This may be some bad news for our Simply Charly readers that are heading off to college in the fall…an article in the US News & World Report suggests that it may be best for your grades if you are an early bird and take your classes in the morning. According to research collected after surveying 824 psychology students about their sleep habits, those that were the better performers were the ones who had not stayed up until the early hours of the morning and slept until afternoon.

The article does provide tips to develop good sleeping habits for those of you who are simply not morning people:

• Be consistent – Make the attempt to go to bed and awake at the same time every day, even on weekends and in the summer. 
• Become a morning person – Two to three weeks before the semester starts, begin getting up and out of the house. Exposing yourself to the sunlight helps set your internal clock.
• Schedule your classes with care – Be aware that you are likely to turn into an evening person when you go to college. Don’t schedule 8am classes just because you are used to getting up early for high school…that will likely change. Give yourself time to get adjusted.
• Compensate – If you do have early classes, schedule some time in the afternoon to study, while you are still fully awake. Don’t wait until the evening, when you will likely be tired or have other activities scheduled. And avoid all night study sessions.

Being a freshman in college is very different from being a senior in high school. The freedom and independence may hit you all at once and can be overwhelming. The key is to be in control of the situation and arrange your schedule in the way that best fits you.

Happy learning!