You hear the wretched sound of your alarm...you awake...it's 7am on Monday and you have to be at work in two hours...you're tired and grumpy...and it's cold outside...you DO NOT want to get out of bed... We've all been there and it's not fun. Having a good morning ritual can make your mornings more productive and improve your mood and energy levels for the rest of your day. Here are my 11 favorite tips for making waking up and getting out of bed easier: 1. Drink Water Before Going to Sleep Drinking water before going to sleep you will cause you to need to to use the bathroom in the morning. Needing to use the bathroom will make you want to get up and prevent you from falling back to sleep. However, excess amounts of water within the few hours prior to going to sleep may cause you to wake up in the middle of the night. I recommend experimenting to find the optimal timing and quantity of water to drink prior to sleeping. 2. Open your Blinds Before Going to Sleep Leaving your blinds open at night will allow the sun to enter your room and wake you up.
Most people have a hard time sleeping when a room is bright. Conversely, a dark room is more conducive to sleep. The sun is a source of vitamin D, which is a natural source of energy. The sun also reminds our mind and body that it's daytime and that we should be awake and energized. Note: if your room is too bright at night with the blinds open, it may prevent you from falling or staying asleep. 3. Eat Before Going to Sleep One of the reasons why you may feel groggy in the morning is because you've gone a long time since eating. A small snack before bed can help prevent this. I usually eat a low-carbohydrate, easy to digest, food such as cottage cheese, yogurt, milk, nuts and/or peanut butte. Eating too much food or foods that are difficult to digest may prevent you from sleeping, so you may need to experiement. 4. Set your Alarm Clock to Play your Favorite Music The sounds of most alarm clocks is miserable and can elicit feelings of anxiety in many people. Like when someone's ring tone is your alarm clock tone.
Thus by using a standard alarm clock, the first thought in your head each day is a negative one. That's a terrible way to start the day! Instead, set your alarm clock to play music that makes you happy. The first thought in your head each day be a bright one. Unlike with an annoying alarm clock sound, you won't even want to push the snooze button! 5. Place Your Alarm Clock Away From Your Bed By placing your alarm clock across the room, you will be forced to get out of bed to turn it off. Getting out of bed is often the hardest part about waking up in the morning. By getting out of bed faster, you increase the likelihood of starting your day rather than going back to sleep. Having your alarm clock next your bed makes it easier to press the snooze button and sleep longer. Once you are out of bed, it's usually easier to stay up and get your day going. 6. Consume Caffeine Shortly After Waking Up You may feel groggy for the first hour or two after waking up. Feeling groggy leads to lower productivity, and means more time spent on certain tasks than is necessary.
To eliminate the morning groggy feeling, drink coffee or tea shortly after waking up. It prevents you from wanting to go back to sleep, and will give you the energy you need to get your morning started. 7. Exercise in the Morning Some light exercise in the morning will get your endorphins flowing and give you more energy. Weight training or a class at the gym are great options. Running outside or at the gym would also be good. You could even just do a short easy workout such as some jumping jacks, crunches, or push ups in your home. 8. Eat When You Wake Up As discussed above, while sleeping for eight hours you haven't provided your body with any sustenance. A small and easy-to-digest meal in the morning will give you a boost of energy. I recommend a piece of fruit, a glass of milk, or yogurt at the very least. If you have the appetite, a full meal could be really helpful. 9. Do Something Fun in the Morning Stimulating your mind by doing an enjoyable activity will give you energy.
If you schedule it in advance, knowing that you will be doing something fun will make you more eager to get out of bed in the morning. It could be a phone conversation with a friend, reading, playing video games, or something else that makes you happy. Schedule something with somebody in the morning. Having "peer accountability" is one of the most effective motivators. If someone is dependent on your for something or monitoring your progress, you will feel motivated to do it. Scheduling a breakfast or workout with a peer will give you a clear deadline to attain to in the morning, thus giving you a kick-start in the morning. Keeping a regular and consistent sleep schedule helps your body get into a natural rhythm. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. By doing so you will begin to naturally fall asleep and wake up at the same time each day. Waking up will feel more natural. In addition, it will help you fall asleep at a more regular schedule. To learn more about lifehacks, boosting energy, and productivity, check out my video course here.
Let’s start with the bad news: Only about 1 in 10 people is a true morning person, according to The Body Clock Guide to Better Health. The good news is, only 2 in 10 fall into the category of night owls, while the rest fall somewhere in between. Better still: Even if you operate best in the wee hours of the night, you can still train yourself to be an early riser. “Hitting the snooze button a couple times before getting up is a clear sign of sleep deprivation.” Waking well-rested starts with getting enough sleep. “Hitting the snooze button a couple times before getting up is a clear sign of sleep deprivation,” says Nathaniel Watson, MD, president-elect of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “If you are getting enough sleep, you should be able to wake up on time without a morning alarm.” Sounds easier said than done? First, follow these tips for catching the zzz’s you need to wake refreshed. 1. Practice good sleep hygiene. “Keeping a consistent sleep schedule is one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting quality, restful sleep,” says Dr. Watson.
