Sleep cycle ruined!

[Steve Jobs]

Hey guys,
Lately I found my entire sleep cycle has been completely ruined.. as you can see it's now 6am EST and I'm still awake and I wished I knew better! I feel like my body clock's been ruined. I've been wanting to get the discipline to get myself into a healthier routine, ie wake up early and get exercise, have time for a good breakfast everyday, etc. but it's simply too hard to keep with college, and everything in life. I've been finding keeping motivation for this along with many things very hard. I don't really know what to do - I'm not entirely sure what I'm stressed about, but every time I'm stressed out I develop eyebags and get the occasional breakout, which I'm facing right now.

I don't really know what I can come to ask, and it's pretty rare that I actually do make a thread on here, but all advice would be appreciated! :confused:

[Ryhanna]

What do you do and how do you feel when you try to sleep? Do you use your phone or computer or anything? Do you feel stressed out or frustrated?

If you find yourself using any sort of technology when you should be sleeping, I find that putting it away in my wardrobe where it's out of reach helps me not use it. Technology like that stimulates your brain, so it keeps you up.

If you're feeling stressed out or frustrated, breathing can help. I use a couple of breathing techniques to cope with anxiety, and they work well because they help relax your mind, which in turn will help you sleep. Next time you're trying to sleep, lay in your bed on your back and take a deep breath in and hold it for five seconds, and then let it out. Repeat it for ten minutes and see if you're feeling any more relaxed.

[ImCoolBeans]

What do you do and how do you feel when you try to sleep? Do you use your phone or computer or anything? Do you feel stressed out or frustrated?

If you find yourself using any sort of technology when you should be sleeping, I find that putting it away in my wardrobe where it's out of reach helps me not use it. Technology like that stimulates your brain, so it keeps you up.

If you're feeling stressed out or frustrated, breathing can help. I use a couple of breathing techniques to cope with anxiety, and they work well because they help relax your mind, which in turn will help you sleep. Next time you're trying to sleep, lay in your bed on your back and take a deep breath in and hold it for five seconds, and then let it out. Repeat it for ten minutes and see if you're feeling any more relaxed.

This is very good advice.

To add onto that, you should try to maintain a somewhat regular schedule, meaning you should try to go to sleep/wake up around the same time on a daily/nightly basis. When you start to develop a pattern-like sleep schedule your body gets used to it and starts to prepare itself for bed around that time and starts to come out of that sleep around the same time.

Try to avoid eating before bed. You should give your body at least two hours to digest all of the food in your stomach before attempting sleep. When you eat before bed your body starts to digest food, which starts a whole new process and can keep you up.

[Steve Jobs]

Thanks for the posts guys!
Yeah, I do my best with that. I keep my laptop and phone out in the lounge overnight since I have my own place. Maintaining the sleep-wake time is near impossible with my schedule though!
I'l see how it goes. I'm not quite sure what stress/anxiety really is affecting me now seeing my school schedule is looking good for the remainder of the year.