By Claire Kim
As many of you might be acutely aware of, exam season is coming up. And although many people might be starting to prepare for long cram sessions and burning the midnight oil, the over-warned risk of little sleep still holds.
“Oh, but it’s hopeless!” you might say (or not). “I just can’t bring myself to sleep at night! I feel Snapchat calling to me with unseen notifications!” (Well, that’s your fault for getting so addicted.) But if you genuinely try to get a solid six hours of sleep a night, and are still failing to do so, we from the East Side have five basic tips to get your snooze going ASAP. And we’re not talking the impossible, like avoiding caffeine or 10 whole hours of sleep. Very basic, easy things that you can remember. Good luck on your exams.
- Put on socks. Optimizing your temperature for sleep is very important; studies have shown that having a cooler core and warmer extremities is an ideal balance. By warming up your hands and feet, you’re letting your body know that it’s time for sleep. As a bonus, burying yourself in blankets also makes you feel quite warm and sleepy.
- Sunshine. Being exposed to natural light in the morning actually helps reset your biological clock, which makes it easier to fall asleep later, during the night. Around 15 minutes is an optimal length, although you can certainly stay out longer than that. It’s Buffalo! If there’s sunshine, go and enjoy it.
- Hide your (LED) clock. Actually, this should be your phone, but we’re being lenient here. Bright lights an hour or so before bed are terrible for sleep, so try turning your clock so it’s not directly facing your face while you’re sleeping like the dead.
- Breathe. Are you reading this article? Chances are, you’re breathing. Great. But are you breathing? Take a big breath in. Hold for five long seconds. Exhale all the way out. Die of oxygen deprivation for five long seconds. Repeat a couple times. Studies show that this is effective in calming down and relaxing.
- Get out of bed. Let’s face it; you’ve procrastinated on studying. If you’re still wide awake, and you know you’ll be tossing and turning for awhile, might as well get up and hit the books. Aggressively. With much anger.
