The relationship between a good night’s sleep and good grades have been well researched and documented by researchers. If you are a college student, that’s why you need to make sure your dorm room is a space you can truly rest and recoup in. Decorating a dorm room so that you’re getting the best sleep possible can take a little work.
In their natural state, dorm rooms can be a reliable place to find harsh lighting, poorly put together beds, and cluttered bedroom decor that leaves little to the imagination. Planning and organizing your dorm room so that you can finally say goodbye to those all-nighters and hello to the grades you’ve wanted is achievable.
Here’s everything you need to keep in mind when decorating a dorm room, you can feel good about:
Find The Best Mattress for Better Sleep
The most obvious place to start when thinking of better sleep in your dorm room is finding the best mattress for your sleep.
Choosing the best mattress dimensions for a cramped dorm room can be tricky since there isn’t always a standard size. Try to look up your residency services before you move on so you can get an appropriately sized spring or foam mattress, depending on your preference.
Memory foam mattresses are a popular choice for those who struggle with trouble sleeping. As fun as dorm rooms are, they’re also noisy, making the motion absorbing, cozy feel of memory foam mattresses an obvious choice for college students who don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night. The best mattresses made of memory foam can also have cooling properties, so if you’re a hot sleeper, this is a great mattress. If you’re hesitant to invest in something that feels as important as a memory foam mattress when you’re moving to college, remember that your sleep quality is shaped largely by the kind of bed, you have.
Not only can you move a foam mattress from place to place if you choose to invest in one, but the best mattress companies also have financing options that ensure your wallet doesn’t feel frighteningly light all at once. If you’re still hesitant, find the best mattress you can for your budget and space.
Remember, high-quality sleep doesn’t have to come from five-star hotels. Sometimes, the best mattress is one that does the job without breaking the bank.
Switch Up Your Lighting
Once you’re convinced you to have the best mattress for your sleep, you’re going to want to spring on some ambient lighting. The harsh and often fluorescent lighting present in most dorm rooms are not conducive to a good night’s sleep – replace these bulbs with warm lighting if you can.
Using different kinds of lighting can also help prepare your body for a good night’s rest. Getting specific task lighting in the form of table lamps, as well as string lights to hang around your wall to keep on when you’re just spending time unwinding, will allow your body to differentiate between when it needs to be alert and when it can start to relax.
String lights are both cheap and effective when it comes to creating a cozy environment that feels just like home. Larger lamps work great as task lighting when you’re working.
Create Alternate Spaces For Rest
Your body is really good at making associations, and this extends to your dorm decor too. If you have space, add some additional seating that you can use to unwind outside of your bed.
Spending too much time on your bed working or even just relaxing can teach your brain to associate it with something other than sleep. Even if you do find the best mattress you can for your sleep, if your brain begins to associate it with something like studying, the chances you’re going to feel like going to sleep are slim.
If you’re working with limited space in your dorm room, try adding collapsible seating or smaller lounge sections to serve the same purpose. Bean bags and foldable chairs work just as well and can be made cushy with some decorative sofas and other bedroom decor accessories to get the job done.
Using Extension Cords That Look Great
It’s very likely your dorm room isn’t going to have the number of outlets you require for your laptop, mobile phone, tablet, e-reader, and any other pieces of tech that need constant charging and recharging as you work your way through school.
Since you’re almost definitely going to need an extension cord, why not splurge a little extra on something that can add a decorative touch to your space which adds a pop of color and personality.
Getting an extension cord and organizing your tech will also help minimize clutter in your bedroom, which can be a large cause of any trouble sleeping you might have. Keeping your extension cord away from your bed when it comes to night-time so you can get your eight hours of uninterrupted sleep is important to both your grades as well as your well-being in general.
The benefits of better sleep have been well-documented. From a better performance in sports to higher grades and focus in class, if you’re a college student, an eight-hour sleep cycle is more powerful than any all-nighter could be. Making sure you’re decorating your dorm room to reflect this is, therefore, pretty important.
From finding the best mattress you can for a good night’s sleep to using the right lighting when you’re working and relaxing, there are plenty of ways you can work to ensure your dorm room has been set up to optimize your productivity.
So get to planning, and work out what you can integrate easily into your dorm room for some much-needed snooze time. With these changes, you’ll be sleeping better and acing those tests in no time.
