Get up Easier in the Morning

Getting up in the morning can be a difficult battle. Our bodies are naturally predisposed to regular hours of sleep and wakefulness; however various aspects of day-to-day life can disrupt our natural rhythms. To make waking in the morning easier, it is important to leverage our natural biorhythms, as well as responses to color, light, and sound. When we design our sleeping space to meet our needs, keep regular sleeping habits, and accommodate the natural waking process of our brain, we create the ability to wake in the morning with ease.

Steps

Waking Up Easier in the Morning

  1. Get a better alarm clock. Alarm clocks that wake us gradually have been shown more effective than traditional alarm clocks, which work by making a loud, shrill, or piercing noise, shocking us into wakefulness.[1]
    • Wakefulness is associated with activity in the forebrain, which picks up on light, sounds, and other stimuli in our immediate environment.
    • If we are woken from REM sleep suddenly, it is actually counter-productive to wakefulness because our forebrain has not had a chance to receive stimulation prior to waking.
    • An alarm that plays a low, soothing sound of increasing volume during the 10-15 minutes before waking stimulates the forebrain, gradually terminates sleep cycles, and allows us to accept wakefulness more easily.
  2. Don’t “Snooze.” “Sleep Inertia” is caused by repeatedly waking and sleeping at short intervals. This makes you groggy and makes getting out of bed difficult.[2]
    • To resist the temptation to snooze, set your alarm clock on a table or dresser away from the bed, forcing you to get up in order to turn it off.
  3. Open the curtains. Circadian rhythms are a body’s internal clock that is tuned into daily patterns of light.
    • Although too much light in the evenings can keep us awake, studies have shown that morning sunlight encourages "dim-light melatonin onset," which has offers anti-depression benefits.[3][4]
  4. Splash water on your face or take a warm shower. Increased circulation is also a good way of increasing wakefulness. Raising body in a warm shower increases circulation, help you wake up. [5]
    • If you are still groggy at the end of a shower, finish with a 30-second cold rinse. This opens up capillaries, increasing wakefulness, and has other benefits like boosting the immune system, reducing depression, and combats the effects of stress.
  5. Fuel your body. Sleeping means that your body has been without food for 8-10 hours. Starting the day without breakfast is like starting a car with only fumes in the tank. You aren’t really sure how long it will run before it runs out of fuel.
    • Having breakfast ensures that you have plenty of energy to start the day and prevents midday sleepiness that can lead to naps, over consumption of caffeine, and impaired sleep at night.

Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

  1. Design your room for sleep. Is there an intersection outside your window with lots of noise? Does the bedroom side of your house face streetlights? Does your room feel stuffy at night? Combat this with the following accommodations:[6]
    • Purchase light blocking curtains. These are available through nearly any home furnishings retailer and can eliminate the intrusion of exterior light from synthetic sources.
    • Get a white-noise device. There are commercially available devices that have setting for different sound types (i.e. rainforest, thunderstorm, crickets, ocean waves, to name a few). You can also get a box fan or small personal fan and run it in your room while you sleep.
    • Install a ceiling fan. These circulate air and can cool the body, which assists the natural cooling associated with our sleep cycle.
    • Choose soothing colors. Stay away bright, saturated colors for walls, furniture, and linens. Instead, focus on soft, cool tones that promote relaxation.
    • Use ambient lighting. Overhead lighting can be harsh and counterproductive to sleep. Lamps are a good source for this, but recessed lighting inside wall molding is also an option.
    • Install a dimmer switch. This gives you greater control over the level of lighting, which can have a positive impact on preparing your body for sleep.
    • Avoid intense light. Don't install light bulbs exceeding 60 watts for a bedroom environment.
    • Purify the air. For allergy sufferers, an air purifier is relieves symptoms that impede breathing and results in vastly improved sleep quality.
    • Use a humidifier. In dry climates, a humidifier alleviates sinus conditions that prevent us from sleeping. They can also reduce occurrences of snoring.
  2. Go to bed at a reasonable time. The first step to waking up easily in the morning if getting to bed the night before. Experts say to aim for between 6-8 hours nightly, so organize your evening activities around getting a full night sleep.[7]
    • Don't forget bedtime. Set a reminder for yourself when you want to begin winding down and heading for bed.
    • Power down electronics. Stop using your phone, computer, or game system at least an hour before bed. Give your brain a chance to adjust to the lack of stimulation, which can motivate relaxation and sleepiness.
  3. Design your bed for sleep. What you do in bed and the types of linens and blankets you use can have an impact on the amount and quality of sleep you get. Below are some things to consider:[8]
    • Remember that beds are for sleeping. Studies indicate that reading or watching movies in bed can prevent sleep and associate our bed with stimulation rather than rest.
    • Change bedding seasonally. Being too hot or too cold can have a negative impact on sleep. Be sure that your bedding is light enough to keep your body cool during warmer months and warm enough to keep you from shivering when it is cold.
    • Get the right pillow. Are you a side sleeper? A stomach sleeper? Do you have neck problems? There are pillows designed to support any kind of sleeper. Choose the type that is right for you and ensure a good night's sleep.
    • Get a foam mattress. Foam mattresses are quieter than traditional mattresses and great at muffling movement if you sleep with a companion.
    • Avoid synthetic fabrics. While they may be cheaper and equally as warm, synthetic fabrics like polyester or rayon are non-absorptive and breathe poorly, meaning that we can become clammy and sweaty while using them. Always use cotton, bamboo, linen, or other natural fabrics to ensure optimum comfort while sleeping.
  4. Sleep in the dark. Sleeping or dreaming in mild to moderate light means that we rest less and wake more depressed than we normally would.[9]
    • Turn off disruptive light. Disruptive light includes sleeping in a room lit by TVs, computers, nightlights, and streetlights, all of which have been shown to negatively impact mood of sleepers.
  5. Sleep on your right side. Research has suggested that sleeping on your right side has a positive influence on dreams, decreasing mood dysfunction during the day.[10]
    • Want to adjust your sleep posture to the right side? Purchase a body pillow and put it on your left side. This will cause your body to roll to the right.
  6. Take melatonin. Sleeplessness or delayed sleep can result from disrupted circadian rhythms. Taking melatonin can help re-establish healthy, normal sleep patterns. Ask your doctor or a pharmacist if taking an over the counter melatonin supplement before bed is a safe option.[11]

