For more information about managing stress: http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/booklets/stress/stress.html

Suggestions for a Good Night's Sleep
WHY FOCUS ON SLEEP? College students today often see themselves as pushed "to the max". Long days with too much to do and not enough time to do it is often the norm. College students can experience excessive stress, anxiety, and worry. These kinds of difficulties can interfere with normal sleep patterns. If you are having sleep difficulties, you are not alone. Over 50% of adults report past or current sleep difficulties. Common problems include sleeping too much, trouble falling asleep, and waking up in the night. However common, college students often underestimate the negative impact of sleep problems on their work, relationships and general well being. The #1 cause of human error in major industrial and automotive accidents is fatigue. Academic performance can also be sabotaged by poor sleep patterns. In a July 2002 article on sleep, Newsweek magazine reported that sleep deprivation for more than 24 hours "affects performance as much as a blood alcohol level above the legal limit." There's also evidence that an inadequate amount of sleep can: Increase moodiness Decrease ability to concentrate Decrease retention of new info. Challenge your ability to manage stress Lessen your body's ability to fight off illness For these reasons, it may be costly to ignore sleep problems or bad sleep habits. It will take time for sleep changes to happen, so be patient and don't give up!	WHAT IS a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP? Many of us think we're getting adequate sleep, but really aren't. The amount of sleep you need to be at your best is as individual as the amount of food you need. It isn't simply how many hours of sleep time you're logging in that matters, but how good you feel and how well you're able to perform each day. Individual sleep needs vary considerably from person-to-person and depend also on a number of external factors such as motivation and mood. Some people need 6 hours or less, but others require up to 9 hours to feel wide awake and to function at their peak level. However, quality of sleep -- which includes keeping regular sleep schedules, proper exercise and nutrition -- is as important as quantity. How can sleep habits improve your sleep? One of the best ways to improve your sleep is to replace a poor sleep routine with an environment and schedule that promotes sleep. Sleep expert Dr. Richard Bootzin developed a technique to help people with insomnia known as stimulus control, which involves a number of sleep habit instructions. The main goals of the stimulus control technique are to fall asleep quickly and to stay asleep. These goals are achieved by: Strengthening your mind's connection of the bed and the bedroom as a place for sleep Weakening the mind's connection of the bed/ bedroom as a cue for stimulating activities that might interfere with sleep (like studying, watching TV, eating, etc.). Developing a consistent sleep schedule. Most research shows that when individuals are tired, they fall asleep within five minutes or less. Falling asleep is something you allow yourself to do, not make yourself do. Tell yourself that you are letting yourself fall asleep, and also remind yourself the time at which you wish to awake. Many individuals can learn to wake themselves up within minutes of the designated time, if they are getting regular sleep. If you are experiencing problems with sleep, and you are committed to following these instructions, it is likely that you will experience some sleep improvement.
ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR IMPROVING SLEEP (1)  Wind down for the night at least 30 to 60 minutes before bed. (2) Reduce caffeine and tobacco use late in the day. (3) Limit or avoid alcohol before bedtime. While a glass of wine or a beer may be helpful for some individuals, excessive alcohol has a tendency to get you to sleep, but then interrupts sleep throughout the night.  (4) Exercise late in the afternoon or early evening can help, but do no major exercise (except for sexual activity) any less than 2 hours before going to bed. (5) Relax before bed. Light stretching, a warm shower or bath, or any other activity that you find relaxing, may be helpful.  (6) Have a light carbohydrate or dairy snack before bedtime but avoid chocolate or sugar. In small quantities, sometimes eating something prior to bedtime can help. A bottle of milk puts a baby to sleep; the same principle can work for adults. (7) Avoid drinking large amounts of fluid late in the day. A full bladder can interfere with sleep. (8) Do not have a visible bedroom clock. "Clock watching" often intensifies insomnia. Turn the clock face away from you or put it in a drawer. (9) Sunday through Thursday evenings, as often as possible, try to get to bed on the same day you got up. This means being in bed by midnight. Research indicates that if you sleep on a schedule that allows you to be awake by early morning, you will perform better. (10) On Friday and Saturday nights, try to extend your wake hours by no more than a couple of hours. The more off cycle you get, the harder it is to get back on cycle and stay rested and alert (11) If you experience a large number of distressing thoughts when you are trying to fall asleep, try setting up a thinking time during your daytime hours. Pick a 20 to 60 minute period when you can focus on the types of thoughts that come to you when you are trying to fall asleep. When these thoughts come to mind as you are trying to fall asleep, dismiss them and remind yourself that you will deal with them during "thinking time." If this doesn't work, keep a pad of paper by your bed so you can "download" your thoughts to reconsider the next day. After a good night's rest, you will think and resolve those concerns better. (12) If you are dealing with a severe crisis or you are under extreme pressures, there are some non-addicting sleep medications that can be provided for short periods of time by a college physician. Consider a consultation with a physician. Sleep difficulties can also be caused by other physical or mental health concerns such as depression. If you are having difficulty managing sleep patterns by yourself, you may want to consider discussing your concerns with a counselor.
Additional information about stress and ways to reduce stress in a student’s life: http://counseling.uoregon.edu/stress.htm Maintaining a Healthy Balance in your Life: http://www.counsel.ufl.edu/selfHelpInformation/stress/ maintaining_the_balance_a_self_help_guide_for_students.aspx

Time management: a tool for reducing stress

Setting Goals and Priorities

The first step in effectively managing time is to develop an explicit statement of your long-range goals. This statement of goals will allow you to set shorter range goals and to prioritize specific activities according to how much they contribute to your goals. Setting these long-range goals may be more difficult than you imagine. The process can force you to confront decisions that you have been putting off, or value issues that you don't want to handle.
Following is an example of a long term goal and related intermediate and short term goals:

Long-Term Career Goal: Career as a Counselor/Psychologist (6 to 8 years).

