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Sometimes you just have no time to sleep, 8 hours a night in college? Forget about it. From clubs to classes to homework and keeping a friend base, it seems like there is never enough time in college to get an adequate amount of sleep. Especially during finals week when you are stressed and struggling to even find 6 hours to sleep in between projects and studying for tests and trying to stay a little active still. Well, I have been trying to hack my sleep for a while now using techniques from Dave Asprey as well as some of my own that I have been testing to see what is and isn't working. Lately I have been getting 6 hours of sleep and waking up with the energy like I got 10 or more hours of sleep. Doesn't that sound great? You will free up some extra time at night to be with your significant other or even to just get a little extra work done because now you have essentially added a few hours to your day without sacrificing your energy levels. I would actually say that I have had almost twice the energy that I used to have over the past months even though I have been sleeping 6-7 hours compared to the 10 hours I used to get. Time to start waking up ready for the day and not needed to hit snooze 100 times on your alarm.  Overview
Step 1: Hack Your NutritionIt controls every area of your life, so of course it impacts your sleep. Whether you realize it or not, what you feed your body is one of the biggest things that determines your performance in every area of your life. If you eat better you will notice reduced brain fog, increased energy, better problem solving skills, improved happiness and of course, better sleep. Food is to your body like fuel is to a car and when you don't put the right fuel into the car it is not going to run right. I see so many kids in my classes complaining about their sleep, or lack there of, when all they ever eat is Taco Bell, Pizza and burgers, maybe adding one healthy meal a day. They definitely are not getting the right nutrients from the foods they are eating and this is causing them stress and reduced brain function which leads to worse sleep. When you start eating the foods that get you correct vitamins, or even taking supplements for vitamins you can't get in your diet, you will increase the amount of deep sleep you are getting. Deep sleep is where your brain rebuilds and grows at night, after a long day and when you get more deep sleep, you are going to wake up easier and more energized. I have noticed that I almost never wake up during the night anymore since changing my diet and the other things below, and I used to wake up multiple times each night. Step 2: Master Your TimeControl at least the last hour of your day. Alone time might be the hardest thing to come by in college, but we can all spend that hour right before bed to ourselves as we are usually back home or in the dorm by that time of the day. The importance of this last hour is to craft a night time routine that helps you release stress, take the lessons you learned that day, see what went well and what didn't and ultimately focus on growth. Don't be responding to Snapchats or scrolling through social media, essentially act like you went to bed already because this time is for you, not responding to or worrying about other people's lives. Use this time to do everything from brain development to meditation and here is a post that talks all about a night time routine >> You owe it to yourself to spend at least an hour or two a day focused on yourself and your growth, not focused solely on what other people are doing. Step 3: Everything About LightingPhone lighting, house lighting and why it matters. This may seem like a weird one but it actually helps us in more ways than one when you control and focus on the lights you are exposing yourself to at night. The worst nights for you at night are blue and white lights and unfortunately that is exactly the lighting that many of us have on our phone, computer and in our house. This includes everything from your phone screen to the new LED lights you might have put in your house, don't worry I am not going to say you can't use your phone anymore. Starting with your house or dorm lighting, I know the overhead lights in the dorm are absolutely horrible white lights and those you definitely don't want before you go to bed, same with the new LED's in houses. At least change the rooms you are in before bed to more of a warm or ideally a red light before you go to bed. Why though? Because just think about our natural evolution, as humans we are wired to go to sleep when the sunsets and that is when our body starts to produce more melatonin that helps us sleep. What color is the sunset? Warm red and orange hues, that is the colors you want in your house in order to produce more melatonin and help you sleep better. Our bodies are not producing melatonin when they see the blue and white lights because those are simulating the middle of the day to our bodies. A great place to start if you don't want to go and change your lights is to turn on "night shift" on your phone, which gets rid of the blue and white lights on your phone screen and makes it a warmer hue. There is also a software I use on my computer called f.lux that will help you do this on your computer as well. Step 4: Lose the PhoneI'm sure you can lay off of social media for a few hours, if not you might have a problem. Sorry, lied to you in the last section when I said I wasn't going to tell you to not use your phone, now I am but it is just for a little bit each day so don't worry. But it is only for the last hour or two of the day, you choose. Just don't be on it right before bed because this is causing unneeded stress in your life right before bed. Too many people are on social media right up until they shut their eyes and wonder why they have trouble sleeping. All this is doing is allowing you to compare your life to other's life and be focused on what they are doing, stressing you out even more because it looks like they are doing more than you. Why bring the stress of social media and responding to other people's lives into your night time routine when all it does is make you get worse sleep? Step 5: Activate Your Inner MonkDon't skip this one, it is one of the most important. Hands down one of the things that has helped my sleep the most, By meditating for 10-20 minutes before bed I am able to let go of stress and clear my mind right before bed and that helps me reach a deeper and sleep faster, getting the most effective sleep possible. Click here to see my college meditation routine >> Plus, there are so many free ways to get started on YouTube with guided sleep meditations that are free. Honestly, you don't need to be paying for apps like Headspace every month when there are equally as good meditations on YouTube! BONUS: Track Your SleepIt's all in the numbers. The best way to see your progress is to track your sleep, thank god for the new and free apps out here that can do just that for you. These apps can track the amount of deep sleep you get, how many times you wake up during the night, your snoring and much more. You will get a new graph each day that shows the amount of sleep and deep sleep you got and at which points of the night you woke up. These apps are easy to download if you search "sleep tracking on the app store" and especially helpful if you have a smartwatch. I use my Apple Watch every night to track my sleep! Thanks for stopping by the blog, I hope you were able to find some value and let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. If you are looking for even better and more college hacks based around your habits, click here >> Thanks, Taylor Other Content You Will Enjoy
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