Q: I always have to stay up late finishing my homework, and I don’t get enough sleep at night. I am always tired at school, and it’s hard to stay awake sometimes. What can I do?

A: Try to find a way to get your homework done earlier in the day, so you don’t have to stay up finishing it. Perhaps you could start it right when you get home from school, instead of waiting until after dinner.  Also, try to stay on task while working.  Stay away from places where you will be easily distracted, for example, near the TV.  Work at a desk or table in a quiet room. The more efficiently and productively you work, the more time you’ll have to sleep at night.

Also, don’t procrastinate. Teachers usually give a decent amount of time to work on a project, so don’t wait until the night before it’s due to start it.  Spread out the work, and you might find that you don’t have to stay up so late to complete it, and the quality of your work will be better too. Cramming for a test isn’t helpful, and it can keep you from getting enough sleep as well.  Study more gradually, a little each night up to the test. You’ll find that, not only can you get more sleep, you’ll also remember things more easily and do better on the test.

Another problem could be that you are too busy and are overloading your schedule.  If you are in a lot of clubs and activities after school, then you may not have a chance to do homework until later in the evening.  It’s great to be involved, but you want to make sure you don’t spread yourself too thin.  Join a few clubs that you really enjoy and are interested in, but you don’t have to be part of every club or sport.  Be wise and really think about how much you can do and still get your homework done early enough to get enough sleep.