Coming to college I knew I would have to change some of my bad habits. One of my bad habits in particular is staying up late, and then napping as much as possible the next day. I was doing a good job in the beginning of the school year, but as school began to intensify I started to stay up later and catch sleep in my room whenever I could. I started to find myself falling asleep every single time I was in my room for more than fifteen minutes, even on the days I went to bed at TAPS. I decided to make this bad habit the topic of my make a change project, because I woke up from a nap and was almost late for class. I decided the root of my problem was taking naps throughout the day, and not staying up late occasionally. For a week I was not going to sleep during the day, in the hopes I would feel better and more awake during the school day.
In order to achieve my goal of not napping during the day, I started to have a full breakfast. By having a full breakfast of carbs, protein, and fruit I found that I was more awake and alert. I also started to carry a water bottle, and tried to drink a two full bottles before and after lunch. Staying hydrated helped tremendous amount, I felt more energized for my classes and it really helped my in MSL PT. Another tactic I used to stay awake inside my room was staying off my bed, and sitting on my vanity when doing homework. Sitting on my vanity forced me to sit up straight and really focus on what I was working on. Finally I forced myself to go to bed at TAPS every night of my experiment. By getting a full nights sleep, only helped my kick my bad habit.
Moving forward after this experiment, I plan on incorporating my changes into everyday life. Using my tools of staying awake during the day, I will become a better student. The time I used for naps, I now use for studying. I approximately get forty-five more minutes of study time a day, those forty five minutes can be the difference in how well I perform in a class.