The moment her head hit the pillow she fel asleep…

I am often tired during the week, and many of my peers at school agree that they find themselves tired more often than they should be; surely there must be a solution?

I’m sure that by now you have heard that it is best to avoid looking at a screen thirty minutes before going to sleep, and I’m sure you all do this – ahem! However, there are other factors which may allow you have a greater quality of sleep during school nights.

With school life being increasingly stressful, it is important that you get at least 8 hours sleep. – Credit: Ricky, Editor-in-chief

First of all, as you may already know, the teenage body clock is different to that of other humans (we’re a whole other species). According to GPs at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the natural time for teenagers to wake up is at 9 am.

This, of course, means that for school to begin so early sends our body into a constant state of “jet lag”, which is only worsened by our three hour Sunday morning lie-ins. If you were to sleep in for a maximum of 1½ hours on weekends, you would minimise the disorienting effect that waking up at 6 am every morning has.

Secondly, try to cut down on any caffeine or high sugar drinks two hours before you go to bed (of course, if you pay attention to future articles, I’m sure that you will pick up on the fact that sugary soft drinks really aren’t good for your body in any way, shape or form!).

If you want to facilitate the progression of a range of different diseases including cancer and diabetes, feel free to drink fizzy, overly sweet, caffeinated drinks. Just not two hours before you go to bed!

Thirdly, a simple way of assessing any activities before you go to sleep is to ask yourself whether they are informing your brain that it is time to sleep.

Keep in mind, according to The Sleep Doctor, your brain can only respond to stimuli. So it will begin to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone, only when it senses the usual stimuli associated with sleep and night time. Are you keeping your light on seconds before the time you actually want to fall asleep?

Are you running around getting your things ready for school? Or are you doing relaxing activities and dimming the lights, ready for when you actually want to be asleep? Things such as light especially need to be taken into account in making sure your body gets the message!

I hope these simple words of advice help you, they have certainly helped me improve my sleep! Hopefully, you will begin to feel more ready for the school day by applying these simple tips to your daily lives…