We get it – waking up is hard. Hearing your alarm blare like an air raid siren at 6am while light seeps in through the cracks of your curtains is hardly a relaxing environment to wake up to. Only after your second cup of coffee around 10am do you feel any semblance of wakefulness. But it needn’t always be this way. While you might not feel energized when you wake up at the moment, it doesn’t have to stay that way. There are numerous different steps you can take and tiny lifestyle adjustments you can make to ensure you wake up feeling fresh, revitalized and instantly ready to tackle whatever the day throws at you – it just takes a little bit of forward planning.
Invest in a firm mattress
Your sleeping environment should generally be tailored to nurture the best possible sleeping experience, and having a firm, reliable mattress is the cornerstone to achieving this. Ideally, you’d like a mattress that supports your body, regulates your temperature and conforms to the contours of your figure. This will ensure that you don’t toss and turn during the night, leading to vastly less fragmented sleep. It also means that bed-induced back pain will be a thing of the past. Shopping for a new mattress can be quite the burdensome chore, but there are actually several online retailers, including one called Eve, that allow you to order a mattress online, making the entire experience way less stressful.
Take care of your body
Your body is like a machine that needs to be maintained in order to achieve the highest possible rates of efficiency. To do this you need to ensure that it runs optimally and receives the best possible fuel and regular services it can get. In this case, that means eating healthily and exercising regularly.
Food is a big one. “You are what you eat” has never been more literal than today. The food you eat has a direct effect on the way you look, feel, and the way your body performs. It’s important therefore to limit the amount of food you eat before bed, cut down on processed sugar and alcohol, and increase your intake of foods that help promote sleep such as garlic and sweet potatoes.
Exercising daily is also crucial to ensuring that you feel good in the mornings. Moderate amounts of cardio or aerobic exercise such as walking or running several times a week reduces the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, and increases the length and quality of sleep, and the feeling of restfulness once awake.
Maintain a consistent sleep schedule
Getting to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning – yes, including weekends – will ensure that you get enough restorative sleep. This is largely in part due to the fact that your body’s internal mechanism for sleep relies on consistency to perform effectively. Try to avoid late night work, alcohol and any other stimulants that would keep you up, as well as cell phones or other devices that might prevent you from getting to sleep.