This hack can give you more morning energy

Morning people are a rare breed, but it’s a goal we all want to achieve at some point in our lives. Mornings are typically associated with productivity and creativity, giving early risers a chance to get in touch with these aspects of themselves before anyone else. This hack can give you more morning energy and help you solve the problem.

A technique known as the RISE-UP method won’t get you there, but it can make an impact and get you one step closer to becoming a morning person.

This method has scientific backing and can help when you feel groggy in the morning and want to hit the snooze button and go back to bed. The RISE UP method was developed in 2018 by sleep researcher Kate Kaplan and other colleagues. After extensive research and testing, researchers have developed six principles that can help minimize sleepiness.

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Each letter stands for:

• R: Resist the urge to hit the snooze button
• I: Increase your activity in the first hour
• S: Shower (or wash face and hands with cold water)
• E: Expose yourself to sunlight
• U: Happy music
• P: Call a friend

Kaplan explained that every step matters and why it can help people be more active and make better use of their mornings. “Try to keep the time you get out of bed consistent,” she said. “This helps keep our biological clock in the same time zone. If we differentiate our sleep times between weekdays and weekends, this type of chronic jet lag can be quite confusing for the body.”

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Frequent actions, like hitting the snooze button every half hour, disrupt our REM sleep, leaving us feeling restless and like we need more sleep. If you go to bed late, Kaplan says it’s better to get up at the same time and take a nap later so your body can maintain that consistency and stick to that routine.

As for the other steps in the process, Kaplan explains that whether you’re making coffee or walking your dog, increasing your activity during the first hour of waking is crucial. The latter might be the most helpful of all, as it exposes you to sunlight and aligns your inner rhythm. Sunlight is especially helpful if you are indoors most of the time.

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Finally, calling a friend can always help, as socializing correlates with alertness. You can read a more detailed explanation of each step here. And hopefully this hack can give you more energy to start your day in the morning!