Want children to succeed? Help them sleep better.

Kids are under more pressure than we know. There’s the usual stress of school and social life, made worse by a year in which everyone’s routines got turned upside down. But there is also the anxiety that comes with our always-connected culture, particularly social media. Every young person I know is trying to promote an image of themselves living a perfect life—the right clothes, the best backgrounds, the most fun. It’s no wonder that teens suffer from higher rates of depression the more time they spend scrolling social platforms. 

When it comes to youth mental health, we know there is a powerful tool that can help counteract the effects of all this technology overload: sleep. The more sleep kids get, the better their mood, the better they do in school, and the better their overall physical health. So if you want to help the young people in your life succeed, encourage them to unplug and get some rest. Here are things to recommend, suggested by the experts of the Saatva blog. 

• Get outside. Nature is a powerful stress reliever. Getting outside anytime is great for the spirit, but especially now, as the days get shorter, exposure to natural light in the morning can help regulate the body’s clock to make falling asleep at night easier. 
• Exercise. The more physical activity kids engage in during the day, the better they’ll sleep at night. And not just because they’ll be more tired. Exercise also makes kids happier, and happier kids have an easier time falling and staying asleep. 
• Turn off devices. Scrolling social media can get kids worked up, which is bad enough, but the blue light from screens can also disrupt the body’s natural rhythms, making it even harder to fall asleep. Difficult as it may be, turning off tech devices to allow for some wind-down time before bed is a really good idea. 
• Stick to a routine. I often say that you have to treat sleep like an activity and prepare for it the way you would for a sport. Before I can sleep, there are certain things I have to do. I make sure that the temperature of the room is right, it has to be extremely dark, I turn off all my electronics about 15 minutes beforehand. I also take a warm shower before I go to sleep. I prepare the same way for sleep every single night, because I know how important it is. 
• Create the right environment. For the best sleep, you have to create an environment conducive to sleep. That means the room has to be cool, quiet, and dark. If that’s not possible, things like sleep masks and white noise machines can help. And because young bodies are developing so rapidly, a good supportive mattress matters too. 

At Saatva, we know that not every young person has the right mattress, or even a comfortable place to sleep. That’s why we have partnered with organizations like the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, Pencil.org, and Joy Street Initiative, which serve youth in need. In the spirit of this holiday season, if you know a young person who doesn’t have a proper bed to sleep in, reach out to me. Because success at any age starts with a good night’s sleep.

- Ron Rudzin, Saatva Founder and CEO