It’s widely known that how you start your morning can have a profound impact on the hours that follow. Missing the alarm and oversleeping? It sets the tone for a day filled with stress and chaos. Waking up with energy and a clear mind? You’re ready to tackle anything that comes your way.
Perhaps that’s why there’s such fascination with the morning rituals of celebrities and entrepreneurs; after all, it’s easy to assume that at least part of their success lies in adhering to an excellent A.M. routine. It’s about discipline! It’s about ambition! It breathes vitality into life! While it’s impossible to say if replicating the exact schedule of influential figures practicing matcha and meditation will change your life, one thing is certain: science proves that sticking to healthy habits benefits your overall well-being.
Yet, in all the discussions about the perfect morning routine, a crucial factor is often overlooked: feeling good when you wake up. And if you’ve never been an early riser—or if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder in winter—it’s easier said than done. However, experts suggest that almost anyone can get better at waking up, and with some basic techniques, it’s possible to transform from a night owl to an early bird.
The day is yours to decide, so why not “rise and shine like the sun, burning bright.”
The First Thing
Waking up with bright eyes and a clear mind is common, but if it happens often, it’s essential to assess the quality of your sleep before doing anything else. Waking up feeling restored, alert, and ready for the day might take time to master, but it largely depends on your ability to fall asleep and maintain sleep.
Unfortunately, one-third of Americans report not meeting their sleep needs, with only ten percent experiencing restorative sleep, covering all aspects from sleep duration to rejuvenating activities. Often, the answer to common sleep difficulties lies in small, changeable behaviors.
Reset Your Rhythm
Resetting your sleep system doesn’t require a spa retreat—it often involves resetting your circadian rhythm, essentially your brain’s internal clock. Our circadian rhythm and sleep requirements should “harmonize like a perfect symphony,” but due to our modern environment, hectic schedules, and technological influences, this “symphony” can easily go off-key.
As our circadian rhythm is primarily governed by light, strategically exposing yourself to light and darkness is a simple method to restore it. Dimming lights in your home and electronic devices an hour before bedtime and turning them off completely at least 30 minutes before sleeping is recommended. If you need some light, consider using a red light bulb, as red light doesn’t disrupt melatonin production like white and blue light. This should help you fall asleep faster and maintain sleep, especially if you use a sleep mask to prevent additional atmospheric light from electronic devices or the street.
Zeitgebers and Light
The influence of light on our circadian rhythm is known as Zeitgebers—yes, a new term for me too. “Zeitgebers are external cues that tell your body when to wake up and when to sleep. The most powerful Zeitgeber is light. When your eyes see light, especially natural sunlight, it signals your brain to wake up and stay alert.
Enhancing your ability to wake up easily boils down to “using these Zeitgeber factors to gradually push your body’s internal clock.” Therefore, just as you should avoid exposure to light at night to help induce sleepiness, you should do the opposite and expose yourself to light to feel more awake in the morning. Aim to get plenty of natural light, especially in the morning. Open the curtains, turn on your happy lamp, and if possible, try to step outside. Get moving in the sunlight for at least 20 minutes as soon as you wake up.
Exercise and Diet
While light is the primary and most influential Zeitgeber, your circadian rhythm also relies on other signals. These include physical activity and meal timing, with research finding their timing to have almost as much impact on establishing rhythm as exposure to light. In fact, one study found that engaging in high-intensity exercise first thing in the morning can reduce sleepiness, while another study found that having breakfast can increase overall alertness.
It’s not just about what you do first thing in the morning; sticking to a consistent schedule as much as possible ensures your circadian rhythm stays on track. Stick to consistent sleep and wake times every day, even on weekends. This helps reset your internal clock. Align your diet, exercise, and other activities with your ideal schedule. If you wake up early, have breakfast early.
Equally important as our winding-down routine is our waking-up routine, ideally a routine we can adhere to that helps transition from the sleep stage to the wakeful stage; flipping the ‘on’ switch to our circadian rhythm and then counting down until later in the day when we’ll start transitioning to the ‘off’ switch.
Too Groggy?
Even so, sometimes, no matter how well you slept the night before, the ‘on’ switch in the morning can feel a bit stuck. This is where the concept of sleep inertia—another new concept—comes into play. “Sleep inertia is a term describing the feeling of being temporarily disoriented, possibly related to decreased motivation, cognitive ability, and impaired mood upon waking.
In other words, sleep inertia is that groggy, haven’t-had-coffee-yet feeling. “You might find it harder to remember things, make decisions, or feel fully alert,” says Ballado. However, he quickly notes that sleep inertia is a entirely normal biological state—it’s not just you being “lazy”—it’s actually an expected part of transitioning from sleep to wakefulness. During sleep, your brain is in a state of reduced activity, and it takes time to fully engage its capacities. It’s a bit like trying to drive a car that’s still cold in winter—it takes a bit of time to run smoothly.
Meditation and Coffee
By the way, sleep inertia is also part of why many experts recommend meditating first thing in the morning—it’s when your brain is already in a “highly suggestible” relaxed alpha wave state, making it easier for you to change your neural pathways for the de-stressing benefits of meditation. Additionally, studies find that regular meditation can increase alertness and may even reduce the need for sleep—both helpful for experiencing better mornings.
If regular meditation practice isn’t part of your daily wellness, there are plenty of other ways to convert sleep inertia into energy. Splashing cold water on your face can help; a quick cold water or cold shower. But the time-tested one? Coffee. It sounds obvious, and morning coffee has been proven to shorten sleep inertia, enhance performance, and boost alertness.
If waking up is challenging, having a cup of coffee is not a bad idea, he notes the longevity benefits of this beverage. However, he advises being mindful of excessive caffeine intake. When you don’t metabolize it before bedtime, it disrupts your sleep quality. So, try not to drink more than three