Being a student means that you don’t always get the necessary amount of sleep. Everyone knows sleep is important and most of the time the average person doesn’t get the amount of sleep they need. Sleep improves mental health, physical health, mood, behavior, and academic ability. Getting more sleep helps memory and performance for school, meaning getting more sleep will help after a long day of studying and preparation for a test or project the next day.

According to an article about sleep in adolescents by nationwidechildrens.org, the majority of sleep teenagers need is approximately nine and a quarter hours, while the average teenager only gets around seven and a quarter hours of sleep. Early school times and school as well as social obligations, like homework and sports, are just a few reasons students aren’t getting enough hours of sleep at night. Not enough sleep during the night can cause poor performance in classes, dropping grades, poor performance in after school extracurriculars, and change in behavior. After a night of no sleep, people tend to feel moody and irritable, meaning people will be in a bad mood for any plans they may have the next day.

One way students can get more nightly sleep is trying to maintain a regular nightly sleep schedule. Everyone can maintain a regular sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at a repeating reasonable time every day. Taking a fifteen to twenty minute nap every early afternoon, when you get home from school can also be beneficial to getting more sleep at night. Try to turn off televisions, computers, and even radios when you’re trying to sleep next time. Noise from the television or radio and brightness from the computer can distract your brain and make it more difficult to calm down and get a good night of sleep. Caffeine, smoking, alcohol, and drugs can also make it difficult to sleep and among other reasons aren’t healthy for your body. If you’re still having trouble sleeping after trying these helpful tips you can also go and talk to your doctor if you have issues like snoring, trouble sleeping, or are excessively sleepy during the day.