Water, Sunlight, Movement - the 3 keys to feeling fresh and energized as soon as possible after getting out of bed
- We often feel tired and groggy for a long time after waking up. Part of this is owed to what we do after waking up.
- If you stay in bed looking at your phone, or you just get up and go sit on the couch, you're going to stay tired.
- You need to wake your body up. And I've learned that you can do this very quickly by getting some quick water, sunlight, and movement.
- When you go to sleep, you go 7-8 hours without having any water. So getting a quick glass of water in the morning hydrates you.
- Sunlight influences your energy levels and regulates circadian rhythm. In fact, the day/night cycle is part of what triggers your body to start feeling tired at the end of the day. So when you wake up, getting outside or near a window helps you to feel more awake.
- Movement also helps you feel more awake. How many times have you woken up with 5 minutes to spare before you're late for work? On those mornings, you rocket out of bed and get moving quickly. All of the sudden, you're awake and alert.
Have something you're excited for.
- When we say "wake up early", usually that means waking up early enough to have time for yourself in the morning before your daily obligations - work, school, fighting crime.
- But Newton's 2nd law of motion says that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. In the morning, you have to overcome the resistance that this inert state creates. For most of us, this is hard! It's why we hit the snooze button so many times.
- Of course, a pressing obligation gets you out of bed right away. I have no trouble getting out of bed at 4am if I have a flight leaving at 6.
- So if you want to wake up earlier than necessary so you have time for yourself, make sure you have at least one part of your morning routine that you're truly excited for.
- For me, that's riding my bike to work. I have a co-working space in downtown Denver now, and I genuinely look forward to the ride to work. There's a great bike trail pretty much the whole way, and I love listening to an audiobook while I ride.
- My anticipation for that ride - which is definitely a longer commute than if I were driving or choosing to work from home - is the exciting thing that gets me out of bed happily.
- When I was in college, there was a daily podcast that I loved listening to. Part of my morning routine was going for a 30-minute walk after breakfast while I listened to the new episode. That was another exciting thing that got me out of bed well before I absolutely needed to wake up for obligations.
Focus on the quality of your sleep.
- If you're excited for something in your routine, you'll have an easier time getting up. And if you get water, sunlight, and movement immediately, that'll go a long way to getting you past the groggy stage and truly waking your body up.
- But if you're not getting good sleep, then you won't be waking up early for long. These tricks need to rest on a foundation of high-quality sleep - and getting enough of it.
- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has established rough sleep guidelines for different age categories:
| Age Group | Age Range | Recommended Hours of Sleep Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn | 0-3 months | 14-17 hours (National Sleep Foundation) |
| No recommendation (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) | ||
| Infant | 4-12 months | 12-16 hours per 24 hours (including naps) |
| Toddler | 1-2 years | 11-14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) |
| Preschool | 3-5 years | 10-13 hours per 24 hours (including naps) |
| School Age | 6-12 years | 9-12 hours per 24 hours |
| Teen | 13-18 years | 8-10 hours per 24 hours |
| Adult | 18-60 years | 7 or more hours per night |
| 61-64 years | 7-9 hours | |
| 65+ years | 7-8 hours |
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html
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For most of us, the recommendation is to get "7 or more hours per night".
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But that's not the whole story. You also need to consider your body's sleep cycle.
- When we sleep, we go through a cycle that consists of a few different phases of brain activity.
- Sleep researchers identify two different physiological states during sleep:
- REM sleep
- Non-REM (NREM) sleep
- NREM sleep gets divided into three stages - N1, N2, and N3.
- The sleep cycle typically progresses in this order: N1 → N2 → N3 → N2 → REM
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You can use tools like Sleep Calculator to get a suggested bedtime, based on when you want to wake up:
- And to make sure you actually go to bed at this time, it's also a good idea to create a wind-down routine that starts at least 30 minutes beforehand. I talked about that in my video on how to go to bed on time.