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Sunshine and sleep

by Tianren – 18th Dec 2017

The daylight and sunshine time here in the UK winter is very short. I am an international student from Shanghai, China. It is a totally different experience there. Usually, sunrise is 6.30 a.m and the sunset is 5.30 p.m. in winter in China. But in the UK, the daylight hours are so much less (in summer, the situation will be opposite).

A view of buildings and a church in Leeds, looking very dark and overcast

Darkness coming: I took this photo in Leeds at almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon!

Sunlight and Sleep

I find that sleep quality and sleep duration can affect your emotions. Getting enough good sleep is important for both mental and physical health. You may feel tired, sleepy and upset if you didn’t sleep well in the night, and struggle to control your emotions. I cannot fall asleep at night and catch up on sleep during the daytime. Then it may become a vicious circle. If I wake up in the afternoon, it is already dark outside because the daylight and sunshine time here in winter is very short.

What Helps Me

I used to turn on a yellow light from my lamp in the night because I thought it helped me sleep but it was a habit.  So now I try to keep it dark when I sleep and also, as soon as my alarm clock rings, I turn on the light. These two things have actually helped my sleeping problem a lot.

A bridge with a beautiful sunset in the background, the sky nearly dark but the sun just visible on the horzone

Read more about sleep.


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