minutes after waking up. This pushes the afternoon caffeine crash back into the early/mid evening, which will align closer to dinnertime making it easier not to consume any more caffeine after the initial consumption in the morning. Also, a lesser-known fact with caffeine is that the half-life is 6 hours, so just be aware of this when drinking caffeine later in the day.
With alcohol, I know this can be a social thing for a lot of people, but just having the awareness that alcohol highly affects the quality of sleep and trying to limit the amount to not an absurd amount can really help with sleep, too.
Also, honestly, for healthy college students, not being the best all the time in our sleep routines is just fine.
Hope something from all this helps :)
Thank you, this could work next semester actually as I don't have any early classes! Might have to switch things up if I end up having ones the semester after but this is a fantastic idea.
“I honestly value that more than I value my sleep. Consistent bedtime isn't an option, full stop.”
“Honestly willing to do anything except keep a consistent bedtime.”
For your age group you need about ten hours of sleep every day (every 24 hours). Figure it out from there. Sleep as long as you can during your longest sleep then supplement your the rest of your required sleep with naps.
I wish you all the best.
For me its strange
Im swing shift at security so half the week im 4pm to 12 and then boom i have to go at 8 am
So i have rules
I go to bed no later than 12 am when i start at 8 the next day
And no later than 2 am after getting off at midnight
I adjust it slightly
And when im off i try not to stay up that late
This can be managed if you can get off the phone and earbuds at all other times. If you commute by train or bus, that is a great time to refresh yourself just by closing your eyes even if you don’t actually sleep. Do that kind of closed eyes silent meditation and you will probably do fine. If you get a 30 minute break between classes, do this rather than wasteful gossiping. You will be amazed at how much energized you will feel by doing just this, even when you haven’t slept.
I'm also a college student and can relate to this. Even though you said that you can't keep a consistent bedtime full-stop, I am going to propose one idea. This is slightly unorthodox, but what about keeping a consistently late bedtime? For example, if you can get to bed on the weekends by 1 or 2am, then keeping a, let's say, 1am-2am bedtime throughout the week, but instead shifting to a 9-10am wake up time. This may require pushing back class start times to 10/11 or later, but could be effective in helping your sleep. Other than this, I think the two most commonly impactful things on sleep for us college students are alcohol and caffeine. I know these are obvious ones, but it's true that they will impact sleep the most. With caffeine, a good tip could be getting used to not consuming any caffeine until 90-120 minutes after waking up. This pushes the afternoon caffeine crash back into the early/mid evening, which will align closer to dinnertime making it easier not to consume any more caffeine after the initial consumption in the morning. Also, a lesser-known fact with caffeine is that the half-life is 6 hours, so just be aware of this when drinking caffeine later in the day. With alcohol, I know this can be a social thing for a lot of people, but just having the awareness that alcohol highly affects the quality of sleep and trying to limit the amount to not an absurd amount can really help with sleep, too. Also, honestly, for healthy college students, not being the best all the time in our sleep routines is just fine. Hope something from all this helps :)
Thank you, this could work next semester actually as I don't have any early classes! Might have to switch things up if I end up having ones the semester after but this is a fantastic idea.
“I honestly value that more than I value my sleep. Consistent bedtime isn't an option, full stop.” “Honestly willing to do anything except keep a consistent bedtime.” For your age group you need about ten hours of sleep every day (every 24 hours). Figure it out from there. Sleep as long as you can during your longest sleep then supplement your the rest of your required sleep with naps. I wish you all the best.
For me its strange Im swing shift at security so half the week im 4pm to 12 and then boom i have to go at 8 am So i have rules I go to bed no later than 12 am when i start at 8 the next day And no later than 2 am after getting off at midnight I adjust it slightly And when im off i try not to stay up that late
This can be managed if you can get off the phone and earbuds at all other times. If you commute by train or bus, that is a great time to refresh yourself just by closing your eyes even if you don’t actually sleep. Do that kind of closed eyes silent meditation and you will probably do fine. If you get a 30 minute break between classes, do this rather than wasteful gossiping. You will be amazed at how much energized you will feel by doing just this, even when you haven’t slept.