24 hours in a day never seems quite enough when you have endless tasks to complete. So there are people like me, those who stay up until the wee hours of the morning just to get that assignment turned in or are just naturally night owls. I cannot help stretching my day out from 5 a.m. to midnight. I am a creature of habit, and you can bet that I gained caving undereye circles from it.

As I steadily grow and mature into an adult I am attempting to become more disciplined. The older you get, the more worn out you are at the end of the night. It's crucial to take care of your body and mind. After all, your body is your temple and you only get one in this lifetime.

This realization hit me when I entered my junior year of college. No one gives full-time college and working students enough credit. I walked into it with confidence and knew things were going to get serious. Working 30+ hours while maintaining decent grades in school weighed heavily on my shoulders. When I got home and immediately wanted to go to bed, I knew things weren't right. I used to have running energy until at least 8:30 or so.

I needed to make a change, and I needed to make it quick.

Every night I started incorporating healthy habits in order to cure (Disclaimer: still working on the... "cure." It's a work in process)) the sleep deprivation that was hitting me.

Screen time

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I put my phone away at least 30 minutes before I know I'll be going to sleep. Blue light from electronics sends signals to your brain to stay alert longer. I replaced my late time YouTube watching with reading a book until I was ready to go to sleep.

Preparation

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If I know I have work at 6 a.m. the next day, I will pack my lunch the night before. I'll fill my water bottle, lay out an outfit and my work vest to ensure I am ready. This allows me more rest as opposed to waking up even earlier to do the things I just listed.

Routine

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As hard as it may seem, creating a routine as a college student helps so much. Having a set wake up time, sleep time, homework time, etc. will change your life. I now wake up at 5:30 and try sleeping by 10:30 at the latest (baby steps, baby steps). This will train my body to be ensured a certain amount of rest each night.

Self-Care

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I could preach about self-care all day long, but I'll keep it simple. Take a hot shower, put a facemask on while you read, go to the gym. Whatever it is you do to wind down and bring a stop to your day, do it. In the long run, you will thank yourself for doing it. I know I do and hey, my skin is thriving (*knocks on wood*) at the moment. Win, win!