Does your teen have a bad sleeping schedule? Check these tips to help students get a good night’s sleep!
1. Avoid junk food.
It’s remarkable just how much our diet affects our energy levels. As much as students tend to enjoy “junk food” – it just isn’t conducive to diving a healthy sleeping schedule. Despite instant ramen being a staple of college students, meals high in sodium have been proven to disrupt healthy sleep schedules.
Sugar isn’t any better. While it is a myth that sugar causes hyperactivity in kids, it’s still not a sustaining source of calories and will eventually lead to fatigue.
Put simply, candy bars and cookies are not adequate nutrition! Learn more about healthy meal options for students.
2. Watch the caffeine.
People often don’t realize that caffeine is, in fact, classified as a psychoactive drug. It also happens to be the most commonly ingested psychoactive drug on the planet, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to most adults. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a stimulating cup of coffee in the morning?
Our best advice for students is to avoid caffeinated drinks at least 4 hours before bed. Another important thing to consider? How you (or your student) is getting their caffeine!
Now don’t get us wrong – caffeine isn’t a bad thing, and its positive stimulating effects are well-documented. However, a single cup of coffee only has around 95 mg of caffeine. By comparison, a standard Monster Energy drink contains nearly double that at 160mg, with some flavors ranging up to 300mg.
Put simply, many energy drinks are the equivalent of chugging over 3 cups of coffee before bedtime. In other words – watch the caffeine intake!
3. Work on organizational skills.
Perhaps the most common reason students are up late is due to procrastination. Late-night study sessions and last-minute homework assignments are stressful for parents and students alike. But how can they be avoided?
We encourage all students to create a planner that allows them to effectively plan their weekly tasks while also prioritizing the items that need to be completed first. Tutor Doctor’s X-Skills program is designed to teach students how to divide their responsibilities into alpha and beta tasks in order to prioritize deadlines more effectively.
In many cases, procrastination is a result of students not knowing how to prioritize and plan their assignments. The solution? Executive functioning skill training teaches students the basic principles of organization and time management!
