It's the start of university - you're already on your fourth themed night out of the week and have signed up for every quirky-sounding society your campus has to offer. But your relationship with your bed could be key to keeping up with a busy social life, as well as that lengthy reading list. "If you can get out before 11am-ish then there's a part of the brain, just behind the eyes, that responds to light," says Jo Baker, a psychotherapist and student sleep and mental health expert.
"Getting daylight early on in the day is really going to help to keep your body in check. How you sleep at night starts with how you wake up in the morning." Sleep is essential to learning and absorbing information. But late nights out, noisy flatmates and a strange new bed can mean good sleep habits go out the window.
For Anna-May, 20, it's her four-hour round trip from Kendal, Cumbria to study dance at the University of Salford that leaves her short of sleep. She gets about five hours a night - the alarm goes at 05:00. "I track my sleep and get worried about how little I will get, and then sometimes that keeps me up," she says.
"I can tell I'm more tired towards the end of the week and things can feel harder." Forcing yourself to have an early night isn't going to work, according to Baker, especially if you end up lying wide awake in bed. "Your brain learns this is somewhere I lie and get stressed about not being able to sleep - so the most important thing is a consistent waking time," she says. When you feel groggy, it's tempting to chug multiple coffees or fizzy drinks.
But caffeine hangs around in the body and blocks the build-up of sleepiness throughout the day. Too many flat whites and you'll not only be short of cash - you could also develop a sleep problem. Alcohol may also be a tempting way to boost your confidence around new people, but it doesn't help you sleep.
"When you fall asleep [after large amounts of alcohol], you're anaesthetised really. It's like having an anaesthetic. You're not asleep," Baker says.
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