As college students, naps seem to become more and more routine even though we seem to have less and less time for them. The farther we get in our college careers, the earlier we seem to get up and the later we go to bed, which means that naps are essential. When you add in things like finals week or Greek Week, I think we can all relate on how desperate we are for even a few minutes of shut-eye.

This article is written for the people like me, who as soon as they wake up in the morning, they start calculating how many hours until they get to go to bed again.

Know your best time to nap. First off, know your sleep schedule. The earlier that you generally go to bed, the earlier your nap should be so you do not ruin your routine. The best time to usually take a nap is around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Keep naps short. Naps are the best when they are about 15-30 minutes long. This is because when you rest, your body has five stages of sleep. One through four and Rapid eye motion (REM) are the stages, and REM is the stage in which people dream. You want to either get through all the stages, which takes around 100 minutes, or you want to wake up before you reach REM sleep. When you wake up in the middle of REM sleep, that is when you feel groggy and disorientated.

Set an alarm. Setting an alarm is one of the most important things that you can do when you are taking a nap. Being worried that you will not wake up and can give you anxiety, resulting in no sleep at all. Thus, setting an alarm can benefit all college students who just want a little bit of shut-eye in between classes.

Don't nap after 4 p.m. Even if you get home at 6 o'clock at night and all you want to do is fall asleep... hold off. As hard as it may be, make sure you have all your work done and then you will sleep much better in the morning.

Take a caffeine nap. If you are exhausted but have a lot of the day still left, take a caffeine nap. Quickly chug a cup of a caffeinated drink and take a 20 minute nap. When you wake up, you will feel rested, the caffeine will start kicking in, and you will have the energy to finish out the day.

Make the room temperature comfortable. To have the best nap that you can, make sure the temperature in the room is comfortable. If you like it warm or cold, make sure that your room reflects your preferences.

Clear your mind. Do not let your worries overpower your thoughts when you are trying to take a nap. Let nap time be a moment to let yourself go and relax.

I hope these tips help every college student get the rest they need. Good night and sweet dreams, everyone.