How to feel fresh in the morning?

Recently, I started an exercise program. I have tried this before and normally a few days in of getting up earlier I just give up. But this time I am planning the workout and the time the night before. I am not sure how, but it seems to be making it easier to get up and have the energy to do it.

I have a cup of tea and I take a shower. It’s the shower that does it.

Do you sleep well at night?

Are your depressed the rest of the day?

Any chance you have Seasonal Affective Disorder?

@SpatzieLover I think I sleep alright, sometimes I don’t get enough sleep though.
Well, I have a mind that easy feels depressed, but I can also feel very happy sometimes.

I feel depressed when I wake up and see that I left my house a mess. If I clean the night before and have everything really organized, I tend to wake up happier. Maybe because its like a reminder that I’ve already been productive, and that keeps me wanting to do even more.

Also, taking a shower before you do anything tends to help.

Eat well, rest well, keep to a regular schedule and do not consume too much alcohol.
Give yourself plenty of time to wake up and ease into your day. I always give myself 2–3 hours to ease into my day. My work schedule has been 10 or 11am for years, but, I still wake up around 5:30–6 and loiter, read, meditate a little, and casually get ready.
Otherwise, if this is an ongoing thing you may be dealing with some form of depression. If your work is not that rewarding then find a new hobby or something to get EXCITED about. :-)

@eiram Welcome to fluther. I’m a zombie too first thing. I roll on autopilot into the shower. A nice hot shower gets me going. The depressed part is a little more of a concern. Those are some indications of depression. There was a depression thread on here with a couple of tests. Maybe look them over, or maybe see a professional.

@Coloma I’m in school actually. And I have to be there at 8 am every morning, which means I have to get up at 6.20 am. If I should meet 10 like you, it would be so easier

@eiram Aaaah, yes, well, an early school/ work schedule can be very stressful, but most of what I said still applies.
Don’t party too much, go to bed early enough to get a solid 8–9 hours of sleep and actually, fruit juices work better for kicking your body into awakeness than coffee. Otherwise, yes, keep an eye out for depression which does manifest in a chronic state of tiredness and low motivation. Welcome to fluther, and good luck! :-)

Coffee.

If you think it might be your internal sleep clock, you need to hit the reset button! That button comes in the form of an awesome dietary supplement called Melatonin. You can get it OTC almost anywhere (even the dollar store!!). Just pop one about 10 minutes before bed. I swear by the stuff.

Also make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get the right amount of sleep (7 to 8 hours).

Don’t eat or drink much before bed, give yourself about a half hour before sleep where you don’t consume anything.

Others have already posted several of the good habits to get into, so I won’t go over all those again, but they’re good suggestions. You should definitely take a shower in the morning, it helps wake you up.

Coffee or tea or some kind of energy drink is a good way to kick off the day, just try to eat a good breakfast, take a daily vitamin and maybe a healthy snack later so you don’t crash later.

A lot of this is mental too. Being in bed is so comfy and sleep is so pleasurable that your brain wants nothing more than to continue on that course of action. You literally have to snap out of it.

To long for a perpetual rest is simply delaying the inevitable. You have to get up anyway, so just do it! When you open your eyes, kick the covers off and get out of bed. I’ve dealt with the same thing you are talking about, and one of the things I’ve had to train myself on mentally is just putting my feet against the floor. It’s the one step that breaks the desire of laying in bed and oversleeping. When you wake up, all you gotta do at that moment is one thing, feel the floor with your feet. Make it a rapid motion with excitement and start trying to come up with one accomplishment you want to do that day, even if its easy, or simple.

First of all, turn off the television. Seriously. When you start to “stay up to watch the news” or Leno / Letterman, etc., then you’re living someone else’s schedule.

Pay attention to your body in the evening. You probably need to go to bed earlier than you do, but you fight that to stay awake a little longer – and pay for it in the morning.

Likewise, stop eating early in the evening. Give yourself a chance to digest (and expel, if that’s your schedule) whatever you need to so that stomach rumblings, full bladders and the like don’t keep you awake or make you wake up during the night.

@gambitking Thank you very much for the great answer. What is that Melatonin thing? Can you explain that to me?

@CWOTUS has given some fantastic advice here. I am like @Coloma – if I have the luxury, I will take 2–3 hours to slowly become “myself” in the morning. During that period, I don’t want to have breakfast, talk to people, or do things that matter much. But that only works when I can make my own schedule.

Also, like @Carly I find my morning mood vastly improved if the place is clean and tidy when I wake up. Basically, anything you can do to ensure that you are well rested, and have good things to face in the morning, will help you.

This is my tried and tested advice as the worlds worst getter-upper lol: first give yourself a twenty minute break with a coffee (or tea!), maybe go on fluther..check emails etc. nice things.
Then stretch for five or ten minutes, could be yoga, or not. ( this alone will leave you feeling great for the day)
Then the tough bit; Exercise. Get blood pumping and work up a sweat. I only spend twenty minutes on a stepper, because it’s too cold to go running, I think. You’ll feel great for the day if you do this.
You don’t have to adopt everything all at once, but start and try to build up a great morning routine, make it all a habit.

Have you tried Massengill? It’s great for that “Not so fresh feeling” any time of day.

@GladysMensch What is it?

It is a douche. I see humor. lol

Go to bed earlier, take a shower in the morning.

Melatonin is a natural supplement that tends to help with sleep and relaxation, getting restful sleep and re-aligning your internal sleep clock. I’m sure if you do some google-ing, you can find out all you’d like to know.

Remember when John Glenn went back up into space not too long ago, even though he’s a senior citizen? They were studying the affects of Melatonin in space during that mission.