Many college students often feel exhausted, their mornings being especially challenging. Eric Cooper, associate professor of psychology, has a few suggestions to help get a good night of sleep and begin each day with a successful morning.

First, it is important to understand one’s sleep cycles. Two processes make your body sleepy. One is linked to the dark-light cycle, and the other process makes the body feel tired after 16 hours.

“The key to getting a good night sleep is to get the processes synchronized,” Cooper said.

The best way to coordinate these processes is to wake up at the same time every day, including weekends. While this may be difficult for many college students, additional measures exist that people can take to feel less exhausted in the morning. Knowing the stages of rapid eye movement sleep, known commonly as REM sleep, is essential to feeling less tired. 

“Humans have four stages of sleep, REM three being the deepest stage,” Cooper said. “It is actually better for a person’s body to wake up during certain stages of sleep. You want to wake up in REM or the first two sleep stages.”

If the body awakens during REM three, the person will experience grogginess and fatigue. In order to help a person wake during the best cycle, apps are available that track sleep.

Sleep Cycle alarm clock is an app that monitors a person’s sleep. Users place their phone near their pillow when they go to bed, and the app wakes them during the optimal stage of sleep after tracking their movement throughout the night.

While the app isn’t free, other options are available at no cost.

Cooper said the body is paralyzed during REM sleep while the eyes move underneath the eyelids. The app tracks the user’s movement during the night, and it knows not to wake the sleeper when movement isn’t registered.This makes sure the user isn’t woken during REM three sleep. 

Waking up at the best time is a great opportunity to start the day being productive. Other options include working out, which relieves stress, and studying. Many options exist on how people and students can start their day on the right foot.

“Different people practice different things,” Cooper said.

Tracking sleep cycles will create a less fatigued morning and assist people in being productive. This can create a healthier, happier lifestyle and lead to more successful and productive days.