Why Can’t I Wake Up In The Morning? Sleep Hacks & Tips

Hey there, I am writing this article about not being able to wake up early because this is a problem I struggle with on a daily basis. To explain, when I set an alarm at say 9:30 am, I wake up to the alarm going off and know that I have such a busy day ahead of me.

But when I wake up all of my logical reasoning I had the night before about waking up early and being productive flies out the window. The ONLY thing I want to do when I wake up is go back to sleep. When I go back to sleep it feels so good almost pleasurable in a way.

Going back to sleep is really the only thing I want to do in the entire world at that moment and the only thing that will get me out of bed is an important commitment like work, an appointment, or school (sometimes school, if the class was before 10:00 am... ya right I am waking up).

This affixture I have is devastating to my productivity, my mental health, and my overall success as a human being. I am writing this article to get to the bottom of why I feel this way by doing my own research on the subject (kinda like a school paper). I am also writing this because I know there are people out there who feel the same way, they try to wake up early in the morning and cannot. If they have work they press snooze as many times as it takes til they can do the bare minimum to get to work on time.

If any of this sounds similiar to you, I advise you to keep reading.

Sleep Inertia - The Productivity Killer

The reason you probably cannot wake up early is because of sleep inertia. Sleep inertia is “the feeling of grogginess, disorientation, drowsiness, and cognitive impairment that immediately follows waking” (Pacheco, 2023). Sleep inertia makes you feel extra groggy when you wake up or for a prolonged time after waking. Sleep inertia impairs cognitive function as well in the morning such as reaction time and decision making.

Well, maybe the reason I can't decide to wake up early when I have things to do is because my decision-making is impaired and cannot make the logical decision to wake up. Do you experience this as well? Sleep inertia can last between 15-45 minutes after waking and sometimes can last hours.

Biologically the reason sleep inertia exists is unknown but scientists theorize that it is because it is a protective mechanism that helps us go back to bed after unwanted awakenings.

Sleep inertia commonly affects people who have an irregular sleeping schedule like if you work nights one day and then have to wake up early the next and it is rotating. Or if you are a student and need to stay up late finishing work but have a 9:00 a.m. class the next day and so forth.

Symptoms of sleep inertia normally start to fade after 45 minutes of waking up and can set in with any nap longer than 30 minutes, some symptoms are, “grogginess, wanting to fall back asleep, impaired cognitive ability, impaired decision making, impaired reaction time, impaired visual attention, impaired spatial memory.

Causes of Sleep Inertia

The exact cause of sleep inertia is unknown. But there are 3 perspective theories that can explain why sleep inertia happens.

The first theory is that sleep inertia is caused by an increase in delta waves or slow waves in the back part of your brain. Delta waves are most commonly seen in non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM).

So, in that case, you may experience sleep inertia after sleep loss or deprivation as the delta waves increase in your brain trying to get you to sleep more. Sleep inertia can happen also if the delta waves are not reduced prior to waking up or are woken up suddenly during NREM sleep.

Secondly, Adenosine is another compound that is responsible for sleeping. This is the same compound that coffee blocks so that you feel more awake when you have a coffee in the morning or when you feel tired.

Adenosine should be low when waking up and it is believed sleep inertia is caused when adenosine levels are high. Adenosine levels can become higher when drinking coffee. This is because since caffeine blocks and attaches itself to adenosine receptors the brain wants to continue reproducing more to balance out the adenosine that is being blocked. Resulting in feeling more tired if too much caffeine is consumed because there is an overload of adenosine (Purdy, 2010).

Thirdly, sleep inertia may be caused because of low blood flow to the brain. This happens based on stages of sleep cycles with deeper sleep receiving lower blood flow and lighter sleep receiving higher blood flow.

CFS or chronic fatigue syndrome is linked to reduced cerebral blood flow, it may be possible that you may be experiencing chronic fatigue syndrome if you are tired all the time. This can result in less blood flow and feeling tired in the morning which is also linked to sleep inertia.

Sleep inertia itself is not a sleep disorder but may be an underlying symptom of other sleep disorders. It is recommended to check with a doctor if you experience sleep inertia often or if it is very bad when you do experience it.

Treatments for sleep inertia

Napping: I know you will love to hear this, naps are a common way to fix the effects of sleep inertia. So if you are at work or school find time to take a quick 30-minute nap. Nap no longer than 30 minutes because you may feel the effects of sleep inertia after a 30-minute nap and it may be more difficult to fall asleep at night.

