Do you have trouble getting up in the morning? Are you always cranky and sluggish when you wake up? Use these tricks to make getting out of bed easier.
Wake up better
To wake up feeling refreshed, there are plenty of things you can do before going to bed, such as drinking chamomile tea and avoiding checking your email from under the covers.
Stop touching the snooze button
Do you think that setting your alarm clock for example 45 minutes before you have to get out of bed and hitting the snooze button every ten minutes will wake you up slowly and gradually? New. This bad habit keeps you out of extra minutes in deeper, more restorative sleep stages and instead keeps you in the lighter ones. A better idea:set your alarm when you really need to wake up. Then put it on the other side of your bedroom so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
Keep the curtains closed
Sunlight warns your body it's time to wake up, so if you don't want to get up when the sun comes up, close the curtains before going to bed. If the light comes in at the wrong time, it can end up being harder to wake up or moving the biological clock in the wrong direction.
Keep to a schedule
People tend to sleep about an hour longer on weekends than on weekdays. But our body's biological clock resets every day, and sleeping a few extra hours can wipe it out and cause sluggishness when you try to wake up. Instead of sleeping, try taking an afternoon nap at a strategic time when people have a natural dip. Keep it to about 20 minutes.
Wake up with an activity tracker Some activity trackers and apps can track your body through the sleep stages – from light sleep to deep sleep to the REM zone – every 90 minutes or so. The trackers can then wake you up during the lightest phase of sleep within a 30-minute window, which can make it easier to get out of bed in the morning.
Wash your face with cold water
It's an old trick, but it works. Research has shown that people who washed their faces after a nap felt less tired afterwards. It can trigger an automatic reflex, giving you a huge amount of adrenaline.
Get moving
No matter what kind of exercise you like to do – be it yoga or running – being active can wake you up in the morning. Plus, research shows that people who get 150 minutes of exercise per week are less likely to feel excessively sleepy during the day compared to those who don't get the recommended exercise level.
Drink some water After all, your body just lasted 8 hours without liquids. People wake up better when they are hydrated. Not drinking for too long can make you feel unmotivated and sluggish. Drink a glass of water within the first hour after getting up.
Plan more morning activities
Do you know how easy it is to wake up on Christmas morning knowing there will be presents under the tree? Excitement — or even just an old commitment — can be a powerful motivator to wake you up in the morning. So start making morning plans that you know you won't miss. Whether that's an interview with a client, breakfast with someone, or a weekend coffee date, you'll get out of bed in no time – and maybe be more productive, too.
