Waking up in winter can be tough. Opening your eyes to a room that’s still dark, poking a foot out of the duvet to be met with winter’s chill and nudging the curtain back only to see a grey sky is all enough to have you curling back up under the covers. 

And motivation aside, waking up can be physically harder when it’s still dark thanks to the disruptive impact it has on our body’s circadian rhythm. 

Mercifully, there are ways to make winter wake-ups easier. We’ve consulted sleep experts across the UK to ask what tips, tricks and lifestyle changes we should be trying to make waking up while it’s still dark outside that little bit easier.

From chasing morning light to setting your alarm for one minute earlier every morning, there’s a lot you can do to make your transition from night to day smoother. 

Dr Kat Lederle, a sleep therapist at Somnia, stresses that it’s important to establish a regular light-dark exposure pattern throughout winter to keep your body clock on a regular rhythm.

According to Lederle there are two easy ways of pulling this off. “First, you need to establish regular going to bed and waking up times, and stick to them seven days a week. You can make these slightly more indulgent than in summer, though, as we often need a little more sleep during the winter so allow yourself that time.”

She continues: “Make the mornings bright by going outside, standing by the window or using a light box. Equally, keep the lights low in the evening and ask yourself ‘Do I really need to search for this piece of news or handbag on the internet right now?’ to avoid playing with your phone in bed.”

Hope Bastine, psychologist and sleep expert, says that getting your fill of sunshine in the day is an important part of switching off at night. She recommends getting a dose of daylight as soon as possible, whether that’s via a walk or run outside first thing, or using an SAD lamp while it’s dark.

“A SAD lamp for those dark hard morning rises can work wonders. Light therapy lamps have been shown to help people who struggle with the winter blues as it’s an effective means of stopping the secretion of melatonin, which in turn can assist in reducing tiredness and feeling low,” says Bastine.

Over the course of a day, if working from home, she also suggests following natural light around your home. “While we’re not all blessed with lots of options, if you can feasibly follow the sun by moving around the home during the day, sitting by a window or in places with more natural light, it will help keep your levels topped up. Or, if you have a bright and airy cafe nearby, break up the day with a brisk walk and decamp for an hour or two.”

Lederle advises taking better notice of your eating habits if you’re finding it hard to open your eyes in the morning. This is because having a regular eating rhythm helps to keep your body healthy and support good sleep.

She says: “Keep your eating window to max 12 hours (less is better), which means waiting for breakfast for an hour or so and having dinner at least three or four hours before you go to bed.”

“A healthy balanced diet will look different for different people, but reducing the number of processed foods while increasing the fibre content can be helpful for your metabolic health and sleep.”

Bastine says it’s important not to get too toasty at night, as this can throw your body off when it comes to waking up. 

“Overheating is one of the biggest barriers to restorative and quality sleep,” she says. Back in 2020, a government study concluded that sleep problems are growing because energy-efficient homes are too warm at night.

Bastine recommends turning heating down or off at night, and looking into temperature-regulating bedding that’s able to cool down the body if temperatures rise too high (and warm up if they drop too low). If you don’t live in a super noisy or polluted area, think about sleeping with a window open.

No one likes being shocked awake by a blaring alarm clock and Stephanie Taylor, former managing director of online health and wellbeing retailer StressNoMore,  says that easing yourself awake could be the secret to getting out of bed in the morning.

“Consider buying a wake-up light to help ease that morning struggle, especially during the darker winter months. They give out gentle light which simulates the sun rising, so your body’s wake-up hormones reach their optimum level by the time your alarm sounds,” she explains.

“Many of these lamps also come with soft sounds to help you wake up, like bird song, as well as sunset settings to get you falling asleep quicker and get quality rest by boosting your levels of the sleep hormone melatonin.” Lumie is probably the best known sunrise alarm.

Try this mind game to trick yourself into looking forward to waking up. Lederle thinks that filling your day with a sense of “meaning and fulfilment” can boost your motivation and will your body to wake up easier.

It could be anything from a cinema date with a friend or fancy pilates class, to your favourite breakfast.

Taylor also recommends trying this nifty trick which involves setting your alarm back by one minute each day, slowly letting your body adjust to an earlier wake-up time.

“If you’ve found a time where it feels easiest to wake but you want to make it earlier, start by setting your alarm back by one extra minute each day,” she says. “It will take longer for you to save a significant amount of time in the mornings, but by slowly lowering your alarm time, it will make it easier for your body to adjust.”

Images: Getty