Sleep
Lots of young people find getting to sleep, staying asleep or waking up a real problem. Disrupted, broken or insufficient sleep can really impact on people’s mood and ability to cope with daily life.
Top tips to help you get to and stay asleep:
- Avoid stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, sugary drinks or foods. This includes avoiding technology like phones, tablets, TV etc.
- Doing some exercise or activity during the day
- Make sure you’re as organised as you can be for the day ahead so that you are not worrying or thinking about what you have to do or what you might need
- Try not to nap during the day
- Make sure you have something to eat for dinner, you will find it harder to sleep if you are hungry or thirsty
- Have a regular night time routine; do things roughly in the same order at the same time each night to get your body and mind ready for sleep
- Try to wake up at the same time, even on weekends
- Create a calming and peaceful environment. Rooms that are dark and cool are best for sleep
- Avoid using your bed for studying, reading or listening to music. Your bed should be used for sleeping.
- Sometimes having a warm milky drink (such as hot chocolate) can help
- Take a warm (not too hot) bath or shower
Top Tips:
- Sometimes people find it hard to sleep because they have many thoughts going round in their mind. We would recommend reading our advice on anxiety and depression sections of this website for ideas of strategies which might help you manage these thoughts.
Remember; being tired is as dangerous as drunk driving. Sleep loss can impact on concentration and your judgement times, so if you are tired, do not drive.