It is known that teenagers need at least 8-10 hours of sleep per day. While sleeping, vital bodily functions are restored, and a person can rest. Sleeping is just as essential and unavoidable as breathing, drinking water or eating. When it comes to sleep, it is important to have a routine, meaning that you go to bed at the same time every day. This helps you rest and fall asleep better.
Sleep is a basic need, and you should not compromise on it, as sleeping is the key to success and productive days. A sleep routine is also one of the components to maintaining mental health.
If a person does not sleep enough, especially if this happens frequently, they will get tired. This means that they are drowsy during the day, they may have a headache and their learning and focusing ability is definitely decreased. Drowsiness is connected to a poorer ability to operate and regulate emotions.
If a person has not slept enough, they may accidentally fall asleep. It has been found that driving a car while drowsy is extremely dangerous, as the driver may fall asleep involuntarily.
Below are some tips for better sleep.
- Keep a sleep diary for a while. This helps you notice what changes you should make to sleep well and be energetic, happy, and smart every day.
- Exercise for 30 minutes at least three times per week and, if possible, do it outdoors. It would be best to exercise every day for longer than half an hour. If possible, be in daylight during the day.
- Make your bedroom cosy and sleep-inducing. The room should be cool, quiet, dark and peaceful. We recommend that you keep electronic devices out of reach. Using them when you cannot sleep makes falling asleep even more unlikely. To wake up, use an alarm clock or ask your family member to do it.
- Monitor your diet and eating times.
- If you do the same things every night before bedtime, your body adapts to these pre-sleep signals and you will fall asleep easier. For example, take a bath or shower or read a book.
- Keep a diary or keep some paper and a pen within reach. If you remember unfinished work, unfulfilled obligations, or other unpleasant things as you’re falling asleep, write them down. This makes it easier to get them out of your head.
Prepared by the youth information portal Teeviit on the basis of MTÜ Peaasjad www.peaasi.ee.
The MTÜ Peaasjad promotes mental health, deals with problem prevention, early intervention, and stigma reduction in our society.
The article was published in 2022.
