It’s normal to feel a little sleepy in the morning from time to time. But if you consistently struggle to wake up in the morning, then it may indicate an underlying issue. So, why do you struggle to wake up in the morning? And more importantly, what can you do about it? Let’s find out.
Reasons why you can’t wake up in the morning
Let’s look at the most common reasons why you might have difficulty waking up in the morning.
1. Sleep inertia
“A common explanation for why people have difficulty waking up in the morning is sleep inertia,” says Shantha Gowda, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of ThinkSleep, a telehealth sleep practice.
She describes sleep inertia as the groggy or drowsy feeling people experience just after waking up. If you just want to snooze and catch more sleep, you have sleep inertia. You might also feel like you can’t focus, stay alert, or get anything done.
Don’t worry; Gowda explains it’s a completely healthy and normal phenomenon, although how each person experiences it varies.
“A common explanation for why people have difficulty waking up in the morning is sleep inertia.”
-Shantha Gowda, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of ThinkSleep
“Some people have minimal sleep inertia that passes within minutes, and others have more pronounced or intense inertia that may last 30 minutes to a couple of hours,” says Gowda.
She adds that sleep inertia isn’t a reflection of poor or insufficient sleep but a natural transition stage from sleep to wakefulness/alertness.
2. Sleep deprivation
Everyone’s sleep needs are different. Most people need around seven to eight hours of sleep during which they don’t wake up often and sleep long enough to feel rested.
If you’re not getting enough sleep for your body, then waking up in the morning can feel difficult. “Insufficient sleep is another common reason for difficulty waking up,” notes Gowda.
Sleeping well, like eating, drinking water, and breathing, is necessary for healthy living. Aside from being unable to wake up when you should in the morning, you might feel unproductive, moody, and tired all day when you’re sleep-deprived.
3. Changes to circadian rhythm
Our bodies go through physical, mental, and behavioral changes in a 24-hour cycle called circadian rhythms. Your circadian rhythm, sometimes called body clock, determines how alert and sleepy you feel during the day or at night.
Your body clock is mainly affected by light and darkness, but it can also be influenced by things like the time you eat, stress, exercise, and work.
It can get off track due to reasons such as health conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, jet lag, shift work, and looking at light from electronic devices at night.
When your circadian rhythm is out of sync, it can affect how well you sleep and how easily you wake up in the morning. For instance, you might feel awake at night—and when it’s time for you to wake up in the morning, that might be when you start falling asleep, causing you not to want to leave your bed.
4. Sleep disorders
Finding it difficult to wake up in the morning could be a sign you have a sleep disorder. A sleep disorder is any condition that disturbs how well you sleep and function physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally during the day.
Sleep disorders that could affect your sleep quality and how easily you wake up include untreated sleep apnea, insomnia, and nightmare disorder, explains Gowda.
She adds that how you feel immediately after waking up determines your mood and energy levels for the day.
“If we wake up with the thought that we have not slept well, we may have more negative emotions and change our behaviors across the day,” she says.
Consider seeing a sleep specialist if you find it difficult to wake up in the morning and show other symptoms of a sleep disorder, like difficulty falling and staying asleep, feeling sleepy during the day, and feeling like you can’t move when you wake up in the morning.
5. Mental health conditions
Having a mental health condition like anxiety and depression may also affect how well you sleep and wake up in the morning.
“Low mood and anxiety is often a common culprit for people having difficulty getting up in the morning,” says Gowda.
Though you may not be “sleepy” when you wake up in the morning, she adds that low energy, fatigue, and other mental health symptoms can cause you to avoid or have difficulty getting up and out of bed in the morning.
Watch this video for tips on putting together a morning routine:
How to wake yourself up in the morning
Here are steps to take that may help you feel like a morning person again, excited to be awake and start the day.
Have a consistent bedtime and waketime schedule
The best thing you can do to help you wake up ready to start your day is to set an alarm and wake up at the same time every morning, says Gowda.
Follow this bedtime routine every day, including on weekends, when you might be tempted to stay in bed longer or go to bed later than usual.
However, she notes that having a consistent bedtime may be impossible if you’re sleep-deprived or a shift worker with an odd schedule. In those cases, consider talking with a sleep health professional about the best ways to manage your sleep health.
Create a bedtime routine
A bedtime routine involves activities that help you let go of the day’s stressors so you can relax enough to feel sleepy when it’s time for bed.
These activities may include setting the alarm for when you want to wake up, creating the next day’s to-do list or journaling about your day, doing relaxing stretches, practicing deep breathing exercises, taking a warm bath, and reading before bed.
A bedtime routine can help you fall asleep easily, stay asleep, and wake up energized and ready to start the day.
Get sunlight
If you’re feeling unable to wake yourself up in the morning, another thing you can do to stay awake and alert is to get up and go outside for some sunlight. Doing this is especially important when your daily routine doesn’t require you to step outside often.
Getting sunlight when you wake up not only helps you feel alert but can also help your body clock be better aligned with daytime and nighttime. That means when it’s nighttime, you’ll feel sleepy earlier and sleep for longer and better.
Exercise during the day
Exercising can help you sleep better and for longer at night, manage sleep disorders that may affect your sleep quality and your ability to wake up in the morning like insomnia and sleep apnea, regulate your body clock, reduce your stress and anxiety levels, and help you relax for better sleep. Morning exercise can also make you feel more awake and increase your energy levels.
The key is to stay consistent and exercise almost every day. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or a combination each week. Consider strength training your muscles too at least two days a week.
Gowda recommends light movement (like yoga) to help people get through sleep inertia. Light exercises, even for 10 minutes in the morning, can improve your sleep quality and help you stay awake and alert.
See a doctor
If you follow sleep hygiene practices like having a bedtime routine and exercising during the day and still wake up tired, then it’s time to see a doctor.
They can help you figure out if a health condition could be causing you not to want to wake up in the morning and recommend treatment and possibly lifestyle changes that can help.
FAQs
Why do I have such a hard time waking up?
You might have a hard time waking up if you’re experiencing sleep inertia, if your body clock is out of sync with daytime and night, if you have a sleep disorder or a mental health condition, or if you’re sleep-deprived.
Do diet and exercise influence how easy it is to wake up?
Yes, your diet and exercise can affect how easy it is to sleep and wake up. A healthy, balanced diet can help your body get the nutrients it needs to sleep well at night and function as well as it should during the day. Exercise energizes you during the day and helps your body relax and sleep well at night.
What role does mental health play in waking up feeling refreshed?
Your mental health can affect how refreshed you feel when you wake up. If you have a mental health condition that affects your mood and energy levels, like anxiety or depression, then you may wake up feeling worse off.
Is “bed rotting,” or staying in bed all day, bad for you? Learn about the causes of not wanting to leave your bed and whether it could be a sign of a health condition.
