Wake Up Feeling Refreshed Every Morning With These Simple Tips
We have an epidemic on our hands – everyone is tired all the time!
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It could be down to our busy lifestyles, it could be due to technology taking its toll on our brains, or it could be because we aren’t looking after our bodies well enough. But let’s be honest, it’s probably a combination of all three of those things.
But fear not, the answer to our problems can be found in the simplest of changes to our lifestyle. Here are some easy things you can implement into your days and evenings to ensure that you wake up feeling as refreshed as possible every morning.
Leave your mobile phone outside of the bedroom
I’m sure you’ve already heard time and again that the light from your phone screen keeps you awake for longer. By staring at your phone screen you are essentially absorbing a ‘stream of photons’, telling your brain to stay awake.
It may seem simple and quick ticking off all the notifications on your apps before bed and checking for any new emails you may have missed, but it’s keeping your brain awake. It tells your brain that it’s not time to sleep yet so your brain won’t secrete melatonin (the hormone that makes you sleepy).
Aside from spending your wind-down time on your phone preventing you from falling asleep, studies have found it is also affecting relationships. Instead of talking before falling asleep, couples are lying on their phones. So put down your phone and feel the benefits to both your health and your relationship.
Resist hitting ‘snooze’
When your alarm goes off in a morning, hitting snooze may feel like the most appealing thing to do, but it is actually not helping you feel more refreshed. When you ‘snooze off’ for an extra 5 or 10 minutes, you’re actually then waking yourself up in the middle of a sleep cycle once your alarm goes off again.
Instead of hitting snooze, make sure that you’re going to bed a bit earlier on an evening to feel more awake in a morning.
Get your optimum hours of sleep
On the subject of getting enough sleep on an evening – are you getting enough hours each night?
The optimum number of hours an adult should be getting each night are between 7-9 hours. So if you need to wake up at 7am, make sure you’re giving yourself enough time to be asleep by at least midnight – and that means going to bed earlier so you have time to wind down.
Refrain from caffeine in the afternoon
We all know that caffeine is a stimulant – after all, that’s exactly why we drink it!
But drinking coffee and other caffeinated drinks later in the day could be causing you to take longer to fall asleep on an evening. Where possible, try to avoid caffeine on an afternoon, and especially on an evening; use it as your wake up aid in a morning. If you’re stuck in the habit of having a hot drink in the afternoon, why not switch to a decaffeinated version.
If you are reliant on coffee to keep you going through the day then it’s probably a good idea to cut down your intake so that you’re not relying on it to keep you awake. Getting more sleep on a night could make the world of difference to your energy levels during the day.
Leave yourself at least 2 hours in the morning
This is one that you can do in the morning, rather than the night before, to feel truly ready to tackle the day. Make sure that you leave yourself at least 2 hours after you wake up before you have to be anywhere.
This will give you time to get over your morning grogginess and prepare for the day by eating breakfast, showering and having a bit of ‘me time’. When you’re in a rush on a morning, you feel even more exhausted due to the stress. By leaving yourself extra time you can have the time to prepare and head into the day easily.
Turn the heat down
You know how you toss and turn all night if it’s a warm night? Well, there’s an actual reason for that!
Our body’s natural temperature drops on an evening which helps us to prepare for sleep, so keeping your room cool helps induce sleepiness. Temperatures between 60 to 67 degrees are key.
If your room is one of the extremes, either too hot or too cold, then your body will use more energy regulating your temperature. This results in you tossing and turning all night. So do your body a favor and keep the temperature low – you’ll fall asleep quicker and deeper for longer.
Try implementing some of these tips in to your bedtime routine and it should leave you feeling much more rested on a morning. If you struggle to get to sleep on an evening, why not try listening to one of our bedtime stories or sleep sounds on our Sleepiest app to help you drift off. 💤