If you need to shift your schedule earlier, start moving your bedtime forward by just 15 minutes at a time. Adjustments more drastic than that will keep you rebounding between early and late bedtimes rather than creating lasting change. 2. Take your time. Balancing your own well-being against other personal and professional responsibilities is tough. Often, finding the right work-life equilibrium starts with saying “No,” and so does getting enough sleep. Pare down your evening commitments so that you’ve got an hour completely blocked off to wind down before bed. 3. Implement a routine. Establishing a schedule can help clue our bodies in to what’s to come. Maintaining a regular evening routine will help chill you out and let your mind know that it’s nearly time to fall asleep. For example, that could mean drinking a cup of (decaffeinated) tea and reading for 20 minutes each evening before bed.Your Guide to a Better Night’s RestIf you have a sleep debt to repay, it’s better to nap during the day than to mess up your nightly sleep schedule.
That said, you don’t want a daytime snooze to keep you up at night. (For more napping !) 5. Eat (and drink) smart. Some experts caution against going to bed too full or too hungry, as the discomfort may keep you awake. The same goes for drinking: Sipping too much before bed can cause mid-slumber trips to the bathroom, and caffeine and alcohol in particular have been shown to disrupt sleep.Any kind of light can shift circadian rhythms, making it harder to sleep at night. And if you’re constantly plugged in, you’re even less likely to hit the hay right away. Research has shown that the blue light emitted by electronics like laptops and cell phones disturbs sleep even more than natural light. Turn off those electronic screens at least an hour before bed to make dozing easier. 7. Prep before bed. Wondering what to do with that electronic-free hour? Use the time to get together anything you’ll need in the a.m. — like a healthy lunch, make-ahead breakfast, or a gym bag.
Shortening your morning to-do list just might make it easier to roll out of bed.Temperature, noise, light and comfort can all impact your ability to sleep well. A cool, quiet room (around 65 degrees) has been shown to be an effective sleep environment. And if your mattress leaves you achy, you’ve got a good excuse to upgrade — your health may depend on it! The National Sleep Foundation offers even more recommendations for tweaking all of these for better sleep. You’ve set yourself up for success and slept like a boss. But the battle isn’t won just yet. Here’s how to skip the snooze button and hop out of bed when that alarm starts buzzing. 9. Set your motive. As with any change, it’s important to have a tangible reason for waking up early. Come up with a meaningful goal you’ll be able to achieve by starting the day earlier, whether that’s being able to fit in a morning sweat session or having some extra time to cook a healthy breakfast. RELATED: 4 Science-Backed Ways to Motivate You to Work Out
“When you wake spontaneously, you’re likely in a light sleep stage.” 10. Play a mind game. The alarm goes off, and the immediate temptation is to hit snooze. Go ahead, do it — but then stay out of bed for those next nine minutes. The idea of the so-called “inverted snooze” is to ease the pain of waking up by telling yourself you only have to stick it out for nine minutes. Move around, stretch, start brewing coffee — anything to keep yourself awake. By the time the alarm goes off again you should be awake and alert enough to start your day rather than still grumpy in bed and (likely) hitting snooze again. 11. Bite the bullet. If you naturally wake within minutes of your alarm, it can be tempting to close your eyes and relish in a few more minutes of rest. But you’re better off just getting out of bed. When you wake spontaneously, you’re likely in a light sleep stage, explains Dr. Watson. Going back to sleep could send you into a deeper sleep stage, making it harder to wake up and start your day.
Finding the right alarm and where to put it can have a big impact on whether you wake in the morning. Try experimenting with the sound, timing and location of your alarm clock to help yourself get up when you need to. For example, some alarms wake you gradually with pleasant sounds to make the transition into daytime less jarring and more relaxed. 13. Seize the day. Waking up with a groan and thinking about all the things you don’t want to do is a terrible way to motivate yourself to get out of bed. Instead, think ahead to the best things you’ll do all day to fuel your desire to get up and at ‘em. 14. Try an app. There are several apps that promise to get you out of bed in the a.m. For example, Wake n Shake makes you shake your phone in order to turn off the app, while Better Me shares your failure to your Facebook every time you hit snooze. There are also apps, like Sleep Cycle, that use motion sensors to monitor your movement and determine the best time to wake you within a preset window.
RELATED: 15 Gadgets for a Better Night’s SleepIf you need to draw shades at night to make your room dark or — shudder — you need to wake before it’s light out, you can’t always rely on the sun to wake you. Fortunately, there are gradual light-up alarm clocks that promise to lull you out of sleep less painfully than your standard alarm.You’re out of bed. Now, here’s how to get out the door without starting the day in grouch mode. “Early in the a.m. your willpower stores are at their highest.” 16. Pare down to-dos. You’ve already pre-packed your lunch or gym bag, giving you one less thing to worry about before coffee. Look for other ways to streamline your pre-work routine (including taking advantage of your coffee maker’s automatic timer!) so you can spend less time rushing through those early hours, and start enjoying them instead. 17. Amp up your productivity. If you’re a regular snoozer, cutting out that extra nine minutes (or nine minutes times four or five) earns you bonus time each morning.
Many creatives swear that early morning is the best time to write or think deeply and creatively about projects. Try taking a page from their book and dedicate even just a few minutes first thing in the a.m. to a project of your choice. You may be surprised at how rewarding it feels to start the day with a few tasks already checked off. 18. Eat a healthy breakfast. To be your best self, it’s helpful to eat a good breakfast (trust us, morning meetings are better when you’re not hangry). Whole grain carbs plus protein give you a quick hit of energy and keep you going all morning. For an all-in-one solution that you can prep ahead, try these homemade protein bars or overnight oats. 19. Exercise in the morning. Early in the a.m., your willpower stores are at their highest. By the evening, we get too busy and find too many excuses not to exercise. Plus, morning workouts will give you an extra shot of energy to carry you through the day ahead. Are you a morning bird or a night owl?