How to Wake Yourself Up in the Morning

To help yourself wake up early in the morning, the best thing you can do is to wake up at the first sound of your alarm, open your curtains or shades so that there is some natural light in your room, drink a glass of water, do some light movement for just a few minutes, and try to wake up around the same time each day.

All of these things are easy and take very little time. No cold plunges. No 17-step morning rituals. No pretending you're suddenly a morning person. Just a few small habits that can make the first 10 minutes of your day feel more like a plan and less like a negotiation with your snooze button.

Below, we'll walk through how to put each habit into practice, plus what to do when your morning doesn't exactly go according to plan.

The five habits at a glance:

Get up on the first alarm.

Open the curtains right away.

Drink a glass of water.

Move for a few minutes.

Keep the same wake-up time every day.

1. Should you hit the snooze button?

No. If you want to make waking up in the morning easier, try getting out of bed as soon as your first alarm goes off instead of hitting snooze.

We get it. That snooze button looks REAL good at 6 a.m. It promises nine more glorious minutes of peace, quiet, and pretending you don't have responsibilities. But then the alarm goes off again, you're still tired, and now you're nine minutes closer to being late. What a deal.

According to Dr. Mariana Figueiro, director of the Light and Health Research Center at Mount Sinai Hospital, "You never sleep as well after your alarm goes off." The Sleep Foundation also notes that getting out of bed when your first alarm goes off can make waking up easier.

And if you keep losing the daily battle with your snooze button, stop relying on willpower.
Put your phone or alarm clock across the room so you actually have to get up to turn it off.

At 6 a.m., you've got the decision-making skills of a contestant on Love Is Blind: eyes closed, way too confident, and probably about to make a terrible choice.

Put your alarm across the room tonight. Morning you doesn't get a vote.

2. Does natural light help you wake up?

Natural light helps signal to your body that it's time to wake up. Opening your curtains or blinds as soon as you get out of bed is one of the easiest ways to get started.

And please, do it before you start scrolling. You don't need to see who got engaged, who went to Cabo, or what your high school lab partner is selling now. You've been awake for eleven seconds.

Researchers at Mount Sinai recommend making daylight one of the first things you see in the morning. If you can, step outside, too. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends spending time outdoors every day.

Even a couple of minutes on your front porch is a start. No need to turn this into a sunrise hike with a matching athleisure set and a motivational podcast.

And if it's still pitch-black when your alarm goes off? Flip on the lights and catch some daylight later. The sun doesn't always get the memo about your schedule.

3. Should you drink water as soon as you wake up?

Drinking a glass of water when you wake up is one of the easiest ways to start hydrating for the day. According to the CDC, proper hydration is essential for overall health.

Put a glass of water on your bedside table the night before. That way, when you wake up, it's already there. No decisions required.

And if plain water sounds painfully boring at 6 a.m., the CDC recommends adding a squeeze of lemon or lime.

No fancy hydration routine necessary. Just drink the water.

4. What kind of movement helps you wake up?

Light movement like stretching, jumping jacks, or taking a brisk walk around your neighborhood are all simple ways to get your morning started.

Dr. Figueiro frequently recommends taking a 30-minute walk in the morning so you can get both natural light and movement. But if you've barely got 30 seconds to spare, don't sweat it.

According to the CDC's activity guidelines, any amount of physical activity is better than none. You can even break it up into shorter sessions throughout the day.

This isn't a workout.
You're just trying to get moving, not audition for American Ninja Warrior before breakfast.

5. Does waking up at the same time every day help?

A steady wake-up time is easier to keep when you use it every day, weekends included. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) both suggest that you go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day.

The weekend is typically the time that many people fall off track with their schedule.
And we know. It's Saturday. You've survived five days of alarms, meetings that could've been emails, and pretending to care about your coworkers' weekend plans. You've earned the right to sleep in.

The NHLBI recommends keeping your weekday and weekend sleep schedules within about an hour of each other. So if you're waking up at 7 a.m. during the week, try not to make your grand Saturday debut at noon.

Saturday is a day off, not a different time zone.

How much sleep do adults need?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest adults 18-60 get 7 or more hours of sleep each evening. You have six hours if you sleep between midnight and 6:00 a.m., which is less than the CDC recommendation. To determine when you should go to bed, count backwards from your alarm time.

When should you have your last cup of coffee?

A lot earlier than what people realize. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list not having caffeine in the late afternoon/evening as one of their sleep recommendations. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) states that an afternoon cup of coffee will make it difficult to go to sleep. The CDC additionally states that individuals should turn off all electronics at minimum of thirty minutes prior to going to bed. Tomorrow morning's wake up time is determined by today's sleep quality.

What if your morning routine slips?

Commit to doing one activity each day and don't worry about the others. Your morning routine is supposed to make your life easier, not give you five more things to feel guilty about before 8 a.m.

Maybe you slept through your alarm.
Maybe you were up half the night.
Maybe your morning has already gone completely off the rails and you haven't even brushed your teeth yet.

Congratulations. You're a human being.

Open the curtains.
Drink some water.
Stretch for a minute.
You don't have to cram an entire morning routine into the seven minutes you have left before work.

The goal was never to become one of those people who leap out of bed at 5 a.m. with a green smoothie and an alarming amount of enthusiasm.

It's about making mornings a little easier.
Get up with your alarm, let some daylight in, drink your water, move your body, and try to keep your sleep time consistent.

Some mornings you'll nail all five.
Other mornings, getting out of bed without starting a personal feud with your alarm clock is a win.

And if there's one thing worth remembering, it's this: The fewer decisions you have to make when you're falling asleep, the better.

What can you set up tonight?

Pick one of the five habits and set it up before bed.
Move your alarm across the room.
Fill a glass of water.
Leave your walking shoes by the door.

That's it. You're preparing for a Tuesday morning, not launching a space shuttle.

A little preparation tonight means fewer decisions tomorrow, when you've got one eye open and absolutely no interest in problem-solving.

And since we're on the subject of making mornings less complicated, that's part of why we created Morning Cocktail.

One simple addition to your morning routine. Not another elaborate ritual you'll abandon by Thursday.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Morning Cocktail contains caffeine. Not recommended for children, for people who are pregnant or nursing, or for anyone sensitive to caffeine. If you take medication or have a medical condition, check with your healthcare provider before use.

This article is for general information and is not medical advice.

Sources:

Mount Sinai. (2025, June 2). Expert advice on how to wake up in the morning. Mount Sinai Today.
https://health.mountsinai.org/blog/expert-advice-on-how-to-wake-up-in-the-morning/

Sleep Foundation. (2026, July 2). How to wake up easier: 8 tips to feel more alert in the morning.
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/how-to-wake-up-easier

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026, March 5). About water and healthier drinks.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-weight-growth/water-healthy-drinks/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, December 20). Adult activity: An overview.
https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 15). About sleep.
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about/index.html

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2022, March 24). Healthy sleep habits. National Institutes of Health.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/healthy-sleep-habits