It is common to hear from friends about limited amounts of sleep. I recall a teacher asking a group of students 'Put your hands up if you get at least eight hours of sleep?', heads turned to look at one another, wondering who was the luckiest and most organised of us all? Who managed to get that incredible, satisfying eight whole hours? 

The result was shocking, and left the teacher worried, no one put their hand up... 

It appears most us managed to get around six hours of sleep, if that. Why? Some of us simply couldn't manage to fall asleep, thoughts occupying our minds and not allowing us the privilege. Others had far too much work and preferred to revise or do homework. 

How many hours of sleep do teenagers and adults need? 

Teenagers are recommended to sleep 8-10 hours while adults should be sleeping 7-9 hours. Most of us are reading this and are thinking we are far from sleeping the hours necessary, I can definitely relate. 

Most of us wake up exhausted in the morning, but that is not the only issue, the list goes on in terms of the detrimental impact on the brain, but for all of you who stay up to do homework late, it’s not the best choice. I'm not saying you should just drop your homework right now and tell your teachers that you needed sleep, the advice you should take from this is to manage your time better. Especially the academics who want to do extremely well in their subjects (hopefully all of you reading this), if you sleep better you can retain facts much better, so that awful revision will finally stick in your head! Hallelujah! That way you are not only able to remember things better but perform better in exams and that progress you have been striving for will not be far.

Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t get the sleep we need, but for better health in terms of both, mind and body, it is advised you get your recommended dose of sleep, and perhaps even a little more. To help those who might find it difficult to sleep or get enough sleep here are a few tips you could implement in your daily routine:

1.       Stick to a night routine, where you go to bed at a specific time and wake up at a specific time, every day of the week!

2.       Avoid caffeine, okay… perhaps you might need a coffee that’s understandable, and you still can, just make sure that you’re drinking caffeine BEFORE 6pm allowing you time to burn that extra energy and sleep like a baby!

3.       Instead of using your phone, read, not only are you doing something that will exercise your brain but you’re tiring yourself out and are helping yourself to fall asleep. If reading is simply not an option for you, perhaps consider turning off the ‘Blue Light’ on your phone so that your eyes are not strained as much, and you may be able to sleep better, plus when you wake up to switch off your alarm, you won’t be blinded as much by the bright light.

4.       If you are disturbed by light or noise then perhaps consider investing in thick curtains that prevent light from entering the room at all, and even better so, buy an eye mask. In terms of noise you could get earplugs to block out any irritating sounds.

There are other options such as exercising, sticking to To-do lists to avoid procrastination (we’ve all been there) and eating certain foods too, but these four are the tips are useful and allow you to compromise with yourself.

Hopefully after reading this you finally start getting that sleep you deserve, you won’t regret it! Goodnight!

By Anjali Narbheram, Woodford County High School for Girls