If you didn’t know, the clocks were set back an hour on Sunday thanks to daylight saving time. The extra hour of sleep was certainly nice, but if you’re like me, you’ve been dreading the fact that the days are only going to get shorter and shorter. In fact, in the winter in Nashville, the sun sets as early as 4:30pm! This early sunset time can have negative impacts on productivity, mood, and motivation, so I want to share some tips for how to handle this change.
#1 – Adjust Your Sleep Schedule
Of course, the fact that it gets darker so much earlier makes us tired earlier, and this can actually be a good thing for us likely sleep-deprived college students. The earlier darkness can motivate us to get to sleep a little earlier and maybe even wake up earlier. The importance of sleep can never be underestimated and getting a good night’s sleep will lead to more success in our academic and personal life.
#2 – Make Good Use of Daylight Hours
Because the daylight hours are increasingly limited, it is important to make use of time where it is light out. Especially before it gets cold, we should spend as much time outside as possible. Being outside and getting sunshine is good for your health and keeps energy up. Go on walks with your friends, study outside, or play sports on the lawn as much as you can, especially while it still isn’t too cold out.
#3 – Stay Out of Your Room
For me, one of the best things to improve my productivity, mood, and motivation is to get out of my dorm room. Especially if it’s dark out, I find it nearly impossible to do anything productive in my dorm. It’s easy to feel isolated, exhausted, and unmotivated while in a small room without any natural daylight, especially if your roommate isn’t in the room. So, it’s essential to get out of your room in the late afternoon/early evening hours when it starts to get dark. Study in your common room or the library, go to the gym, or just spend time around other people.
#4 – Prioritize Exercise and Health
As winter approaches and the days get shorter and shorter, it is incredibly important to prioritize exercise and overall health in order to keep our productivity and mood up. Making sure you are exercising and eating well because this makes a huge difference in your productivity and energy during the approaching winter months.
#5 – Cultivate a Good Dorm Room Environment
Another thing that can be a big help is making sure that your dorm room is well-lit and organized. As I said earlier, getting out of your dorm room as much as you can is important, but we are obviously still going to spend a decent amount of time in our dorms. So, making sure that your dorm environment makes you feel both comfortable and motivated is essential. Make sure you have good lighting and a clean space to return to in the evening.
I know that I will be making use of these quick tips and I hope that they can come in handy for you as well! Thanks for reading!