Caffeine Intake: Caffeine is a brilliant way to fight off sleep in the morning and throughout the day. But as I mentioned caffeine blocks adenosine receptors which make you feel sleepy. Just like you are drinking more caffeine your brain is producing more adenosine which may cause you to feel extra sleep in the morning or throughout the day after coffee. (Hey, you know what can limit your caffeine intake while still enjoying delicious coffee? Boost Coffee, Boost Coffee gives you a prolonged more concentrated energy BOOST to help you get everything you need to get done, done. Find out more HERE

Light Modulation: Studies show that when you naturally go to bed and wake up with the fall and rise of the sun you are more likely to get a better more optimized sleep leaving you less sleepy, groggy and more mentally fulfilled. Getting black-out curtains helps you balance the light intake and outtake and can help with light reduction creating a more sleepy relaxing vibe.

Cooler Temperatures: It is important for your body to cool down before sleeping as cooler body temperatures result in a feeling of more fatigue and sleepiness. It should be a top priority to sleep with a fan, cooler lighter blankets, cooling pillows or a portable air conditioner.

Gentle Waking: I know, right before you go to bed you say “Hey Siri set an alarm for 9:00 a.m” and when it rolls around it is the loudest most gruesome alarm blaring as loud as a jet. It may be more optimal to try to wake up to a nicer-sounding alarm or use an app that knows when you are in a lighter state of sleep. Or get an alarm that is meant for an easier more gentle waking.

Sleep Tips

Overall having a better more effective and quality sleep each night will lead to easier waking and feeling less tired throughout the day. Here are some top sleeping tips to give you better sleep leading to a more productive and wakeful day.

Have Comfortable Bedding: Make sure to do research to see which type of mattress, bedding and blankets would best suit your sleeping needs. Memory foam is always a very comfortable option for bedding if you feel your mattress is too hard and don’t want to empty your pockets on an entirely new mattress

Essential Oils: Essential oils such as lavender scent when diffused in a diffuser have been scientifically proven to aid in relaxation and sleep

Consistent Sleep Schedule: I know it is difficult to keep a consistent sleep schedule because you are working hard studying after class which usually leads to long nights. But if you can fall asleep and wake up in the same time period each night it will help your feelings of sleep inertia in the morning.

Avoid Phones: Don’t go on your phone right before bed. The blue light emitted from phones and screens restrains the production of melatonin making it harder to feel sleepy and fall asleep at night. Try reading a book instead or if you really need to get assignments done before bed try using blue light glasses which filters out blue light making it so your screens do not affect your sleep as much.

Keep A Healthy Lifestyle: Exercising has been shown to improve sleep quality and can make you feel more sleepy at night because your body needs to rest and repair itself. But don’t workout right before bed and try not to consume caffeine 6 hours before sleepy time. Avoid drinking and smoking as well when you really need a good sleep because smoking and alcohol have a negative effect on sleeping patterns that are responsible for having a good sleep.

Conclusion

If you are having problems with not being able to wake up in the morning it is probably because of sleep inertia. Sleep inertia is the feeling of groginess, drowsiness, disorientation, and cognitive impairment. The result is that it makes it way more difficult to wake up when you want to wake up in the morning. It affects your reasoning making it an easier decision to fall back asleep especially when you went to bed the night before knowing you had stuff to do today. Sleep Inertia is caused by lack of sleep or lack of quality of sleep producing more delta (slow) waves in your brain.

Secondly, it can be caused by an overproduction of adenosine which is another neuron responsible for sleep in the brain and is overproduced when there is an overconsumption of caffeine which blocks adensonise.

Lastly, sleep inertia is caused by a lack of quality of sleep resulting in higher blood flow to the brain. Deeper periods of sleep require less blood flow to the brain so it is important to practice good sleeping habits so you can have better quality sleep.

Some ways to improve sleep quality is by napping, lowering caffeine intake (you don’t need to drink as much caffeine with Boost Coffee which elongates the energy that caffeine gives without the crash while supporting cognitive function and mental health), reducing light in your room, consistent sleep schedule, lowering room temperature and gentle waking.

Also, to help reduce sleep inertia I also provided multiple sleep tips in this article to help you get a better sleep and practice better sleeping habits to help you reduce the effects of sleep inertia.

To conclude, after my own research, I learned that what I experience in the morning is sleep inertia and learned many different causes and treatments. I hope that doing this research about sleep inertia will help me and my sleeping habits and allow me to be a more productive person. By doing this research and writing this article I hope that this helps you sleep better, be more productive and get sh*t done.

And Remember if you ever need an extra Boost to help you get sh*t done try out a Boost Coffee and see the benefits for yourself!

- Not Your Average Cup Of Joe