Do not worry, this tip is not about waking up at 4 a.m., so keep reading...
When it comes to sleep, everyone prefers to sleep in a dark room. Our body is trained to
sleep when it’s dark and we fall asleep faster and relax better in the darkness. So if darkness
helps you fall sleep better, what do you need to wake up? Right, you need light! As
soon as alarm goes off, expose yourself to a bright light (ideally - to sun light) and you won’t
get back to bed again!
Light in the morning is good for two reasons:
- Our body is attuned with the nature and it’s natural to wake up when sun goes up. It’s how our
ancestors lived for ages before invention of electricity. If sunrise time is too early for you,
still start your morning bathing in the light. Light is a natural cue to our brain that it’s time
to wake up.
- Our body responds to darkness producing melatonin,
the sleep hormone. The light stops this process, thus making your waking up much easier. If you’re
waking up in the dark room, it’s the same as trying not to sleep while taking sleep pills. So put
yourself in the light as soon as alarm goes off and make it a part of your morning routine.
I regularly wake up my kid by pulling curtains open and allowing the sun to light up the room. On
weekends when we are not in a hurry it doesn’t work immediately, but it does work over 15-30
minutes. I guess that’s how long it takes to wake up when you don’t have any other irritants but
the light. Opened windows and fresh air do accelerate the process.
As usually, technology is already here to put this effect in use. Philips developed a lamp
combined with an alarm clock that gradually increases the intensity of light
in the morning. Other manufacturers didn’t wait for too long, I easily found several similar devices
at Amazon:
In the end, it doesn’t matter if you use some device or just open the curtains. Just make sure to
leave the world of darkness as soon as you wake up and join the Light Side...
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