It is getting to be the tail end of the semester when sleep becomes more elusive than Sasquatch for college students. It lurks behind all of the stress, papers, projects, work and attempts at having a social life teasing you. Even when you do manage to catch some z’s, you wake up feeling less than bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Well, you are in luck; here is your guide to deep rejuvenating sleep.

1. Try to set aside at least eight hour of sleep a night. This may not always possible with all your responsibilities between work and school, but having a goal can help you to try to get to bed at a decent time instead of getting caught up watching Netflix in the wee hours of the morning.
2. Unplug from all your electronics an hour before bed. There are in-depth scientific explanations behind this, but the gist is that the light from the screen mess with your circadian rhythm and tricks your body into thinking that it is daytime and that you should be up.  Yes, this does include putting away your cell phone, but don’t worry. You can check it the morning for all that you missed.
3. Stop having caffeine in the evening. The point is that caffeine gives you energy which, is not what you want when trying to sleep. You do not need cut your favorite drink in the evening necessarily, just opt for caffeine-free or decaffeinated version instead.
4. Save your bed for sleeping or relaxing. Avoid doing homework and work in bed because you will start to associate your bed with work instead of sleep, which makes it that much harder to shut off your brain for the night.
5. Make a to-do list. Being unable turn off your brain as soon as your head hits the pillow is a common occurrence for many people. It starts off by listing all the things you need to do tomorrow, but then a few skips and jumps later, it turns into worrying about that thing you did three years ago that most likely no one but you still thinks about. To avoid this cycle of anxious thinking, make a list of things you need to before you go to bed so you can stop stressing and actually fall asleep.
6. Make time for a wind-down activity. It is easier to fall asleep once you are relaxed. There are many options to choose from such as nighttime yoga/stretching, journaling, reading (although try to avoid books with cliffhangers because it easy for one chapter to turn into three), calming music (hint: probably not heavy metal), putting out everything you are going to need in the morning so you can sleep in longer, and so on.
7.  Stop hitting snooze. Hitting snooze in the morning is just so tempting in the morning, but you need try to resist. Hitting snooze and going back to sleep confuses your body as to whether or not you are supposed to be awake or not, so it makes you even sleepier when you do get up and start your day.