It’s that time of year…You’ve all gotten comfortable with your rooms, roommates, classes, jobs and friends, and you’ve settled into your new lives at UML. However, another thing you’ve gotten comfortable with is hitting the snooze button over, and over again…until you’re late for class.

Long nights of homework and other tasks can take a toll on anyone, especially college students. We have to learn how to balance our work, our classes and our social life and somehow still find time for sleep so we can be fully functioning the next day. Unfortunately, most days college students don’t get much sleep, leaving us stressed and exhausted.
                           
However, there are some ways to solve your sleep deprivation. The first and most obvious, is time management. Making a schedule and budgeting your time is the best way to get everything done, and still have time for other activities. One of my strategies is to try and get most of my homework done the weekend before it’s due, giving me extra time during the week to do other tasks (such as sleep) or study for a test. Even if you have a lot to do always remember to make time for yourself!
                                                         
Unfortunately, I can’t promise that your schedule will always go as plan, and a full eight hours of sleep may not be in your near future. So, here are some other ways to get up, and stay up.

1) Caffeine! This is probably the most obvious. When you wake up in the morning, drink a cup of coffee or tea to wake you up. You can also bring a coffee to class to give you a boost while you’re learning. Though energy drinks provide a lot of caffeine, try to avoid them, as they are filled with chemicals and not a healthy option. Lastly, remember to watch your caffeine intake, as too much can be bad for you!
                                                
2) If you can’t have caffeine, or don’t like coffee or tea, drink a glass of ice water in the morning to wake you up.

3) Set more than one alarm in the morning. Many times, you’ll hit snooze and fall back asleep, so setting more than one alarm will continuously wake you up. Also, put your alarm far away from your bed so you have to get up to turn it off.
                                         

4) Take a shower in the morning. It’ll wake you up!

5) SNACKS. Bring food to class. Obviously be respectful of your professor when eating. But, you can’t fall asleep while you’re eating, and the fuel will keep your awake and the blood flowing.

6) Naps are also one of the best ways to catch up on sleep. Napping for an hour in between classes re energizes you and can help you catch up on lost sleep from the night before. Just make sure your nap isn’t too long, or you’ll wake up feeling more tired.
                                         
And with that, its time for bed.
Katy