When you wake up in the morning after a full night’s sleep, you’re supposed to feel completely rested and ready to start the day. Instead, many people experience the feeling of waking up tired and staying that way.

While there is a phenomenon called sleep inertia, where you feel tired while your body transitions from sleeping to waking, it’s only supposed to last for 15 minutes to an hour. If you continuously wake up exhausted and can’t seem to find your pep, there may be an underlying issue in your health or sleeping environment that is interrupting a truly restful sleep.

Here are 5 reasons why you wake up tired in the morning.

Blue light before bed

It is scientifically proven that the blue light from electronic devices boosts the alertness and suppresses melatonin. Melatonin is the human body’s sleep hormone, and it helps regulate our circadian rhythm (official term for sleep cycle).

Tips:

• Avoid watching TV or using phones or tablet 2-3 hours before trying to sleep.
• Use blue-blocking glasses at night.
• Use blue light filter app at night.

Poor eating and drinking habits

We all know that our body is highly affected by what we eat and drink. And it is scientifically proven that caffeine is used to prevent sleep and makes your mind active even when you are most tired.

Alcohol also does the same thing. You may think that alcohol makes you feel sleepy, but it actually keeps you out of the deep sleep stage. And you feel tired while waking up.

Tips:

• Avoid caffeine intake after 2pm.
• Avoid alcohol intake 3 hours before bed.
• Finish eating and drinking around 8pm.

Poor sleeping environment

One reason you are waking up tired is that your bedroom is not an ideal environment for sleeping. Our body is very sensitive and it reacts from change in temperature, noise, and light. Make sure that your room didn’t get a lot of light from street lights and also that you don’t wake up sweating a lot, or shivering under covers.

Tips:

• Ideally keep your room temperature between 16 to 20 degree Celsius for sleeping.
• Get some room darkening curtain or blinds
• Use some noise cancelling earplugs or a soothing noise machine to block the noise from outside.

Hitting snooze

Does this ever happened to you in the morning, that you found difficulty in getting out of the bed in the morning?

This situation is known as “Hitting Snooze”, and if you are doing this, then it is a very bad idea and you are even hurting your body. Because hitting snooze may feel like you are getting more rest, but it only gives you shallow fragmented sleep and can make you even more tired.

Tips:

• Limit your snooze to ONE time, or ideally not at all.

Your pillow or mattress is not comfortable enough

If you have trouble sleeping at night, and also feeling aches and pains in your neck and shoulder, then your pillow or your mattress can be your culprit. You spend 1/3 of your time on it, so it’s worth it to take time to find a mattress that is well suited to you and your body.

Tips:

• Invest in a high-quality mattress and pillow.
• Replace you mattress every 9 to 10 years.
• Replace your pillow whenever you feel pain or you think it’s time.