Waking up in the morning can be just as difficult as falling asleep for some people. I’ve struggled with this for most of my life, but I’ve found several tips that help make the process much easier.

Mindset tip #1 from the previous section applies here, too. Before you fall asleep practice visualizing yourself waking up. In your mind, walk through every step of your wake-up routine several times. 

In addition to visualizing waking up, you can also physically practice getting up. During the day, set up your room as close to sleep conditions as possible, set your alarm for 1 or 2 minutes out, then practice getting out of bed when it goes off. This helps the process become familiar and easier. 

Here is my routine in the morning:

1. Light alarm clock: I use an alarm clock that gradually brightens its light at the specified time. I set this to start lighting up about 10 minutes before my next alarm is due to go off.
2. Apple Watch AutoWake alarm: Next up is the AutoWake alarm on my Apple Watch. It gently vibrates to wake me up. 
3. Radio alarm clock: Finally, I have a clock radio in my bathroom that goes off last. It forces me to get up and walk to the bathroom to turn it off. 
4. Get in the shower: Now that I’m in the bathroom, I can get into a warm shower, and by the time I’m done showering I’m fully awake.

This isn’t always fool-proof, but it’s a nice gradual system that helps me wake up over a period of 20-30 minutes. There are people who are able to jump out of bed right when they wake up, but I am not one of those people. Many of us need a longer transition period to go from sleeping to awake. 

Another note about the Apple Watch: I use the AutoSleep app to track my sleep each night. It gives the perfect amount of data to see how well I slept the night before. I can use the data to help me make better sleep decisions. For example, if I drink caffeine just a little later than usual, I can see if it had an impact on my sleep.