The goal of a good night’s sleep is to feel refreshed and ready to face the day in the morning. Unfortunately, many people find it difficult to wake up in the morning. They go back to sleep for a variety of factors.
Here are seven ways to make waking up easier and more refreshing.
Maintain a consistent sleep schedule
Adults require around eight hours of sleep every night on average, although your needs may vary. Our bodies tend to follow a regular pattern, and our behavior can help to reinforce these natural rhythms. Establishing a consistent sleep routine is one of the greatest strategies to obtain a decent night’s sleep and wake up on time. According to research, too much variation in your bedtime and morning wake-up time might contribute to insufficient sleep.
Get light first thing in the morning
Morning light can promote wakefulness by suppressing melatonin (the sleep hormone) from the body. As you may know, your body follows a natural circadian rhythm and light has the strongest influence on this biological clock.
Ideally, you should wake up to sunshine flowing through your window every day. If it is something you can rely on, sitting in front of a lightbox shortly after waking up can have similar effects.
Put your Alarm far from your bed
An alarm clock will wake you up even if you are in the darkest phases of sleep. Snoozing, on the other hand, can bring you back to Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep – A crucial and highly restorative phase in the sleep cycle.
When your alarm goes off in the morning, you’re normally towards the end of your final REM cycle. When you snooze and go back to sleep, You could re-enter the REM stage resulting in waking up feeling fuzzy and disoriented.
If you’re used to hitting the snooze button, move your alarm clock away from your bed so you have to get out to turn it off.
Get regular exercise
If you have difficulties waking up and getting your day started, try being active first thing in the morning. Begin your day with a short exercise to help you get up.
Furthermore, getting daily exercise has been demonstrated to enhance overall sleep quality.
Don’t skip breakfast
Having breakfast is an excellent way to wake yourself up. Even a simple breakfast might provide you with a boost of energy to start your day. You can receive even more benefits if you incorporate a caffeinated beverage. There is evidence that eating low-glycemic, high-protein meals at breakfast can boost energy levels in the morning.
Establish a relaxing bedtime routine
Before bedtime, mentally stimulating activities such as work, reading the news, or browsing through social media can engage your brain, generate unpleasant thoughts, and make falling asleep more difficult. Such activities may negatively impact your sleep quality too.
Initiating a relaxing bedtime ritual about two hours before bedtime can avoid that by sending signals to the brain that it’s time to shut down. What’s relaxing to one person may not be to another, but you can try things like reading, guided meditation, or simply talking to a loved one.
