Circadian rhythm is your brain's 24-hour cycle, dictating when to produce certain hormones throughout the day to make you alert and awake or relaxed and asleep. There's many things we can do to "hack" this cycle to fix our sleep schedules and wake up and go to sleep when we want to.
Sleep inertia is that groggy feeling when you wake up, that same feeling that makes you want to hit the snooze button and get five more minutes. Sleep inertia can be a major reason why you feel tired during the day. Hitting the snooze button and getting a few more minutes in, or even an hour, can disrupt your sleep cycles. When you fall back asleep, your body expects you to be asleep for at least another 90 minutes, so it starts to prepare you for that. When your alarm starts beeping again telling you it's time to wake up, your sleep gets disrupted, making you feel tired. The best thing to do is try and just get up, and use the tips below to shake off the feeling.
Light can effect the release of cortisol and melatonin. Cortisol is a stress hormone, it makes you feel alert and awake. Melatonin is a sleep-promoting hormone, it makes you feel relaxed and tired. Blue-light and sunlight triggers your body to produce cortisol and delay the production of melatonin. This light could be from the sun, or in most cases, technology. Some technology has a "night light" feature, where it minimizes the amount of blue-light it produces. Your body should have at least one hour before bed without that blue-light. The best option would be to stay off of your devices an hour before bed, or at the very least, have them set to the night-light setting and use them minimally. The blue-light and sunlight can be beneficial in waking yourself up in the morning, producing that cortisol can jump-start your day without the use of early caffeine. Try opening the blinds in the morning or if you can, going on a short walk or sitting outside for a bit. It's best to get some sunlight in during your first hour of being wake, as it'll have its greatest effect the earlier you do it. Light can effect you while you are asleep as well. It can make you feel fatigued during the day and get you poorer quality sleep. Consider blackout curtains or a sleeping mask to avoid the negative effects of light during your sleep.
Eating is a major part of your circadian rhythm. The times you eat your meals should be consistent and not too late during the day. Your last meal should be about three hours before bed. While it is best if you eat nothing during that time, there are some things that are better than others if you need a snack during that time. No caffeine or alcohol. Fruits and veggies are the way to go, they are light and easy on the stomach while still being filling.
Excercise helps produce cortisol and make you feel awake. Excercising can make getting to sleep easier at night. At least 30 minutes of aerobic excercise each day can significantly improve your sleep quality, along with improve your mood and overall health. You can watch a show or do something else while excercising to make the time pass quicker. Try push-ups, sit-ups or any variation of these excercises as a start. Yoga can be relaxing and help you wind down for bed, deep-breathing and calming positions can let your body know its time for bed to ease you into sleep.
Music can shift your mood and help you feel awake and energized, or calm and relaxed. Energizing music in the morning, especially after waking up can shake off sleep intertia. Try playing some upbeat or bumping music during your morning routine to wake your brain up. Playing soothing music at night, such a lofi, can help you relax and get ready for sleep. Try playing some calming music during your nightly routine to soothe you.
Some medications can make your drowsy or energized. Most allergy medications can make you drowsy, so try taking those at night to avoid feeling fatigued during the day. Research your medications and look at their warning labels and side effects to determine when you should take them. Ensure that you're not taking medications that cross at the same time, as some medications can mix and cause bad side effects.
Your sleep has four stages, and its important to try and wake yourself up during the right one to avoid sleep inertia. Stage one is when you first start falling asleep, your brain slows down, but is still tense and alert to nearby sounds and lights. Stage two is light sleep, you're relaxed and this makes up most of our sleep time. Stage three is deep sleep, harder to wake up from and causes lots of sleep inertia when we do. Stage four is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, this is the point when we usually dream, we're very aware during this stage. The best stage to try and wake up during is stage 2, but due to the varying lengths of each stage, it's hard to predict exactly when we should wake ourselves up. Best case senario is we wake up on our own, if we have a good sleep quality and sleep long enough, we will. Although, thats not very realistic unfortunatly. Every 90 minutes or so a cycle completes, therefore, we should try to get either 7h 30m of sleep, or 9h of sleep, to stick around the reccomended 8 hour mark, while being wary of our sleep cycles.
Your alarm can play a role in how groggy you feel in the morning. Neutral beeping alarms, like we are used to, make us feel worse. Rhythmic slowly increasing alarms allow our bodys to slowly wake up without any jarring effects. Some apps, such as Sleep Score (my personal favorite) can provide you with such alarms that increase in volume until you wake up and turn them off. Snoozing and falling back asleep is one of the worst things you can do for yourself in the morning. Every time we fall asleep, our body prepares for a full sleep cycle, about 90 minutes. When we disrupt it, we feel a great amount of sleep intertia, which only makes us want to hit the snooze again and again. Try removing the snooze button or moving your alarm across the room to make yourself get up and stay up in the morning.
The temperature in your room or bed can effect your sleep quality. Generally, lower temperatures are better, having a fan on or cooling sheets or pillowcases can soothe you can get you ready for sleep. Cotton sheets can make you feel hotter at night, along with thick blankets. Try a thinner blanket, not wearing socks, non-cotton sheets, or a fan to cool you down at night.
Caffeine can stunt your natural production of cortisol and adenosine if consumed too early in the morning. Giving your body about 90-120 minutes to naturally build up your levels helps you avoid a caffeine crash and a cycle of constantly need caffeine throughout the day to feel awake and alert. Delaying your caffeine intake will make you feel the effects of the caffeiene more, and give your body enough time to not need to rely on it. It can improve your sleep quality by letting your circadian rhythm do some work and get adjusted before you throw a wrench in the mix. Try drinking coffee or tea two hours after waking up if you still feel tired. Generally, having caffeine past the morning hours isn't the best idea. Caffeine can stay in you for hours after having it, but it effects everyone differently. A general rule of thumb is too not have it past 12pm. But try to not have any past lunchtime, and see how you feel. If you think you're fine and you still feel sleepy at night, then try and keep it there. If you feel a little off, maybe limit it sooner than 12pm.
Clinic, Cleveland. “Why Light at Night Can Interfere With Your Sleep.” Cleveland Clinic, 27 June 2024, health.clevelandclinic.org/light-night-can-interfere-sleep.
Ibid. “Is Eating Before Bed Bad for You?” Cleveland Clinic, 1 July 2024, health.clevelandclinic.org/is-eating-before-bed-bad-for-you.Ibid. “Circadian Rhythm.” Cleveland Clinic, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/circadian-rhythm.
Peters, Brandon, MD. “How Getting Sunlight in the Morning Can Help You Sleep Better.” Verywell Health, 24 Apr. 2023, www.verywellhealth.com/morning-sunlight-exposure-3973908.
Suni, Eric. “Stages of Sleep: What Happens in a Sleep Cycle.” Sleep Foundation, 8 Dec. 2023, www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep.
Mesa, Natalia. “There’s a Better Way to Wake up. Here’s What Experts Advise.” National Geographic, 5 Jan. 2024, www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/how-to-wake-up-science-sleep.
Todd, Carolyn L. “So, What’s the Latest I Can Pound Coffee and Still Sleep Like a Baby?” SELF, 5 Sept. 2019, www.self.com/story/how-coffee-time-affects-sleep.
MindBodyGreen. “The 4 Stages of Your Sleep Cycle and How to Wake up During the Right One.” Mindbodygreen, 1 Mar. 2024, www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/4-stages-of-sleep-and-how-to-wake-up-during-right-one.
Ibid. “I Tried Huberman’s Coffee Rules for 6 Months and This Is What I Learned.” Mindbodygreen, 29 Dec. 2023, www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/huberman-coffee-protocol-i-tried-it.