How to Sleep Better: Tips for Teens and Young Adults

Learn why sleep matters

Sleep affects almost every type of tissue and system in the body. It supports your brain, heart, lungs, and immune system. When you don’t get enough sleep, it can make you feel worn out, sluggish, or sick. Poor sleep can affect your mood, make it hard to fight off illness, and even lead to weight gain.  

Healthy sleep is important for: 

• Energy levels  
• Learning and memory  
• Decision-making  
• Reaction time 
• Mood and mental health  
• Recovery after activity and stress  

Know how much sleep your body needs

Most teens don’t get enough sleep. Teens ages 13–18 need 8–10 hours of sleep each day. Adults need at least 7 hours of sleep a night to stay healthy. 

Why is sleep such a struggle? Teens are known for staying up late. There’s a biological reason for that. Around the start of puberty, your circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock) shifts later. Your body may not want to go to sleep before 11 p.m. 

If you have to get up early for school and don’t go to bed until late, you can’t get the sleep your body needs. After a few nights, you will become sleep-deprived. 

Spending a lot of time on screens—texting, scrolling social media, doing homework, watching shows, or gaming—especially at night, can make sleep problems worse. 

Build better sleep habits

Here are some tips that can help you get better sleep:  

• Keep a regular sleep routine: Go to bed and wake up around the same time each day. On weekends, try not to shift your wake-up time by more than 1 hour. This can be hard if you are on treatment or don’t have control of your schedule. If treatment throws off your schedule, you’re not alone.  
• Turn off bright lights before bed: Try using lamps instead of overhead lights and reduce brightness or use night mode on electronic devices. 
• Reduce tech disruptions: Stimulating activity from computers, tablets, video games, and phones can make it hard to fall asleep. Simple habits, such as turning off notifications, limiting interactive apps and games, and turning on sleep mode, can help improve your sleep. 
• Limit caffeine later in the day: Caffeine in coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, and tea can keep you awake, especially if you have it in the afternoon or evening. 
• Avoid strenuous exercise before bed: Getting physical activity can help you sleep better, but intense exercise can interfere with sleep if you work out too late in the day. Avoid strenuous activity 2–3 hours before bedtime.   
• Use your bed only for sleep: Try to use your bed only for sleeping. Avoid scrolling, gaming, texting, or doing homework in bed. This helps your brain and body connect your bed with rest. 

Understand how illness can affect sleep

Sleep problems are common for teens and young adults with cancer or other serious illnesses. Sometimes, these issues continue after therapy is over. Sleep problems may include:

• Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep (insomnia)
• Feeling very sleepy during the day (excessive daytime sleepiness) 
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Restless leg syndrome
• Cancer-related fatigue
• Delayed sleep-wake phase disorder (where your sleep-wake cycle is shifted later than normal)

Sleep problems during illness can happen for many reasons. Stress and changes in routine can interfere with sleep. Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or other medicines or treatments can change your body’s sleep cycle, or symptoms like pain or nausea can make it hard to rest. 

Some brain tumor patients may have disrupted sleep because the parts of the brain that control sleep are affected.

If it is hard for you to get long periods of sleep, short naps or quiet breaks might help you rest and have more energy. Ask your care team how much napping is okay, since too much daytime sleep can make it harder to sleep at night.   

If you’re having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or keeping a good sleep routine, talk to your care team. They can help you find ways to improve your sleep and offer help if sleep problems are due to a medical condition or sleep disorder.

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