TIPS ON HOW TO WAKE UP EARLY

Getting up early is one of those Sisyphean wellness goals I resolve to achieve every single New Year, along with exercising more and Seamless-ing less. Does it ever work? Lol.Lots of people set the alarm with the best of intentions, knowing that's the time they need to get up to meet the day's demands. But then the alarm clock seems to ring far before they're ready to rise, so they're hitting snooze and, eventually, running late. Something's got to give.

 

 The key lies inside your body. "An important factor in being able to wake up easily at the desired time in the morning is the timing of one's circadian rhythm, or 'body clock,' " says sleep researcher Leon C. Lack, PhD, a professor in the school of psychology at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Much of what you need to do to wake up on time starts by planning your sleep schedule the day and the evening before – and by making your mornings count.

• KNOW WHY YOU WANT TO WAKE UP

Michelle Segar, PhD, a healthy living expert and motivation scientist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, says that to make any change in your life stick, including waking up on time, you need to clearly define why it's important to you. What's your motivation? Do you want to get up in time to have breakfast with your family, get in some exercise, or just have a few moments of reflection to be better prepared for your day? Maybe you're just tired of the stress of running late every morning. Once you crystallize your reasons, take a second step and tell your family or roommates about the change you want to make. Accountability helps as much as an alarm clock. 

• EASE INTO IT

The best way to start getting to bed earlier is to start getting up earlier every day of the week. Set your alarm for something reasonable—don't plan to shift from getting up at 8:30 a.m. to getting up at 5:00 a.m. all at once. Try setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier for a week before moving it earlier again. No snoozing allowed. Once your body adjusts to waking earlier, you will naturally become sleepy earlier at night."

Maintaining this sleep schedule despite the ebbs and flows of your weekend plans (AKA drinking) might seem like a big ask, but the National Sleep Foundation recommends that you stick to it to keep your body clock on track.

• UNPLUG BEFORE BEDTIME

"It's very easy to get sucked into the web, work, social networking, and texting at night—all of which is overstimulating (and can alter your body's release of melatonin in some cases). It's important to set limits and unplug at least one hour before bed to allow your mind to settle down. Don't check work email before bed. It will only start your mind buzzing and there's no real action you can take in the middle of the night. Let it wait until morning."

•  GET BRIGHT LIGHT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

The bright lights of your flat screen TV before bed can make it hard to go to sleep, but bright light for an hour or two once you wake up can help set your body clock to accept your wake up time. "This can be from sunlight, especially in summer, or artificial bright light if it is cold, dark, and rainy outside," says Lack, who is part of a research and development team that has developed bright light devices for this purpose. If your schedule allows it, a walk in the morning sun or a restful breakfast on the patio would be good for both your mood and better sleep.

• GET EXCITED 

 The night before, think of one thing you’d like to do in the morning that excites you. It could be something you want to write, or a new yoga routine, or meditation, or something you’d like to read, or a work project that’s got you fired up. In the morning, when you wake up

• GET FRESH AIR AND EXERCISE

If you've ever wondered why people recommend exercise to help you fall asleep more easily at bedtime, it's because, as Dr. Kennedy explains, "fresh air and sunlight will help to boost energy by suppressing the body's melatonin," while exercise may affect the body's circadian patterns and decrease the anxious and depressive symptoms that keep people tossing and turning before a big meeting.

As for your daily coffee and post-work nap habits? The lookingwowsome recommends cutting down on both to keep your circadian clock in rhythm. Kennedy agrees: "Caffeine is fine in moderation, but too much will leave you dragging."

• SET YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Some people swear by transitioning from regular globes to smart bulbs that emit brighter and dimmer lights at different hours of the day in order to match the sun's light at any given moment. And the National Sleep Foundation supports this idea, suggesting that people dim lights before bedtime and set a temperature that falls between 60 and 67 degrees to get to sleep faster.

Dr. Kennedy also says people can offset early morning fatigue from dehydration by putting a glass of water next to your bed and drinking it down as soon as the alarm goes off.

• KEEP YOUR SLEEP /WAKE SCHEDULE ON WEEKENDS

  If you're running on empty by the time Friday night rolls around, sleeping in on Saturday could sound like heaven. But compensating on the weekends actually feeds into your sleepiness the following week because it interrupts your natural body clock, which doesn't have a weekend setting. Whatever your set bedtime/wake time is for the weekday, you'll have to stick to it on the weekends. According to research in Chronobiology International, a consistent bedtime on the weekends seems to lead to better sleep and easier waking during the week. Plus you get to spend that weekend morning time any way you'd like.

• SUPER TIRED IN THE MORNING

If you wake early and just can’t seem to function, that’s fairly normal. My solution is water, move around a lot, and drink a bit of coffee or matcha (powdered greeen tea). I will sometimes take a nap in the afternoon if I’m really tired. Also, it might be a sign that you’re moving too quickly — make sure you’re waking just a little earlier, and stay at one time for a few days until you feel adjusted before setting the alarm a little earlier. 

• FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH SLEEP YOUR BODY NEEDS
  

There's been much ado about getting an average of seven to eight hours of sleep every night. But does it apply to everyone? According to Dr. Kennedy, no: "There is no golden rule. When people try to apply rules like that to sleep, they end up sleeping worse because they think too much about sleep and get anxious, spend too much time in bed (much of it awake and frustrated) and start to create problems where there were none. If a person is in good health, feels reasonably well rested most of the time, falls asleep easily (but not spontaneously or in inappropriate places), and wakes up at approximately the same time most days, she is likely getting enough sleep. "