Avoiding Sleep-Preventing Habits

  1. Embrace silence. Silence is usually needed to go to sleep initially; however, sleeping while music is playing in the background prevents our fore brain from resting and contributes to sleep deprivation.
    • Turn off music before bed. If there are other noises keeping you awake, consider earplugs.
  2. Avoid long naps. If, in spite of getting the required amount of sleep, you are still tired, take a power nap for 15-30 minutes.[12]
    • It is important not to nap longer as it increases tiredness and prevents meeting evening bedtime goals.
  3. Avoid stimulants. Stimulants increase heart rate and brain activity, preventing our bodies from responding to natural sleep and wakefulness cycles. Below are some examples of how we consume stimulants.[13]
    • Avoid caffeine. Even small doses, caffeine can prevent the body from sleeping, especially when taken after morning hours. If you notice that caffeine seems to have a negative impact your sleep, cut it out of your diet, or only consume drinks that are "caffeine-free."
    • Watch what you eat and drink. Coffee (regular and decaf), chocolate, coffee-flavored ice creams, coffee liquors, many non-cola sodas (i.e. Mountain Dew, Sunkist, etc.), "energy boosted" foods, and energy drinks all contain quantities of caffeine and other stimulants.
    • Cut out nicotine. Not only is smoking bad for your health, nicotine can have a stimulating impact on the brain and should be avoided before bedtime.
    • Reduce alcohol consumption. Although alcohol can initially make us feel sleepy, it prevents the brain from shifting into REM sleep, which means we wake feeling groggy in the morning. Avoid alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime and imbibe no more than two drinks per day.
  4. Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Our bodies are habit driven, and this can be harnessed to ensure good sleep.
    • Go to bed at or near the same time daily. This ensures that your body will naturally respond to sleep and wakefulness, avoiding grogginess in the morning and enabling us to fall asleep at night.


Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neurobiology_of_sleep_and_wakefulness#Wakefulness_and_the_desynchronized_EEG
  2. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10188130
  3. ↑ http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=204323
  4. ↑ http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=211002
  5. ↑ http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241614
  6. ↑ http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20407847,00.html
  7. ↑ http://www.everydayhealth.com/sleep-pictures/tricks-to-waking-up-in-the-morning.aspx#06
  8. ↑ http://psychcentral.com/lib/12-ways-to-shut-off-your-brain-before-bedtime/
  9. ↑ http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v18/n8/full/mp201296a.html
  10. ↑ http://www.sleepandhypnosis.org/article.asp?ID=156&issue=21
  11. ↑ https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/melatonin
  12. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/the-secret-and-surprising-power-of-naps
  13. ↑ http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/getting/overcoming/tips

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