4 C’S to Zap Sleep Out Of Your Eyes In The Morning
We spend one third of our lives sleeping or resting and since it’s a pleasurable activity and serves as a break from our daily grind, we almost always find it not so easy to break away from this daily interruption. And since our body tells us it needs rest when the sun goes down and the night sets in, we willingly give in to its whim and we surrender our bodies to a nice, comfy bed to retire for the day. Ahh, heaven…
But then, after several hours of sleep, we are rudely interrupted by either an alarm clock or the burst of sunlight or some kind of intrusion (voices in the background, birds chirping…) we are brought back to reality and we realize, it’s time to wake up…
Now, some people get up in the morning with the littlest of effort while some people consider it a herculean task each time the alarm clock goes off to signal the start of the day. This otherwise perfunctory task is made even harder during winter months or rainy days when a warm bed with a goose down comforter and fluffy pillows seem so hard to leave.
There are several useful tips to help you zap sleep out of your eyes when waking up:
CONSTANCY- In order to make your body clock work efficiently and help you get up quick in the early hours of the day, one has to achieve a sense of constancy. You need to go to bed and rise from it at the same time everyday. Yes, even during day offs or week-ends, you have to maintain and stick to your schedule. The purpose of this constancy is for your body clock to get used to your sleep-wake cycles therefore making it so easy for you to wake up and rise when you need to and with as little fuss as possible.
CLOCK- we are talking not about your internal clock this time. Instead, we mean your alarm clock. Make the alarm clock your friend. Try your best not to hit the snooze button when it goes off at the appointed time but instead, set it to the loudest setting with the most irritating sound possible and place it all across the room. By situating it in the farthest part of the room, you have to stand up and be really wide awake to make it through the length of the room just to turn off that loudest shrill that broke your dreamy reverie.
COLD SHOWER- When you are now up and ready to do your morning ablutions—hit the shower fast! There is nothing like a cold shower to wake up your “sleepy” or “drowsy” nerves. If a cold shower is not possible, you can try splash a few drops of ice- cold water on your face or use a cold wet washcloth. The effect will be more or less the same- you’ll be wide awake in seconds flat!
CAFFEINE/CHOCOLATES/CARBOHYDRATES- If experts tell you to avoid caffeine or eat chocolates or take any kind of carbohydrates just before hitting the sack, then by all means, do it! But if you already had a nice, restful sleep behind you and you need to be up and wide awake in minutes in order to make it to your earliest appointment of the day, then take a steaming hot cup of coffee! The “caffeine rush” will jumpstart your day and will keep you active and energetic the whole time. If you’re not a coffee lover, then grab some chocolates on your way out of the door and you’ll still feel the same effect! Now, if you’re not a coffee drinker or you don’t have any sweet tooth, then any kind of carbohydrates can propel you into your activities for the day! The bottom line is just like a car, your body needs fuel to start and you can’t start anything if you can’t even zap sleep out of your eyes when waking up in the morning.
RISE AND SHINE!!!
