Some people jump out of bed in the mornings, even before their alarm, feeling awake and refreshed! However, if you are one of those people that wake up feeling tired, demotivated and always snooze the alarm leaving yourself little time to get ready, then have a look at our top tips below!
According to research, some people can find it harder to wake up due to their inner clocks being set to ‘late’ wake up and sleep times, which can be known as phase delay.
The main way to change our inner clocks is unfortunately not to lie in at the weekends as this reverts the settings back to our delayed rhythm.
However, good news, here are a few tips to help us with our daily routines, to get us motivated for the day ahead:
- Start in a small manageable way that you can achieve, for example, aiming to set your alarm a little earlier each day and getting up as soon as it goes off, rather than setting it half an hour earlier and feeling like you are failing every day.
- Put your alarm out of reach so that you have to get out of bed turn it off. This will make it more difficult for you to keep pressing snooze and will hopefully put you off getting back into bed (snoozing makes it much harder for us to wake up).
- Change the sound of your alarm so that your body isn’t used to it.
- Make a morning playlist of your favourite upbeat music and press play once you have turned off your alarm. This will help to wake you up and feel good for the day ahead.
- Natural light helps to reset your circadian rhythm and internal clock. Open your curtains/blinds and even the window in the morning to stimulate your body into waking up. Turn on the light if you are working shift patterns. You can also buy alarm clocks with a gradual light that starts to turn on 30 minutes before you are set to wake.
- Plan an early morning exercise class or a walk with a friend to give you something to look forward to before work.
- Find an accountability buddy – plan a time to wake up and text each other for extra encouragement.
- Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up. This will boost your metabolism, blood flow and refresh and hydrate your cells.
- Take a shower to wake you up and to stop you feeling sleepy
- If you have time and it’s sunny, eat your breakfast outside for 10 minutes – fresh air, natural light and a quick boost of vitamin D will help your mindset for the day
- Stretch when you get out of bed. This helps to wake the body and gets the blood flowing and muscles stimulated.
- Make your bed straight away – this gives you a sense of accomplishment before your day has begun.
The night before:
- Make sure you wind down properly each evening. See the blog on sleep hygiene blog for further tips.
- Reduce alcohol intake the night before. Alcohol reduces your deep sleep meaning that you wake up tired and less refreshed. For more information take a look here for the ‘Effects of Alcohol on Sleep’.
- Preparation the night before can really help with your morning routine too. Packing your bags and making lunch saves you from rushing around.
- Choosing your clothes the night before can also save even more time deciding on what to wear!!
Resources
Akerstedt, T. (2002). Awakening From Sleep. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12531132
Breus, MJ. (2010). When You Have Trouble Waking Up. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/when-you-have-trouble-waking-up#2
Mayoclinic (2019) Delayed Sleep. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/delayed-sleep-phase/symptoms-causes/syc-20353340