--Original published at Carly's College Blog

When I think of a realistic sleep goal for a college student, a number doesn’t even pop into my head. I want to say 8 hours, because that is what we have been told for years, but I know for me 8 hours doesn’t cut it. I would imagine for people busier than me, like those who are on the sports teams, would require more than that. Everybody is different so I would imagine it would fall between 7-11 hours depending on the person.

I am well aware that my sleep schedule is an unhealthy one. I used to never sleep, I was lucky if I got 4 hours a night. Now, and for the past year, I have definitely been oversleeping. I got to bed anywhere between 9:30 and 11pm and since I don’t have any 8am classes, I usually get up between 9am and 12 noon. That’s about 9-12 hours a night. In addition to that, I tend to take a 1-2 hour nap in the middle of the day and load up on caffeine. It doesn’t effect my work; I still maintain good grades and get all my work done on time, I dance in emotion and am in 2 different clubs. I feel like my sleep pattern would be more unhealthy if I wasn’t apart of any clubs or activities, or if I had poor grades.

One way I could improve my sleep habits are to wake up earlier. I sleep in so late, plus nap, so I think getting up a bit earlier in the morning would be a good place for me to start.

--Original published at Kaylyn's PSY105 Blog

As a college student in the science major, I have found myself getting a lot less sleep than I used to. I try to lay down around 10 p.m and be off my phone by 10:30; however, it is becoming more and more likely for that time to be pushed back to 11 or 11:30. Being up a bit later on Tuesdays or Thursdays is okay for me because I can sleep in a bit because my first class is not until 12:30. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays however, I have Chemistry at 8 a.m. which I like to be wide awake for. It also does not help that if I am up past a certain time my body just decides it will be unable to fall asleep. Overall, I think that my sleep habits are decently healthy and that I can get enough sleep to function daily. I think sleep is extremely important for college students because you need sleep to promote mental health and give your brain a break. If you are constantly moving and not taking a break for sleeping and rest, it will have effects on your schoolwork and life in general. Most students see sleep as something to do if you have time but will not make time for it and will pull all-nighters. I think giving yourself, at the very least, seven hours a night will help improve mental health, and schoolwork activity. Then your brain can reset and get ready for another day of learning new information.  College is extremely difficult; however, in order to do your best, you need to be able to rest and give your brain time to slow down.

--Original published at LivsCollegeBlog

After going through my current sleep habits, it is safe to say that they are pretty healthy, but they could also improve. At the beginning of the school year, I had a big gap between my second and third classes, so I would fit a nap in. This then caused me to be up late at night and have a hard time falling asleep. Now, I try to refrain from taking naps. I preoccupy myself with homework and getting ahead in my classes or going to the gym or hanging out with friends. Because I wake up around 7:30 every morning, I usually try to be in bed and asleep by 11:30. I use the “bedtime” mode on my phone so it notifies me around 10:30 to start unwinding and relaxing. At 11:30 it puts my phone on “Do Not Disturb” to block out notifications so I can get a good sleep. I also use the sleep mode on my Fitbit so it will also tell me to start winding down. Although I’m pretty good about getting a decent amount of sleep, I usually have to take melatonin supplements to actually fall asleep.

Going to bed at 11:30 and waking up around 7:30 seems great because I’d be getting a full 8 hours of sleep. The amount of times I actually follow that is less than ideal. Most of the time I’m up past 11:30 studying or working on assignments or just playing on my phone. I also have a bad habit of setting like 4 alarms in order to be able to hit snooze and feel good about myself.

If I were to make improvements on my sleep habits, I would try to do most of my homework throughout the day so that I wouldn’t worry about it at night. I would also try to start reading at night or doing something other than being on my phone so that my brain can rest and unwind like it’s supposed to.

I think it is important to get a good amount of sleep, but that differs for everyone. For me, I can still function on about 6 hours of sleep. On average, I’d have to say that a healthy amount of sleep for a college student is probably around 7 hours.

--Original published at RachelsCollegeBlog

Since I have come to college my sleeping habits have steadily gotten worse as I am getting less sleep per night. I am always up late studying for an exam or doing work to keep my grades up, though I am starting to feel the effects, as I am starting to sleep through alarms, I have a hard time getting up, and when going to bed I have a difficult time actually falling asleep. I can feel my exhaustion throughout as it gets progressively harder to pay attention in classes or even pay attention to what I am reading as I am going through my textbook. I get on average 6 hours a sleep per night, but a realistic goal for amount of sleep for a college student is probably about 7 or 8 hours. This will allow enough time for students to get enough sleep so they are able to get more out of their day when it comes to paying attention in classes and retaining information while studying.

I can improve my sleeping habits by not waiting to the last minute and procrastinate when it comes to getting work down for some of my classes. This will allow me to not stay up as late when I do not have to worry about the paper that I have due the next day that I had not even started. I can also start to study more with a group of friends. This will allow me to not only learn important concepts but also allow me to have a social life, so I am not trying to squeeze that in between studying.

--Original published at Jayln's Perspective

After assessing my current sleeping habits, I have concluded that they are probably not as healthy as they could be. After I finish doing all my homework, socializing, and spend time either watching TV or playing on my phone, it is usually about 11. Even though I am in bed at 11, I normally have a hard time falling asleep. I am usually preoccupied with thoughts about school and homework, and I think that by the time I actually fall asleep, it is probably around 11:15 or 11:30. I usually get out of bed at around 6:30, and since I am a commuter, I leave for the college at 7:15.

Although being in bed by 11 and waking up at 6:30 seems pretty healthy, I have a bad habit of setting six alarms to wake me up in the morning. Although I do not know much about the sleep cycles yet, I am almost certain that setting an alarm for 5:50 and hitting the snooze button 12 times is not healthy. Even though getting that “five extra minutes of sleep” always feel so good, I do not think it benefits the human body in any way. In fact, I might be doing a disservice to myself.

