Even if you are a diehard morning person, waking yourself up in the a.m. can be quite a challenge. And it’s not just you. There is a phenomenon called sleep inertia that refers to the brain fog and sluggishness that occurs after waking up from sleep. Even when you do manage to get up and going, that leftover sleepiness can take a toll, impacting the rest of your day.
Luckily, there are some relatively simple ways to feel more alert and awake first thing in the morning. Of course, if waking up is a significant issue for you, you may want to rule out potentially bigger issues like sleep apnea. If you are chronically sleepy, it’s never a bad idea to chat with your doctor. Otherwise, the tips below can help you jump out of bed, ready to tackle the day.Â
Get enough sleep
Although this isn’t what many will want to hear, getting enough sleep is a big part of the equation for waking up alert. I chatted with Dr. Chris Jung, an Associate Professor at the University of Alaska who studies sleep and the circadian rhythm, who explained that we go through 90-minute sleep cycles consisting of four stages: Stage One, Stage Two, Deep Sleep, and REM. If you wake up out of deep sleep, sleep inertia is the greatest and can really wreck your morning.Â
Dr. Jung points out that some research has shown that waking up in deep sleep results in cognitive function worse than 40 hours of sleep deprivation. Going 24 hours without sleep is equivalent to having a blood alcohol content of 0.10 percent, so waking up out of deep sleep is extremely detrimental, and can cause significant impact to cognitive function. Sleep inertia in such situations can last up to two hours as well; it’s a hard thing to shake off if you wake from deep sleep. Luckily, the further you get away from deep sleep, the less of an issue sleep inertia becomes.
So, how do you avoid waking up in the deep sleep phase of your sleep cycle? Dr. Jung suggests getting, at minimum, five hours of…
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