

Plus, they were more active throughout the rest of the day. Not only did Winter suggest it, but some research suggests it could also help guide me toward a more balanced, active day.įor example, one study, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, found that women’s brains reacted less strongly to photos of food (suggesting it was less tempting) following a morning sweat sesh. (That meant that I needed to ditch the in-bed article-writing, Insta-scrolling, email-answering, and phone-talking.) My new morning routine, set forth by Winter, included exercising within an hour of waking. Next, I would need to follow a morning routine that’d keep me out of bed after the alarm went off. I typically aim to get seven to eight hours of sleep per night, so I aimed for an 11:30 to midnight bedtime. It sounds pretty simple, but if you want to wake up at a set time, you have to go to bed at a set time, too, Winter explained.

So I made a few rules to make it easier.įirst, I would get to bed earlier. He recommended a regular bedtime, and suggested that I try some meditation or movement in the morning.
SET WAKE UP TIME HOW TO
I asked Winter for some tips for easy wakeups and how to quit hitting snooze. yoga class on Tuesday and Thursday (an hour later than my usual go-to), while getting me up slightly earlier the other weekdays. That would give me enough time to take an 8 a.m.
SET WAKE UP TIME FULL
But I wanted the experiment to jump-start a lifestyle change, so I talked with a sleep specialist first.Īccording to Chris Winter, M.D., medical director of the Sleep Medicine Center at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Virginia and author of The Sleep Solution, it didn’t matter what time I decided to wake up every morning as long as it was consistent and allowed me to get a full night's rest. I’m lucky that I don’t have any responsibilities that actually necessitate my waking before the sun rises, like a baby, early-starting office job, cat, or partner. So when my editor asked me to try wake up at the exact same time every morning for two weeks, I took it as an opportunity to revamp my mornings. But snoozing is sort of a hobby of mine, and my past attempts have pretty much failed. On the weekends, I’ll log an easy 12 hours per night on my pillow.Ī lot of mornings, I wake up, crawl to my fridge, pour a mason jar full of cold brew, then crawl back into bed with my laptop for two to three hours of work before finally getting out of bed to wash my face and make some eggs. Then I snooze (and snooze and snooze…) until 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday for an early morning hip-hop yoga sesh. I consider myself a fit, health-obsessed, wannabe-wellness-goddess, but my sleep habits are a far cry from those of Gwyneth Paltrow or Jennifer Aniston.Ĭue my sleep schedule: On the weekdays, I fall asleep sometime between 11:30 p.m.
