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How to Wake Up Feeling Amazing


Wouldn’t it be great to wake up and not dread the day? To not wish you were still asleep, but to look forward to the day ahead and know it will be great? It’s possible, with a little planning. Here’s how to have the perfect morning.

Set Your Alarm for the Perfect Time

If you’re too ambitious about your wake-up time, you’ll spend the first few seconds of your day angry at the clock and angry at yourself for setting it too early. So what if this lets you meditate for 20 minutes? You’d rather sleep.

On the other hand, setting the alarm too late means you have to rush out of bed. You’ll stress about what you need to get done, and you won’t have any guilt-free time to take a break from the rush.

So, be realistic and work backward to find what time you must be out of bed. This time should account generously for the morning’s necessary activities, but no more.

And then add on the amount of time you’ll need for the things you want to do. Decide how you feel about those things. Are they worth the extra hour? Decide which of the two times is best.

If you’d like the option to choose every morning, set alarms for both times. Turning off the early alarm will be like a snooze button, but perhaps even more satisfying.

Set the Mood

Think about what influences your mood when you first wake up. Then look for ways to change that:

If you find it depressing to wake up on your own

If you feel better when you talk to people, text a friend or put on a chatty podcast.

If your room feels dark and cold

Use one of those alarms that shines light to wake you up (or just sleep with the blinds open, if sunrise time allows). Set your thermostat to warm up your home about half an hour before you plan to wake up.

Play some good music

Music has a way of shifting our mood, so put on one of our morning playlists (there’s a high-energy one and a low-key one) or whatever music you love.

Plan the Day to Reduce Anxiety

If your first thought in the morning is about all the shit you have to do, try to set things up so your to-do list isn’t so overwhelming. The day before, make a list of your must-do priorities for the day, with some realistic timeframes for how long each thing will take, and allowing yourself some breaks because you are a human being, not a machine.

If you end up with more obligations than you can actually fit into the day, that’s a sign that you’ve put too much on your plate, and trying to accomplish everything on the list will just leave you frazzled and disappointed.

But as long as your plan is reasonable, it should help you relax. If you know you can wait until 10 a.m. to start on such-and-such important task, you can relax a bit at 7 a.m. knowing that there’s plenty of time before you have to dig in. Without a defined timeframe, the stress tends to bleed into all hours of the day.

Get Enough Sleep

If you’re exhausted all morning, wake-up activities can’t really fix that. You need to get more sleep, and everything else will go easier. Ask yourself:

Do you allow yourself eight hours (or so) of time in bed, with your room dark and quiet? 

You should.

Do you spend time in front of screens, especially your phone, right before bedtime? 

Stop that.

Do you drink caffeine or alcohol in the evenings? 

Both can interfere with sleep. Don’t believe me? Try going without and see if you sleep better.

Are you always tired even though you’re sure you’re doing everything right?

You might have sleep apnea or another medical condition that interferes with your ability to get restful sleep. Get that checked out.