Intermediate Career Goals:

• Enter a Ph.D. or Master's program in Counseling or Clinical Psychology (3 to 5 years).
• Graduate Assistantship or Counseling job at the Bachelor's level (2 to 4 years).

Short-Term Personal Goals: (Present):

• Major in psychology.
• Courses in education, biology, and statistics.
• At least a 3.5 average for Masters.
• Volunteer work as a hot-line counselor.
• Volunteer or paid work as a research assistant (to generate reference letters from faculty).
• Study skills course to improve grades and study habits.
• Find a quieter living environment at the end of the term to improve study time.

Daily, Weekly, and Semester Scheduling

The heart of effective time management is in weekly time organization; however, you also need a semester-long calendar to lay out all of your major obligations. Remember, if you don't have clearly defined goals, scheduling will be difficult for you for two reasons. First, you won't have any guidelines to use for prioritizing your activities; and second, you will have trouble motivating yourself to complete the tasks in your schedule that are not immediately gratifying. You will, for example, be tempted to go to a movie instead of studying calculus (which may be necessary for the long-term goal of becoming an engineer).
Two general approaches to weekly scheduling can work well. The first is fairly simple and involves a daily list of things you want to accomplish that day. In order to use this method you need to know what your activities and obligations are for several weeks. This will allow you to make a daily list and modify and prioritize with a clear understanding of your very short-term goals. This kind of approach appeals most to people who don't like too much structure and don't want to be locked into an hour-by-hour schedule.
Following is an example of a two-day period using the daily list type of schedule with a simple A-B-C priority system. (A = Highest Priority, B = Moderate Priority, C = Lowest Priority.) This is a schedule for Ed, a student who works and attends law school:
Thursday (Home from Work at 5:30 P.M.)

• Review notes for legal ethics class. (A)
• Study for contracts class. (C)
• Work out at the gym. (B)
• Talk after dinner with wife. (A)
• Prepare sales brief for tomorrow. (A)
• Write a letter to brother. (C)

Friday (Off Work at 2:00 P.M.)

• Do contracts assignment. (A)
• Library research. (B)
• Lion's Club meeting. (C)
• Work out at the gym. (A)
• Review notes for test next week. (C)
• Play catch with son. (A)

In this schedule, you should be able to determine some of Ed's long-term goals and also see how he uses flexibility in his schedule. One of his goals is obviously to finish law school. From the way he prioritizes activities, it would also appear that another goal is to be a good father and husband. He also appears to be committed to a balanced schedule because he includes time for exercise, contact with his brother, and a softball game.
A written list is essential. The list should be somewhere available to you throughout the day. You may want to carry a notebook or card with the items on it. You will also find it helpful to post the list somewhere as a reminder.
A more detailed kind of schedule will be necessary for people who need more structure than the flexible list method offers. The most common method is to use an hour-by-hour weekly schedule. This allows you to allocate time specifically and gives you a very clear guideline of what to do when. Although some people find this confining, others welcome the order and find it extremely helpful. Basically this involves using an hour-by-hour weekly calendar.
The key of course, is keeping to the schedule. Be realistic. It is important to allow for plenty of free time, recreation, etc. Many students try this method and fail because they set up a schedule that is too rigid and unrealistic. Remember also, that you must be able to keep your goals and priorities in mind in order to motivate yourself to follow this schedule.

Balance

The most common time management mistake that people make is not allowing for a balanced life-style. Remember that one's overall health and wellness require attention to six important life areas.

• Physical (exercise, nutrition, sleep)
• Intellectual (cultural, aesthetic)
• Social (intimate and social relationships)
• Career (school and career goal directed work)
• Emotional (expression of feelings, desires)
• Spiritual (quest for meaning)

Certainly you don't have to have a designated set of activities in each of these areas; but if you notice one area that you don't attend to at all, you may be ignoring an important part of yourself. For example, if you set aside time for exercise, you will improve your overall functioning and also better manage your stress. If you take time to foster your intellectual growth, you can gain new perspectives on life, experience some different kinds of pleasure, and perhaps be better able to focus on your goals.

Procrastination, Distractions, and Other Problems

Time management seems like a very sensible approach, yet many people never really learn to manage their time. If you are having a problem with time management, consider the following suggestions:

• Review your long-term and intermediate goals often. Keep a list where you will see it often.
• Continually try to eliminate unnecessary tasks that are not related to your goals or to maintaining a balanced life style.
• Take advantage of your natural cycles, schedule the most difficult activities when you are sharpest.
• Learn to say "No" to people, including spouses, friends, children, and parents.
• Reward yourself for effective time management.
• Solicit cooperation from those around you. Let your spouse, family members, roommate, and others know about your efforts to manage time.
• Attend to your needs for spontaneity.
• Do not set yourself up to fail. Be realistic and work toward an individualized approach that makes sense for you.
• Recording things -- the process of putting schedules, priorities, and plans on paper -- is helpful in itself.