When we take into consideration sleep habits, we often consider the activities involved in falling asleep, not the morning rush. And while it’s true that evening sleep hygiene could be the difference between success and failure, the habits we develop earlier within the day can even impact how rested we feel after we get up. If you want to sleep well, how you spend your mornings matters.

“Morning habits can have a huge impact on sleep quality because they can impact your 24-hour sleep-wake cycle,” she says Po-Chang HsuM.D., M.S. Here are the morning habits which may be ruining your sleep and what to do as an alternative to dramatically improve your sleep quality.

1. Problem: Waking up too early

It could appear obvious that waking up too early disrupts your sleep – sure, if we’re not sleeping, we’re not sleeping, but it surely also seems that depriving yourself of a number of critical hours of sleep within the morning can contribute to trouble before bed. “Early morning awakening is a common feature of insomnia,” he says Carleara WeissPh.D., M.S.H., R.N.

“Sometimes, due to academic or professional demands, we set the alarm to wake up too early to beat traffic, get the kids ready for school, or attend morning classes,” says the certified sleep science trainer Alex Savy. “This causes the body to tire quickly, and a cat nap later in the day can accidentally turn into full daytime sleep. This habit may disrupt your sleep cycle and make it difficult to sleep at night.”

What to do as an alternative: Weiss suggests adjusting your schedule to allow for seven to nine hours of sleep and establishing morning routines that do not require getting up within the early morning hours. Waking up early is less problematic if it follows an adequate amount of sleep, and if the realities of labor or family situations don’t allow for less painful wake-ups, daytime naps are high-quality, but don’t overdo it, says Savy. “A daytime nap lasting longer than 30 minutes can affect sleep at night.”

2. Problem: Snooze alarm going off

A couple of extra 10-minute stretches of sleep could appear to improve your rest, however the snooze alarm is not your friend.

“While it may be tempting to sleep for another 10 minutes, hitting the snooze button does more harm than good,” Weiss says. “Feeling sluggish and groggy, slow to react, and slow to think are some of the harmful effects of a snooze alarm.”

Additionally, in case your body gets used to anticipating an early alarm and a number of naps, this can potentially be followed by restlessness and stress during sleep, which also affects sleep quality.

What to do as an alternative: A signal to the brain and body that when the alarm goes off, it is time to get up. Turn on the sunshine, sit down immediately and get away from bed quickly. It could also be helpful to place your alarm clock out of reach, so you’ll have to stand up to turn it off.

3. Problem: Uneven wake-up time

Even though sleeping in it seems luxurious, it may do more harm than good. “Waking up at uneven times every day can alter your circadian rhythm, causing sleep problems, disruptions, and overall poorer sleep quality,” says Hsu.

What to do as an alternative: For a number of weeks, go to bed and get up at the identical time daily (yes, even on the weekend). While it is probably not easy at first, once you get into the habit, you may find that you drift off faster and get up feeling more rested – perhaps even without an alarm clock. You may find that your need for sleep goes away as you feel more rested overall.

4. Problem: Working in bed

“For freelancers or those working from home, it can be delightful to wake up in bed, grab a cup of coffee, grab your Mac on the bedside table, and start your workday right in your pajamas,” says Savy. However, working in bed worsens the standard of sleep since the brain begins to associate this space with mental activity, he warns.

What to do as an alternative: Use your bed just for sleeping (and sex). You can still work in your pajamas, but do it at your desk.

Featured Stories

5. Problem: being at the hours of darkness (literally)

The hormones melatonin and cortisol help you go to sleep and get up respectively, and light-weight affects each. Exposure to light stimulates the production of cortisol, giving our body a signal that it is time to be alert. If your room is dark within the morning and you don’t search for light throughout the day, it might affect your sleep hormones.

“The brain responds to changes in light throughout the day,” Hsu says. Providing loads of daylight within the morning may also help people keep their body clocks functioning properly and sleep higher. Conversely, insufficient exposure to light throughout the day may cause disruption of the circadian rhythm and, consequently, reduced sleep quality.

What to do as an alternative: Turn on the bedroom light when it is time to stand up, or open the curtains when the sun comes up. Dim the lights within the evening and avoid excessive light exposure from screens near bedtime.

6. Problem: Lack of a consistent morning routine

In addition to not having a consistent wake-up time, the dearth of a wake-up routine could make you feel drained and lack concentration throughout the day, Weiss says. “Irregular wake-up times and rushing out of the house as soon as you wake up don’t give your brain and body enough time to adjust the transition from sleep to wakefulness,” she says.

It’s also not a great idea to spend too long in bed after waking up. “Don’t spend more than 20 minutes in bed after the first alarm,” Savy advises. If you need a moment between waking up and getting up, you higher use it meditatereflecting on the day ahead without your phone and practicing gratitude.

What to do as an alternative: Weiss advises creating a straightforward morning routine and sticking to it. Again, habits are formed through repetition, so after a number of days of consistency, you’ll start doing things with increasing ease.

“Our body works like a clock, and consistency is the key to good health,” says Weiss. “Use the primary hour after waking up to establish a synchronized circadian rhythm that may keep you focused throughout the day and help you sleep higher at night. This could be achieved not only by waking up at the identical time daily, but additionally by trying to exercise and eat breakfast at the identical time daily.

Your morning routine doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming, just do the identical things in the identical order and at the identical time daily, even when it’s just showering, eating breakfast and brushing your teeth.

7. Problem: Drinking coffee too early

This may appear to be bad news if you depend on your morning cup of brew to help you get up, however the delay itself could make a difference. “Caffeine is known to wake the body and energize the mind, but drinking it before 11 a.m. is counterproductive to sleep at night,” says Savy. “Many studies have shown that coffee can interfere with the production of cortisol, the morning hormone that takes over the function of melatonin after an all-night shift. Peak cortisol production occurs between 8 and 9 a.mbut drinking coffee interferes with this natural regeneration process.”

What to do as an alternative: Try drinking coffee a bit of later within the morning and see if it makes you feel more rested. You haven’t got to do it unexpectedly – turn the clock back 10 or quarter-hour until you feel comfortable having it later. But not too late: avoid caffeine within the afternoon if possible stay in your system for 8 hours and even longer and interrupt sleep.

8. Problem: Not making the bed

Mess is related to stress and dissatisfaction with lifeso cleansing could be done good on your mental health. “Never leave your bed untidy when you wake up in the morning,” says Savy. “It’s likely to stay that way when it’s time to sleep.” The barely chaotic mood of an unmade bed can throw you off balance when it is time to rest.

What to do as an alternative: Make your bed as soon as you stand up. If you have busy mornings, be certain that you haven’t got too many pillows or other things to arrange that might make the method time-consuming.

This article was originally published in Clean plates.