Week Two… can I sleep the night through?

Week two of my journey to happiness begins today. Research done by Steptoe et. al. shows that both eudaemonic well being, one’s overall level of happiness, and moment to moment happiness, also known as positive affect, are directly associated with good sleep. As a busy college student striving to keep up with demands of school, work, and a social life, prioritizing good nights of sleep can be hard if not impossible. To work on improving my daily happiness and boosting my mood this week, I am going to try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. I have looked up a few sleep hygiene techniques that I will try to implement this week and hopefully make a habit of moving forward. To start, I am going to try not to drink caffeine after 2 pm, because especially in college I have realized the lasting effect it has on my body throughout the day. I am also going to try to stay off of my phone or other electronic devices at least 30 minutes before I go to sleep, to allow my brain to start producing the alpha waves it needs to fall asleep. It’s also important to keep the temperature in my room at a comfortable number, which will be something to change this week as it usually drops as low as 65 at night and can be quite chilly. Lastly, I am going to try to aim to fall asleep around the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning so that my body can adjust to this sleep schedule and physiologically adapt to when it is the appropriate time to fall asleep and wake up each day!