Why you should wake up at the same time every day

If you have trouble getting up in the morning, you are in a very, terribly good company. It’s a common experience research shows, to feeling dizzy and sluggish when you wake up.

Scientists call the drowsiness one feels upon waking “sleep inertia.” Although it often goes away within minutes, some people notice that the feeling lingers for an hour or two and impairs their attention and performance at work.

But there is good news: it is possible to wake up more rested. One way to make your mornings easier? Start getting up at the same time every day.

“Your body performs best in terms of attention and focus when you maintain a regular schedule,” Lynelle Schneeberga sleep psychologist from Yale Medicine and the author of “Become your child’s sleep coach” told HuffPost.

Here’s why having a consistent rise time can change your mornings:

Many bodily functions, including sleep and digestion, are affected by your body circadian rhythm. This 24-hour cycle, which is related to the idea of ​​a biological clock, prompts the body to release various substances hormonessuch as cortisol and melatonin, at specific times.

It is said that the strongest signals for circadian rhythm are light and darkness. When you wake up in the morning, you are likely exposed to daylight. That tells your body to stop producing melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. Meanwhile, your body increases production of cortisola hormone that provides energy in anticipation of your wake-up time, said Jamie Zeitzerprofessor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.

Why does this matter? According to Zeitzer, cortisol is crucial for giving you the energy you need to go about your day. If you wake up at 7:00 a.m. one day and 8:30 a.m. the next, your circadian rhythm You may not be confused and your body may not know when to release the cortisol. As a result, you may wake up with insufficient cortisol levels and feel extra dizzy.

However, if you get up at the same time every day, your circadian clock can be more stable, meaning you can have a more robust and reliable cortisol peak before you wake up, giving you more energy.

Waking up at the same time can also make it easier for you to fall asleep at night. Getting up at the same time every day can stabilize your circadian rhythm, and that effect continues into the night.

Schneeberg explained it simply: your rise time determines your bedtime. “Your body expects to fall back asleep about sixteen hours after you get up,” she said.

According to Zeitzer, one of the biggest sleep problems people experience is guessing when they’ll get sleepy at night. Having a consistent wake-up time can reduce the guesswork and give you a more predictable bedtime.

You can get a good night’s sleep and feel more alert, attentive and alert productive the next day. “Your performance improves when you feel rested and alert,” Schneeberg said, adding “This is more likely to happen if you have a very consistent bed and wake time and have achieved adequate, restorative sleep.”

In an ideal world, everyone would be able to wake up naturally every day without an alarm. But since that is unrealistic for many people, alarm clocks are the best alternative. And if you rely on a morning alarm, you’ll want to avoid constantly hitting the snooze button.

Why? Research shows that using an alarm’s snooze function can prolong sleep inertia, making it even more difficult to get out of bed.

“If you consistently use the snooze button, you will almost certainly be sleep deprived and fragment the last part of your sleep phase by having to wake up and hit the snooze button multiple times,” Schneeberg said. So try to use the snooze button only once, or twice if absolutely necessary, and don’t snooze for more than 15 minutes, she advised.

Schneeberg also recommended keeping your wake-up time within the same 30-minute time frame every day. (Yes, this applies to weekends too.) Your morning routine can be a fun activity — for example, listening to a playlist of your favorite songs, or having a quick yoga or meditation session — so you’re motivated to get out of bed, Schneeberg added.

Zeitzer suggested sleeping in a room without blinds. “You’ll get a good dose of morning light even if you’re still sleeping, and this will still help to strongly synchronize your circadian clock,” he said.

It’s all about taking care of your biological clock. The more stable it is, the more likely you are to sleep better, and the more rested and focused you may feel during the day.