As you hit your mid-teens, your body clock goes through changes – totally natural! But this shift can mess with your sleep patterns. You might feel like staying up later, but guess what? Your body actually needs MORE sleep at this time! Research shows we should aim for 9-10 hours of sleep each night, but most of us only get around 7-8 hours.
Finding that sleep balance can be tricky, but it's super important! A good night's sleep keeps you alert, energised, and feeling awesome during the day.
Not sleeping well or enough can cause stress and moodiness and make you feel worse about others and yourself. If you’re having trouble sleeping it can interfere with your life;
Feeling constantly rushed and overwhelmed can also lead you to feeling tired and drained of energy, so allowing yourself some unfocused time each day to refresh is really important, particularly in busy or challenging times like during exams.
Learning to relax is an important life skill and can help to improve your sleep. It may sound simple, but learning to breathe in a calm and controlled way is an easy relaxation strategy that you can use before you go to bed, or if you wake up in the night and find it hard to fall back to sleep.
While sitting or lying down, make yourself as comfortable as possible.
Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Repeat this once.
Close your eyes. Focus your mind on breathing.
Breathe easily and gently with no effort.
Breathe in steadily over three seconds.
As you breathe out steadily over three seconds, say to yourself ‘relax’ while letting all your muscles go loose and floppy.
Keep repeating this in a six second cycle (three seconds in and three seconds out) over and over until you find yourself feeling calm and relaxed.
You can also try some of these habits to help sleep better -
Stick to a regular sleep routine and avoid sleeping in
Avoid alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes before bed
Reduce screen time in the evenings
Skip daytime naps
Exercise earlier in the day
Wind down with relaxing activities like reading or listening to music
While these are just general tips and not all of them may work for you, trying a few will help figure out what best for you. It’s important to note that this information is to be used as general advice only and doesn’t take into account your personal circumstances, physical wellbeing or mental status. If you are having ongoing trouble sleeping, it’s always best to see a qualified healthcare professional like a GP.
batyr is a youth mental health organisation driven by young people for young people. We empower young people to take charge of their mental health early and often.
The information on this page is intended as a general guide only and is not a substitute for professional, personalised mental health support.
If you need support, visit our Get Support page for a comprehensive list of free, confidential mental health services available to you.