Sleepyheads, here's how to overcome morning grogginess

Life often feels like it's made up of two types of mornings - where you feel amazing after three hours of sleep versus waking up tired even after eight hours of sleep or more. You feel exhausted, annoyed and leads to irritability and often low productivity at work.

As you well know by now, having endured the above, it's not always about the number of hours of sleep you get. Yes, we're all informed we should aim to get eight hours of sleep a night but when we wake up more tired, we question why bother!

Whilst we can't and won't ever be able to ensure we get our minimum sleep requirements and always wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we can help ourselves out to minimise those ugly groggy mornings that demotivate us for the rest of the day.

Here are five easy steps you should try follow most mornings to rid you of the grog.

Open a window

Once you're awake, draw your curtains open and let some sunlight in.

Even if you're not quite ready to get out of bed, try get up to open the curtains and get back into the bed if you really so desire. It helps reduce melatonin levels which control your sleep and wake cycles. When melatonin levels are low, you are more likely to feel awake and alert.

Working out first thing

We know, working out in the morning sounds like a chore. You're already tired enough, why put yourself through a round of torture before heading to work? Well, getting some exercise in the morning sends oxygen throughout your muscles and gets your heart pumping. This will help you stay alert at a faster rate.

Although a full-on jog is great in the morning, easy stretching exercises, lunges and jumping jacks are awesome alternatives that you can do once you get out of bed.

Take a shower

Showers will automatically wake you up so quieten that sleep monster voice from within and just jump into the cubicle.

After completing your usual routine, turn up the temperature of the water to as hot as you can take it. This will aid in increasing your blood flow. End off your shower with 30 seconds of cold water to stay alert through the day.

Don't skip breakfast

Like they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And it's true! It increases your glycogen levels and in turn, keeps you feeling energised throughout the day.

Stay away from foods that are loaded with sugar, and try to incorporate foods like apples and eggs into your breakfast. They are great sources of vitamins and protein which will surely help you stay awake and get moving.

Supplements

The last step to staying energised is to take supplements. Vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamine and niacin all support the energy metabolism process long term so introduce these into your morning daily routine and your body will soon start showing you the positive effects.

This article was first published in Her World Online.