Your Morning Daze Is Normal and Preventable

I know I'm not the only one, but I've been getting up early and going to bed early for ages. It's just part of the gig. I know a lot of you know what that's like. And that's fine. Some days are harder than others, and sometimes I have to battle morning grogginess. Technically it's called "sleep inertia". It always takes a few minutes to really wake up and get going, and after I caught myself still being a little groggy at work, I decided to try to take action.

So I read a bit on the internet, and I tried a few things I read. Here's what's working for me.

Drink a glass of water - It makes sense when you think about it. If you've been asleep for eight hours, that means your body has been dehydrating for eight hours. At work I'm always sipping on a water every few minutes, same as home. Getting a quick water boost in the morning will help with that.

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Over the years, I've had varying bed times. So having a schedule know and sticking to it was helpful. Sometimes I went to bed as early as 8:00 p.m. Now it's a little later, but I've found that if I make myself go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning (no snooze on the alarm), it helps. I guess it's telling my body, time to get up now, might as well get used to it.

Since I do sometimes feel a little out of it in the first few minutes after I wake up, I find it's easier to get as much as I can done the night before. That means if I'm working on auto pilot for a few minutes, I can just kind of walk myself through the morning. My clothes for the day are picked out and in the bathroom the night before. My shoes and bag are in the same place every day so I don't have to search for them. That helps me wake up a little easier and reduces confusion.

How do you battle sleep inertia? Or do you even have to deal with it? What gets you going in the morning?

Sleepily yours,
Behka