Another day has gone by with you rushing out the door, your hair messy and your clothes unkempt. Why can’t you wake up on time? Even though you have five alarms to scream you awake at some ungodly hour in the morning? Well, our bodies love sleep too much to let it end abruptly, but that is no excuse to frustrate our plans of an early morning jog, study session or project review before the big meeting. Here are some tips to make sure that you wake up on time tomorrow.
Part 1: Getting enough sleep
Get to bed on time – You may have pulled one too many all-nighters for your body to know that bedtime is 10.00 PM, not 3.00 AM. You don’t have to toss and turn in bed hoping that you’ll fall asleep if you can learn how to reset your internal biological clock. Yes, you read that right! A variety of guides on the internet promise to help you sleep as soon as you hit the sack, with one article on WiseBread claiming you can do it overnight. You need not always take such extreme measures, though. Make a strict schedule for yourself, marking bedtime at least 8 hours before you have to wake up. Lay still in bed for 15 minutes, breathing quietly. Don’t think about getting to sleep, it’ll happen eventually. Try playing out scenes in your head or the age-old trick of counting sheep. The aim is to tire your brain out.
Avoid stimulants – No coffee before bed – everyone knows that! Also starring on that list are computers, TV and phones. The blue light from these devices suppresses melatonin (an essential component to a good night’s sleep). Blue light tricks your brain into thinking that it is daytime, which makes your brain alert and you less likely to nod off. Avoid using electronic gadgets at least up to an hour before bed. Instead, try sipping a relaxing tea like chamomile and reading a book the old-fashioned way.
Carve out a cave – Light, whether from the sun or LEDs, makes your brain alert. Not all of us go to bed early enough to wake up with the sun. The solution? Make your room dark – really dark. Draw your blinds, turn off strong lights and use a mild lamp if you must have some light in the room. And when you wake up, throw your curtains open and flood your senses with the glorious sunshine.
Part 2: Actually waking up
Tell your pillow – Self-suggestion is a powerful tool to use for any task, not just sleeping. By telling yourself (or your pillow) to wake up at a certain time, you are quietly instructing your mind to wake up at the right time.
The right alarm clock – Gone are the days of the old alarm clock which you could slap into silence. If your biggest problem is snoozing your alarm in a fit of anger, get a better alarm clock. An example is the Puzzle Alarm Clock. It shoots three geometrical shapes out and you must assemble them correctly in order to turn it off. You can always get such demanding alarm clocks on your smart phone, such as Puzzle Alarm Clock for Android (the same name is a coincidence, I hope).
And if all that is too much work… At the very least, make your alarm annoying. Nails on chalkboard, Justin Bieber’s latest single… no matter what sound you find unbearable, make it your alarm tone. It’s not advisable to feel annoyed first thing in the morning, but desperate times call for desperate measures, don’t they? And when you finally wake up, hit the ground running.
About Carson Derrow
