My morning routine is hardly impressive. First I wake up, and snooze for at least ten minutes. Then I go endure a sort of inner battle, an intense debate to decide whether I should get out of bed or not. Usually my evil side wins the debate, and I snooze for another ten minutes. Finally I get out of bed, feeling groggy and cursing myself for not being more disciplined.So how is it that some people can wake up with a bang, while others seem doomed to be morning zombies? Some would say your energy in the morning is related to how enthusiastic you are about life in general. And if you’re a young man, hormones could be part of the problem (e.g. testosterone takes a few hours to kick in properly). But I guess the real question is – what can actually be done about it? Well, there is one idea that seems to have good potential. I'd say it's definitely worth a shot.
The idea is based on the fact that when we wake up during REM-sleep (the dreaming phase of the sleep cycle), we feel much more alert. If we wake up during deep sleep, grogginess will naturally follow. So the way to go about this problem is to set TWO alarm clocks (preferably a radio alarm if you have one). The first one should be set just a few minutes before your normal waking time. The volume on this one should be set to such a volume that you wouldn’t wake up during deep sleep, but you would during shallow (i.e. REM) sleep. The second alarm should be set at the latest possible time that you could wake up (without being late for school, work etc.). The volume on the second alarm should be set very high, to ensure that you wake up no matter what.
By using this method, you’re giving yourself an honest chance to wake up during REM-sleep, thus increasing the probability of waking up feeling refreshed.
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