Wake Up! Sleep Smarter Not Longer | Real College Talk Season 2, Ep. 7

Real College Talk

Wake up! You won’t want to miss this series where Nikhil and Morgan take a #KeepItReal approach to healthy living in college (and in high school) with realistic tips for maintaining (mostly) healthy sleep patterns, proper nutrition, physical fitness, and mental health amidst college life. Why make health a priority now? Well, the research shoes that most college students gain roughly 10 pounds during the course of their four years in college, but beyond the weight gain, students who allow their physical health to decline actually tend to have worse grades. The opposite is true as well – regular exercise, sleep, and nutrition habits are correlated with better grades (Purdue University) and greater overall happiness. Don’t wait until your health is suffering to invest in healthy habits! So in this episode, we’re starting off with the most important contributing factor to physical health – SLEEP (2:40).

As a college student himself, Nikhil starts off by explaining the REAL challenges that college presents when it comes to maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. He shares that while you may not be able to get a full night of sleep every night, the key is to maintain regular sleep in the right intervals (3:55). Nikhil offers actionable tips to nap smarter (6:10) and to work better and faster (6:55) as a result. While adopting new sleeping habits might require some discipline and minor sacrifice up-front, he shares his own experience in implementing changes and how the payoff in cognitive performance, daily energy levels, and improved mood are completely worth it (7:55)!

Next, Morgan talks all about simple routines and hacks you can use to avoid the negative effects of technology on your nightly sleep patterns (9:15). She explains specific ways in which you can adjust your late-night homework habits (10:42) to get more work done in a shorter period of time, simply by prioritize your sleep needs (12:30). Finally, Morgan and Nikhil wrap up with some #RealTalk on the inherent struggles that come with college life and how creating a simple separation between the environments where you work and the environment where you sleep can help to support a healthier lifestyle.

The only thing left to do? Pick just ONE of these habits they’ve shared and commit to it for a week (16:03). Observe the effects on your own life and Morgan and Nikhil can’t wait to see them on social media with the #KeepItReal hashtag. Stay on the lookout for talks on nutrition, exercise, and mental health in the coming episodes!

Real College Talk is a podcast that you won't want to miss! To catch every episode, make sure to hit the subscribe button and turn on our notifications. You can follow us on Instagram @realcollegetalk and follow our co-hosts @morgs__anne and @nikhil.vn. We are always working on new content, so be on the lookout for our latest episodes. In the meantime, Keep It Real!