10 Tips Which Can Prevent Sleep Problems From Resulting In Falling School Grades

It has been felt for some time now that too little or low quality sleep in teens results in a drop in grades in school, but it was not until quite recently that a formal research study confirmed that teenagers with poor sleeping habits do indeed have lower grades.

Here are 10 tips to ensure that an otherwise healthy child does not suffer from sleeping problems and can get the quality of sleep needed to perform well in school.

1. Decide upon a regular time to go to bed and do not vary this time by more than a few minutes from day to day.

2. Make sure that you get up at the same time in the morning, whether or not it is a school day. Teenagers frequently have a lie-in on weekends and throughout school holidays and, instead of making you feel better, this just disrupts your sleep pattern.

3. If you find that you are unable to fall asleep within about 15 or 20 minutes of climbing into bed then do not simply lie in bed trying to sleep, because the more you try the harder it will become. As an alternative, climb back out of bed and do something such as reading a book or listening to some relaxing music. As soon as you begin to feel tired, climb back into bed and you should fall asleep in next to no time.

4. Avoid the temptation to stay up late doing your homework or getting ready for a test. Despite the fact that this might appear to be the solution to a specific problem in the short term, and could well keep you out of trouble for turning your homework in late or get you through a test, in the long term your performance will suffer and any shorter term gain will quickly be lost.

5. Avoid the temptation to take a nap after school. Should you find that you are so tired you are unable to keep your eyes open then take a nap but for no more than 45 minutes or an hour.

6. Steer clear of any form of drink that contains caffeine after about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. This of course applies to tea and coffee, but also includes chocolate drinks and colas.

7. Avoid eating a heavy meal just before going to bed. You obviously should not go to bed hungry and having a light snack before bedtime is okay, however climbing into bed on a full stomach will make it difficult for you to get to sleep and affect your quality of sleep.

8. Although teenagers will frequently spend a lot of time in their bedroom and turn it into much more of a ‘living’ than a ’sleeping’ room, avoid the temptation to use the bed for anything other than sleeping. Do not sit in bed writing, reading, playing games, watching TV or anything else but keep it solely for sleeping so that your body learns to associate climbing into bed with going to sleep.

9. Do not take any strenuous exercise within several hours of going to bed. If you want to play soccer or engage in other sporting or strenuous activities then make sure that you do these shortly after finishing school and not an hour or two before going to bed.

10. When it comes to bedtime ensure that the bedroom is quiet, dark and cool. Do not shut your bedroom up, turn up the heat and climb into bed to watch TV. Instead, turn the heating down, open the window a little if you can to allow in some fresh air and make the room as dark as you can get it.

If you follow these 10 tips you will find that within no time at all the quality of your sleep will improve, you will feel more awake and active during the day and your school grades will improve.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.