Let’s face it. Waking up can be rough. You’re cozy in your bed, happily snoozing away in dreamland. It’s no wonder 57% of us Americans hit the snooze button every morning.
Are you sick of dragging yourself out of bed every morning?
We’ve got fifteen hacks for you to try. Soon you’ll be so energized, you’ll find yourself bounding out of bed in the morning!
The path to waking up energized is twofold. First, you need to set yourself up for restful sleep before bed, ensuring that you’re sufficiently rested. Then, you need to find ways to boost alertness in the morning, so you’re ready to meet the day.
Our tips below will help you tackle both ends of the process.
Let’s start with the obvious. If you’re not getting enough sleep in the first place, of course you’re going to wake up reaching for the snooze button.
Establish a set sleep schedule which allows you to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Choose your bed and wake times, and follow them every day of the week – even weekends.
It’s not just important that you get enough sleep. It’s important that the sleep you get is actually restful, too. For that to happen, your bedroom should be dark, quiet, and cool.
Turn off the lights, close the curtains, and turn off all your electronics. Drown out any remaining noise with earplugs or a white noise machine. Set the thermostat to a chill low-to-mid 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and drift off to sleep.
Sleeping in a cave-like environment is great for deep, restful sleep. But if you want any hope of an easy awakening, you need to find a way to let some sunshine into that cave in the morning. Allow natural light to wake you up, reinforcing your circadian rhythms and giving you a subtle energy lift.
If you use blockout curtains, ensure they leave room on the edges for the sunlight to break through in the morning. Or use a dawn simulator alarm clock to naturally mimic the sun rising in your bedroom.
Keep the energy boost going with an outdoors morning exercise routine.
Exercise not only tires your body out by bedtime, enabling more restful sleep, but it also makes you more alert during the day. A 2011 study of over 2,600 adults found that those who exercised for 150 minutes a week enjoyed 65% better sleep than their non-exercising peers.
Each night, prime your mind and body for restorative sleep by calming yourself through a series of low-key, stress-free activities.
In the 30 to 60 minutes before bed, take a warm bath, practice deep breathing exercises, read, or journal. The activities you choose are up to you. The goal is to make them relaxing enough to help induce sleep.
Meditation and yoga are both great stress-relievers, and with less stress, comes better sleep. There’s even a special form of yoga designed to help you sleep: yoga nidra.
A consistent meditation practice is another helpful tool for coaching yourself to sleep. Follow one of these meditation exercises or download a guided meditation smartphone app to try it for yourself.
Clearing your mind of stress before bed makes it easier for you to fall asleep. But reducing your stress also makes it easier to get up in the morning. If you wake up every morning instantly reminded of the daily worries awaiting you, the snooze button may be your only form of resistance.
Find ways to lower your stress levels. A regular exercise routine can help, as can therapy, finding support through friends and loved ones, or practicing aromatherapy.
Speaking of aromatherapy, there are several essential oils that will put you to sleep, as well as ones that will wake you up. Use lavender, ylang ylang, and sandalwood before bed, and peppermint, rosemary, or lemon in the morning.
You might even get a diffuser with an automatic timer. Synch it with your alarm clock so you can start pumping out the energizing scents as you wake up.
All of your electronics, from your smartphone to your TV, emit piercing blue light that wakes up your brain. At least 30 minutes before bed (perhaps as part of your bedtime routine), step away from the computer and turn off all your electronics.
In the morning, turn on your smartphone, set it to its maximum brightness setting, and catch up on what you missed – while that strong blue light floods your brain.
As a sedative, alcohol induces sleep. But it interferes with REM sleep in the second half of the night and makes people wake up earlier, before they’re sufficiently rested.
On the other end of the spectrum, caffeine activates your nervous system and heavy meals lead to indigestion. Consume either of these at night, and it’s tough to fall asleep.
If you want to sleep soundly, avoid these substances past the late afternoon. They’ll lower the quality of your sleep, and make waking up energized an even greater challenge.
Stay hydrated with water instead, and quell your appetite with small snacks of healthy ingredients.
All that water leads to a full bladder. Make sure you empty it before bedtime, or you might find yourself waking up in the middle of the night.
Nighttime awakenings result in extra groggy mornings. Use the restroom before bed, so you can sleep straight through the night.
It may be hard to believe, but pressing the snooze button actually makes it harder for you to wake up. The standard “snooze” time is set to 9 minutes, which is just long enough to let you barely transition back into sleep, but too short for that sleep to be restful.
Avoid the temptation. Set your alarm clock to as late as possible, and get out of bed when it goes off. Make it easier on yourself by placing your alarm clock far away, outside of your bedroom even. You’ll have to get up to turn it off, and once you’re up and moving, it’s easier to stay moving.
Leave a cup of water on your nightstand before you go to bed. Drink it first thing in the morning after turning off your alarm clock.
The process of drinking will force you to sit up, making you feel awake. The refreshment will make you feel better, too, so getting out of bed feels more doable.
If you’re feeling blue about saying bye to your snooze button, good news: we’ll allow you one exception to the rule.
When your alarm goes off, get up and brew yourself a pot of coffee. Drink the coffee, and then go back to sleep for 20 minutes or so. When your secondary alarm goes off, you’ll wake up feeling alert and energized.
Why the sudden change in energy? It’s all thanks to the so-called coffee nap. By the time you’ve finished your short nap, the caffeine from the coffee kicks in. You scored some extra sleep, and you’ve already had your morning coffee. Your day is off to a productive start!
Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to get out of bed when you have an exciting day ahead? Recreate that excitement by filling each morning with something you can look forward to.
Reserve a special activity for just your morning hours, like watching the next episode of that show you’re binge-watching. Cook yourself a delicious breakfast. Groove along to music while you brush your teeth. Replace your alarm with an upbeat playlist.
Whatever it is, make it something you can’t wait to do!