How To Sleep In A Dorm: Shut-Eye Tips For College Students

It's midnight. You're beyond exhausted. Your computer is shut down, your chemistry book closed, your teeth brushed. It's time for your head to hit the pillow.

Unfortunately, your suitemate is on a different schedule -- she thinks it's time to practice her Alanis Morrissette covers. And you roommate is clacking away on a laptop, interrupting only for noisy handful of Fruity Pebbles. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. It also happens to be Thursday, and party hoots and hollers fill the quad below. What to do?

There are ways to help you get a decent night's sleep even while living among the most highly nocturnal of species: college students. Click through for nine tips -- and add your own if you have one!

 

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Noise-Cancelling Headphones

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Even if you're not one of those people who can fall asleep to relaxing music, headphones can drown out a load roommate or noises coming from the hall.

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Even if you're not one of those people who can fall asleep to relaxing music, headphones can drown out a load roommate or noises coming from the hall.

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Comments

[donnatalarico]

05:02 PM on 09/14/2010

Great slide show! I posted a similar blog post at the start of the school year on this topic. I have an online store, The Dream Drawer (not linking out of courtesy) which sells sleep masks and ear plugs. Nice to know others are sharing the same ideas to help people through new roommate experiences!

[Abe Froeman]

11:38 PM on 09/02/2010

I would suggest finding an organic chemistry book, the second you open it you'll likely being putting your head on your pillow.

[skullman]

11:54 PM on 09/01/2010

Before I went to college I spent a couple of years in the army. I learned that I could sleep with artillery being shot near by, and In my family I had been known as a light sleeper.

[Jen1025]

10:08 PM on 09/01/2010

Don't get assigned to a room below the DDR fanatics.

[Acert]

09:30 PM on 09/01/2010

Don't nap? Honestly, just because napping sometimes makes it harder to fall asleep early, that doesn't mean it's a bad sleeping strategy. If you nap during the day, you might not need as much sleep at night (depending on how much napping you do). It's not as if the sleep you get from napping is any less fulfilling just because you did it in the afternoon as opposed to at night.

[Erik Bates]

09:42 AM on 08/31/2010

Yes, you can ignore your noisy roommate, or you can get your RA involved. But please, for your own sake and personal development, try talking to your roommate yourself, first. It's amazing how effective it is to simply say, "Hey, I have class at 8am. Do you mind putting on some headphones or going to the lobby to play your guitar?" $10 says your RA will ask you to talk to your roommate first before they step in.

[Mary Sue]

03:24 AM on 08/31/2010

Thanks so much for sharing this information. Greatly help me being a newbie.

http://nationtv.co.uk/

[WaterCloset]

03:45 PM on 08/29/2010

Once I open that textbook, it's instant lights out for me.

[rjmtx]

12:59 AM on 08/28/2010

I thought you were supposed to drink yourself to sleep every night.

[Meranda F]

03:44 PM on 08/27/2010

yup,
Dont nap, fan and noise machine all work. I can't sleep without my fan on summer or winter!

[Chris Miner PhD]

03:28 PM on 08/27/2010

What nonsense! Everyone knows that the only way to maintain proper sleep hygiene in a college dormitory is to carefully maintain a regular schedule of sleeping only during daylight hours. Never rise before 6:00PM (Breakfast!) and never retire later than 6:00AM. Remember the famous wisdom of Benjamin Franklin! "Early to bed, early to rise..."

[markopolio]

03:16 PM on 08/27/2010

Here's a good one: NyQuil

[Meranda F]

03:45 PM on 08/27/2010

hummm...maybe I should have used this instead of buying sleeping pills!?

[eighthchord]

08:03 PM on 08/28/2010

both have the same thing: doxylamine, an antihistamine intended to knock you out. or diphenhydramine (benadryl).
antiallergy/sleep medicines worked for a while for me, but it doesnt really stop your suitemates from screaming and throwing things down the hall outside your door. man I hated college.

[FdeBear]

12:49 AM on 09/02/2010

Bendaril is my drug of choice.

[grod805]

06:43 PM on 08/26/2010

Thanks a lot for putting up this list.

I had to learn all of these the hard way. Ear plugs are way better than noise canceling head phones if you are on a budget and are a side sleeper.

[eighthchord]

08:04 PM on 08/28/2010

I couldnt find any that block out higher than 33 decibels, that was always my quibble with those.

[cdecisneros]

10:51 AM on 08/26/2010

sleep alone

[Michael Mouton]

05:08 PM on 08/26/2010

You're no fun.

[Meranda F]

03:45 PM on 08/27/2010

LOL!!!