When the alarm goes off in the morning, do you:
A. Spring immediately out of bed, shouting, “It’s going to be a great day!”
B. Moan, hit the snooze button and then pull the sheets over your head.
If your answer is A, then good for you. In the more likely event that your answer is B, don’t worry, help is on the way. Here are 4 suggestions on how to quickly shake off the morning blahs and greet the day more refreshed.
- Go To Sleep The Right Way.
To wake up refreshed, get a good night’s sleep. This means: No caffeine any time after lunch since it can be a stimulant and keep you awake.Limit yourself to one glass of wine at dinner. Too much wine can knock you out, then cause you to wake up during the night.
Make sure your bedroom is cool. “The dropoff in temperature is a natural cue for your body to fall asleep,” says Dr. W. Christopher Winter, Medical Director at the Martha Jefferson Sleep Center in Charlottesville, Va.
- Always Get Up At The Same Time — Even On Weekends
“Regardless of how well you slept or when you went to sleep, always get up at a set wake-up time,” recommends Winter. Our circadian rhythm, the biological process that drives your sleep-wake cycle, needs consistency in order to work correctly.
Not everyone needs eight hours — some need more, some can get by on less. But if you stick to a set wake-up time, your body will start telling you when to go to bed in order to achieve your optimal amount of rest. The overall routine will help you get the healthy sleep you need to replenish your energy, which means you won’t wake up as bedraggled.
- Don’t Hit The Snooze Button.
Set your alarm for when you must get up and stick to that. Hitting snooze over and over just leads to fragmented, fitful sleeping and you’ll wake up more tired. If you can’t trust yourself not to fall back asleep, move your alarm to a place you can’t reach it.
- Drink water when you first get up.
You lose a lot of fluid when you sleep and breathe at night, and unfortunately, dehydration can make you feel sluggish and sleepy. Re-hydrating can go a long way in making you feel more alert. You don’t have to chug — just quench your thirst.
Source: businessinsider.com