If I was going to try and improve my sleeping habits, I would aim to be off my phone around 10:30. I think it is important that the brain has time to unwind and detox from screens before it sleeps. If I did this, I think there is a chance my academic performance could improve. Next, I would set either one or two alarms to wake me up in the morning instead of six. If I do this, I may be completing my sleep cycle more effectively.

I think a healthy amount of sleep for a college student is around seven hours. Growing up, I was always told eight hours was ideal, but there is a lot more homework and social aspects that come with college life. Therefore, I think seven is sufficient and reasonable.

--Original published at Marisa Psych Blog

In assessing my current sleep habits, they are not healthy what so ever. On a normal day, I go to sleep no earlier than 1am and no later than 5am. This past week has definitely been my busiest week, giving me not a lot of time to sleep. Making time to do school work, having practice as well as games for volleyball, and then studying and try to work in time to spend with friends and having a social life, this doesn’t really leave a lot of time for me to get a good full night of sleep. In reality, I am looking at an average of 6 hours a day of sleep before starting my day. I try to work in an hour nap whenever I can to try and rejuvenated my body to take on the rest of the day. For most college students, it would be ideal to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night, but in reality I believe most individuals are in the range I am personally in.

To improve my sleeping habits, I am not sure if there is much. During volleyball season, there is really no spare time to sleep more. With time for studying , doing work, working out and having practice, and even making time to have a social life, there is not much to spare. Out of season, there may be more time to improve my sleeping habits. I think I could definitely limit my social life as well as manage my time more wisely school work wise. In college, it is definitely a 360 to high school. I had my day set everyday, with the same schedule. Here there is more time that can slip away from you, making it harder o achieve what you need to get done. I could definitely change my habits of sleep, making it healthier for my overall life and daily activity.

--Original published at Rachel Bickelman's PSY 105 Blog

College students are often heavily sleep deprived as they sacrifice sleep in order to study, work, and/or have a social life in addition to their academic commitments. Assess your current sleep habits and how healthy you think they are. What is a realistic goal for amount of sleep per night for a college student and how can you improve your sleep habits?

My sleep habits are not great but could be worse. I go to sleep around the same time each night, however, depending on whether I have a class at 8 a.m. or not, the time I wake up varies a lot. When my classes start later, I allow myself to sleep in. Although, sometimes, I will stay up extra late to finish assignments or study more which cuts into the amount of time I sleep. Additionally, I do not think the method I use to fall asleep is healthy. Typically, I will turn off the bright fluorescent light during the evening but before sleeping I will spend time on my phone. This bright light likely does not help me to fall asleep, I have heard before that the light from electronics interferes with melatonin production which is key for sleepiness. Overall, my sleep habits are not very healthy as I do not wake up feeling rested.

A realistic goal for college students would be to sleep around 7 to 8 hours. This means if you fall asleep around 11 or 12 p.m. you would get several consecutive hours of sleep per night. Also, since college students stay up later, 11 or 12 p.m. would be a time that students would be done both socializing and doing academic work. I think this is realistic because students will likely not be doing their best academic work during the late hours of night and would benefit from sleeping rather than doing homework only done to a mediocre ability versus the best of their ability when well-rested.

To improve my sleep habits, I can stop using my phone before bed. This would allow my brain and eyes not to be interrupted or strained from my phone’s light. I could also get on a permanent schedule where I am both going to sleep and waking up at the same times each day. This way I would feel tired at a certain time and my body would know what time to wake up rather than it changing almost every day.

--Original published at Makayla Hockenbrock

There is no way my sleeping habits are where or what they should be. My current sleep habits consist of doing homework, studying, and socializing with friends until about 10:30. Then I will come back to my room, where I will then go shower and get everything ready for the next day. By that time, it is around 11, 11:15. I will then lay in bed on my phone till 12. Once I finally put my phone down it then takes me another 30-ish minutes to relax enough to get myself to fall asleep, just to wake up for 8 am classes the next day. Do I think my habits are healthy? No. Do I think that they have some healthy elements? Yes. I think my major problem is the time portions. I am told that studying, getting work done, and taking time for friends is healthy and should be taken accounted for. However, I feel there is not enough time in a day to make all that happen in a timely manner.

Improving my habits may be a bit difficult since I have become so used to them. However, if I were to change them, I would definitely come back to my room at an earlier time to get ready for bed and for the next day. I would also spend less time on my phone and spend more time becoming relaxed and trying to fall asleep.

I think a realistic goal for the amount of sleep a college student should get every night is 7 hours. Eight hours is what most people say you should be getting regularly, so subtract and hour or two and I think a college student can function efficiently.

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

My current sleep habits are all over the place. I can go from having a full eight hours of sleep one night to only sleeping for a few the next. Most nights I would say I get around 6 or 7 hours which isn’t terrible but it could be better. But I know it is important to stay consistent in what time I go to bed and wake up, which varies greatly. This past week for example there were a few nights I went to bed around one and others I was in bed before eleven. Some days I will take naps if I didn’t sleep enough the night before which in turn puts me into a cycle where I can’t fall asleep for a while and am tired again the next day. On the weekends I like to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get during the week, which is probably pointless but it gives me a reason to sleep in. I usually go to bed around midnight and don’t wake up until eleven the next day on weekends. This probably is not very healthy and adds to the inconsistency of my sleep habits.

A realistic goal for the amount of sleep per night a college student should get would probably be around six or seven hours. I can improve my sleep habits by going to bed at the same time every night as well as trying to increase the amount of hours I get. I should also apply this to the weekend, not matter how much I want to sleep in it would be good to keep it the same as it is during the week.