Getting out of bed in the mornings can be a real challenge, especially as the cold winter nights creep in. And we all know that it can be tempting to hit the snooze button on the alarm and try to catch a few last remnants of our dreams. But with our fast-paced modern world, it is crucial that we find effective ways to get us out of our beds. This article provides you with eight helpful top tips on how best to get up in the morning and get the day started.
Don’t Hit the Snooze Button
What can make us feel more tired and groggy is if we either press snooze on our alarms or set multiple alarms in the morning. The reason for this is that we are disrupting our sleep cycle, so this interrupted sleep proves to be less restorative. Broken sleep can cause a myriad of health issues and dangers, including a compromised ability to focus, increased likelihood of accidents in the home and the workplace, and a recent study has even suggested that it can cause hardened blood vessels.
The best way to overcome this is to set your alarm for the latest time you need to get up and then actually get up then. That way, your body will not release hormones telling you to fall back into a deep sleep, and you will feel more active and alert during the day.
Take a Morning Shower
Taking a hot shower first thing every morning is a fantastic way to help rid yourself of morning grogginess and help you get set up for the day. Indeed, a 2014 study found that not only does a hot shower wake you up, but it can help to get those creative juices flowing.
On the other side of the coin, it is believed that a cold morning shower may be equally effective too. It is believed that cold showers force you to draw deeper breaths, decreasing your body’s CO2 levels and improving concentration.
Take CBD as a Daily Supplement
CBD is a compound that derives from the Cannabis Sativa plant. While there are 112 other compounds found in the plant, cannabidiol (commonly known as CBD) is considered the most popular component. And no matter if you choose the best CBD gummies, easy-to-swallow capsules or a fruity flavoured tincture, CBD can be a beneficial addition to your day.
It is believed that taking CBD on a daily basis can help bring a sense of calm and better focus, aid in relieving pain and improving sleep, consequently assisting with general wellbeing and quality of our lives. To provide its potential positive effects, it is thought to interact with various receptors of the complex endocannabinoid system.
Prepare For Your Morning the Night Before
Even though it might sound like a bit of a pain, organising everything ahead of time will help reduce the stress and prevent rushing around the following day. For example, set out what clothes you want to wear for the next day, get your coffee set out on your kitchen counter, and place your shower items in the bathroom. Also, think about what you might like for breakfast and get as much set out in advance as you can. This will make the actual morning less panicked and will help you ease into your day without going into a rush.
Go For a Walk
Getting out of the house for a spot of fresh air, sunlight and exercise is a great way to beat the morning blues. It is no secret that time spent outside can make you feel more positive and awake. But just why does this happen? When we exercise, chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins get to work and signal to the body that it is actually time to get up and about. The effect caused by these chemicals can last up to five hours! So, if you have a choice between riding the bus and walking to work, leave a few minutes earlier and get that exercise in. You’ll feel better for it.
Never Skip Breakfast
We have all heard the old saying that breakfast is the most crucial meal of the day. And this isn’t just because you will feel hungry later on if you don’t. Eating breakfast is crucial in anchoring our circadian rhythm by letting our bodies know that it is morning, which decreases grogginess.
Another benefit of eating breakfast is an improvement in our mental health. A recent study found that in a focus group of teenagers, ceasing to skip breakfast led to overall better mental health.
Drink Water
Feeling tired is often a side effect of dehydration. Other unpleasant side effects are associated with dehydration, such as low moods, poor concentration, and headaches. If you ensure that you drink plenty of water in the morning, this will combat dehydration and any affiliated symptoms of this as a result. In fact, it is recommended that we drink six to eight cups of fluid per day.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Perhaps the most obvious way to feel fresh in the morning is by ensuring you get a good night’s sleep the night before. We struggle to rise in the morning because we feel groggy and tired, but these can largely be avoided if we just ensure we get to bed by a sensible time.
So, what can we do to make sure we sleep well? One key factor in this modern age is to reduce time looking at our phones and other devices. The bright lights on electronic devices can trick our brain into thinking it is not nighttime, and it, therefore, struggles to prepare us for sleep sufficiently, leading to a lot of tossing and turning. The best method to counteract this is by taking the plunge and turning off your phone entirely or at least leaving it out of reach in a different room.
It is also wise to try and go to bed at the same time each night. This can help get you into a routine and can increase both wellbeing and self-care awareness. This should also cross over to weekends, and we should ensure we try and stick to a regular wake-up time throughout the week. Your body actually prepares itself to wake up an hour before we do, so regularity is a great way to help set your body’s natural alarm clock.
Final Thoughts
Waking up refreshed in the morning can feel out of reach for many of us. However, learning more about the relationship between sleep and our body and adopting simple tips can help to revolutionise our sleep routines. Whether it’s choosing to walk to work in the mornings to wake up our bodies, refusing to set our alarm on snooze, or even taking a hot (or cold if you’re brave!) shower in the morning can help us feel alert, focused and ready to take on the day.