Strategies for starting the day invigorated: Simplifying your awakening process.
Sleep inertia, a temporary state of grogginess and impaired mental performance, can occur after waking up from a long nap or a good night's rest. This phenomenon is more common in individuals with irregular sleep patterns, such as those working shifts [1][2].
Here are some tips to reduce sleep inertia and wake up feeling refreshed:
- Time your naps effectively: Shorter naps of around 20 minutes or longer naps of approximately 90 minutes can help you wake up from lighter sleep stages, reducing grogginess [2].
- Exposure to bright light: Exposure to bright light (around 2000 lux) for one minute after a 20-minute nap can improve alertness within an hour [8]. This can also help improve mood, contributing to alleviating grogginess [9].
- Gentle awakening methods: Washing your face with water or using melodic or preferred music as alarm sounds can help alleviate tiredness after a nap [2]. Keeping your alarm out of reach and using multiple alarms can aid waking, though it's important to find a balance to avoid sudden jolting alarms that may increase morning blood pressure [4].
- Optimize your sleep environment and habits: Improving overall sleep quality via good sleep hygiene, including a supportive mattress with good airflow to prevent heat retention and discomfort, can enhance deep sleep and reduce sleep inertia [1].
- Manage your sleep patterns: Regulating work and sleep time can help manage sleep inertia and wake up better [7]. Avoid stimulants like caffeine before bed, reduce screen time before sleep, manage stress, maintain hydration, and regular moderate exercise to improve sleep quality and reduce morning fatigue [3].
The Sleep Foundation recommends a nap duration of 20 minutes to boost alertness [5]. It's also important to note that in most cases, sleep inertia is a normal phenomenon and harmless.
Caffeine, found in tea and coffee, can help resolve sleep inertia quicker, as shown in studies where participants took caffeine immediately after a long 2-hour nap [8]. However, its stimulating effect should be avoided later in the day to promote good sleep.
Sleep is organized into four stages in the brain, making up one sleep cycle. During sleep, the brain performs housekeeping tasks such as clearing out end products of chemical reactions. The third stage of sleep is the deepest sleep stage where the brain is hard at work. Good quality sleep for 7 hours per night is best for cognitive performance [6].
In summary, sleep inertia stems from waking during deep sleep stages and can be reduced by timing sleep cycles, light exposure, gentle awakening methods, and optimizing sleep environment and habits [1][2][3][4]. By following these tips, you can improve your mornings and start your day feeling refreshed and alert.
- Ensuring a good balance of health-and-wellness practices, such as optimizing sleep environment, managing sleep patterns, and avoiding stimulants before bed, can help reduce the occurrence of sleep inertia and improve mental-health.
- In the context of health-and-wellness, regular moderate exercise, in addition to maintaining hydration and managing stress, can contribute to better sleep quality and reduce morning fatigue, indirectly helping with sleep inertia.
