Why is it Hard to Wake Up Every Morning?

In case you find it hard to wake up every morning, you are not alone. Reports show that since 2019, the number of people struggling to fall asleep has greatly increased. Stress, pressure, responsibilities, racing thoughts and worries about the future are common causes of sleep issues and even sleep disorders in modern society.

Whether you struggle to fall asleep, turn off the alarm every few seconds, feel dizzy when you wake up or stumble out of bed cursing the day ahead, you might be wondering why waking up for you is such a challenging task. Even though it could be a problem related to your physical and mental health, there are several things that can damage your sleep and make it harder to wake up.

5 Reasons Why it is Hard to Wake Up in the Morning

Poor Sleep Quality

Poor sleep quality is one of the most common reasons for morning fatigue. While poor sleep quality is a result of many causes, like stress and mental health issues, noises, uncomfortable temperatures, or frequent nighttime visits to the bathroom can also be a reason. You should check your sleep conditions and maybe consider some tips to boost its quality. 

Mental Health Conditions

Some mental health conditions have a negative impact on sleep. People suffering from anxiety, depression, chronic stress and other mental health diseases can cause lethargy and drowsiness, which often results in excessive sleepiness in the morning. Even though mental health issues should be treated with the help of a doctor, you can still use natural remedies like morning yoga, meditation or aromatherapy to help you feel better.

Drinking Caffeine

Since we all live in a fast-paced world, drinking caffeine has become a popular habit among those in need of instant energy in the morning. There are also people who can’t live without a cup of coffee as soon as they wake up. However, how does coffee wake you up? Once consumed, caffeine blocks sleep-promoting receptors in the brain called adenosine receptors, helping to keep you alert and awake.

While caffeine can be useful in the morning, not everyone knows that it needs about 4-6 hours to fully leave the organism. So when you drink caffeine late in the evening, you can experience lots of issues with both sleep and how you feel in the morning.

Exercising Late

Exercising helps our bodies to start the day. But they are harmful to sleep when you do them in the evening. Workouts release our happy hormone that helps fight stress, but it also can get your heart rate and metabolism up, making you too wired to get good quality sleep. Therefore, try to remove any physical activity at least 3-4 hours before sleep to help your body relax.

Medications

There are some medications that cause excessive sleepiness, like those for allergies. These include antihistamines and leukotriene inhibitors which have been shown to cause drowsiness and make it easy to fall asleep yet make consumers feel fatigued in the morning.

Tips to Help You Wake Up Easier

Don’t Hit the Snooze Button

Sleep experts say that the snooze button isn’t a useful tool if you are trying to get better sleep and feel energized in the morning. Most people have a habit of turning off the alarm to get more sleep, believing that will help them achieve a better feeling in the morning. However, the truth is that this habit only damages your inner clocks and can cause morning fatigue. Therefore, it is best to move your alarm so it will require you to stand up and turn it off, making it harder to fall asleep again.

Use Supplements

Since sleep issues are so common in 2022, scientists are developing supplements to help people achieve healthier sleep and morning energy. You can either buy supplements that help you relax after a hard day or those that can help you feel refreshed in the morning, like a wake up pill. They are specially designed to make the sleep deeper and allow you to wake up even without an alarm, thanks to long-release caffeine. 

Think Positive About the Next Day

One of the simple ways to trick our brain is to think extremely positively about the next day like it is your birthday tomorrow. You can also create a list of delicious breakfasts so you can fall asleep thinking about how tasty your breakfast will be the next day, allowing you to find a goal when you wake up.

Stretching or Yoga

Psychical activity is an excellent way to quickly wake up your brain and body. Even though you can wake up and go to the gym if you like, most people prefer more calming yet effective activities, like stretching or yoga sessions. You can also try to meditate in the morning to help you focus on the day and reduce stress.

Get Some Light

It is highly recommended to open the curtains or turn on the light as soon as you wake up. That is because it will help your body to wake up easier though it won’t be pleasant. In addition, you will probably want to turn off the alarm and fall asleep again, so turning the lights on will help you avoid it.

Set Realistic Expectations

If you are just not a morning person and want to finally feel better when you wake up early, set realistic expectations and care about yourself. The best recommendation is to take baby steps. So if you like to wake up somewhere between 10-11 am, the best time to wake up would be 10 am. Then it will be 9:30 am and so on.

Create a Bedtime Routine

Creating and following a bedtime routine helps you to achieve better sleep and morning energy as well. That is because you help your mind to have time to prepare for sleep since you always do the same things before bed, sending signals to the brain to release melatonin. It should become a habit and allow you to finally wake up feeling refreshed.