BY SANDRA GUY

Finals week is coming soon, and students can feel a spine-tingling excitement about taking their first relaxing Spring Break in two long years.

Just one element lies between expectation and reality: A great night’s sleep.

After all, as March’s designation as Sleep Awareness Month reminds us, few things impact mental health more than sleep.

Lack of sleep makes almost every problem worse, or at the least diminishes our ability to handle stressors.

Research reveals that lack of sleep, on a regular basis, may lead to chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

So how do you ensure a good night’s sleep, especially when you’re feeling anxious?

Try these tips:

Maintain a regular wake and sleep schedule, even on weekends.Lie down to go to sleep only when sleepy.Limit afternoon naps to one hour or less.

In fact, University of South Florida researchers who focused on sleep timing, duration, regularity, efficiency and other factors found that each additional increase in sleep health problems was associated with a 54 percent increased risk of heart disease.

So be sure to take a deep breath, search your to-do list for unnecessary time wasting efforts, and make sleep a priority.