I drag myself out of bed in the morning and immediately make a promise that I’m going to go to bed earlier that night. Throughout the first half of my day, I’m considering if a nap might be in the cards for the afternoon. But once bedtime rolls around, I find I couldn’t be more wide awake.
While this loop I have found myself in is not a fun one, feeling tired at the “wrong” time is a common complaint that patients share with their sleep doctors, said Dr. Sonja Schütz, a neurologist specializing in sleep medicine and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Often, a person who struggles with this problem could be perceived as lazy, especially when the issue is commonly seen in teenagers, said Dr. Allison Harvey, a professor of psychology and the director of the Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley.
But the issue is not indicative of willpower or lack thereof, but a sign that someone may be dealing with an issue such as bad sleep hygiene, disturbed sleep throughout the night, or an underlying sleep disorder, Schütz said.
It’s worth finding the source of the problems, since getting quality sleep is essential for a person’s overall health and ability to function.
“Sleep and having a regularized circadian system (a person’s internal biological 24-hour clock) is essential for our mental health, our physical health, our cognitive health — our ability to think, to solve problems, to be creative — and also our social and behavioral health, Harvey said. “When we’re sleeping well, we’re less likely to be risk taking, impulsive, (and) we’re more likely to get along with people.”
Here’s what to do if you find yourself awake or tired at the wrong time of the day.
You’re tired in the morning but not at night
If someone consistently wakes up tired, they first need to start tracking their sleep patterns— when they get into bed every night and when they wake up, said Dr. Michelle Drerup, director of the behavioral sleep medicine program at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Ohio.
Likely, the issue could be that someone’s circadian rhythm is shifted so that they produce melatonin later than the time they need to go to sleep. In the morning, that melatonin could still be in production mode, causing sleep inertia, a temporary state of grogginess upon waking up, she added.
Whether you’re a night owl or early bird, which are common descriptors of a person’s chronotype, is directly correlated to a person’s circadian rhythm and the body’s natural inclination to sleep or be alert at certain times of the day. To shift this to better fit someone’s work schedule, consistency is key, Harvey said.
But the sleep-wake cycle takes time to tweak and cannot be done in large increments — Harvey recommends going to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier each night until your body adjusts to the schedule you need.
On the weekends, people who are consistently tired throughout the weekdays tend to sleep in, but this routine change will only make it harder to wake up when Monday morning rolls around, Drerup said. She recommends that a person stick to their usual schedule and not sleep in for more than an hour past their usual weekday wake-up time.
Other important sleep hygiene habits to keep in mind include how late someone is consuming caffeine and certain foods, heir screen-time habits and the type of media they’re using before bed that could be alerting or anxiety-inducing, Drerup said.
For a better wind-down routine, aim to turn off electronics one or two hours before bed, dim the lights in the house and do a calming activity like reading, Schütz said. Similarly, teenagers tend to multitask a lot of different activities before bedtime, such as homework and using social media, which can make winding down difficult, especially as they transition to an age where they get less deep sleep than they did as children, Harvey said.
In the morning, it could help to stick to a routine that helps the body and brain wake up. “Do something that signals (that) it’s morning — whether that’s going and washing your face, splashing water on your face, brushing your teeth — something to start that forward momentum,” Drerup said.
Also, avoiding the snooze button, which harms your sleep. On the other hand, getting light exposure in the morning after waking up can help people feel more awake, she added.
Getting in physical activity throughout the day can help your body feel more tired at night, especially when many jobs in the digital age involve a lot of sitting down, Harvey added.
Other factors to keep in mind
Experts agree that the recommended amount of sleep for adults is seven to nine hours per night, but that can look slightly different from person to person, Schütz said. “It’s very common that people are sleep deprived without being aware of that, because their body needs at least nine hours to feel really rested.”
By tracking your sleep and learning the amount where your body feels rested, you can start to establish new habits and have an easier time getting up in the morning, she added.
While napping has been found to be beneficial for cognitive abilities like memory and function, the timing is important — longer naps and napping later in the afternoon could cause someone to feel more alert when bedtime rolls around, Drerup said. A good rule of thumb is to keep naps between 20 and 30 minutes, Schütz said.
Fogginess in the morning is a common symptom in people who have a sleep disorder such as obstructive sleep apnea, and a visit with a physician might be needed to rule out underlying disorders, Schütz said. Sometimes, sleep medications such as over-the-counter sleep aids or allergy medication can cause a hangover effect, which could make waking up in the morning difficult, she added.
Mental health could be a factor, too. Someone who is depressed can often wake up feeling fatigued, and the sleep inertia that normally lasts around 20 minutes for someone who is not depressed can instead last several hours, Harvey said.
While it’s important to aim to get the best sleep you can, it is also important to remember that our bodies are flexible, and when a situation arises where someone may need to unfavorably shift their sleep schedule, such as parents with infants and children who have needs, or taking care of sick relatives or having unusual workweeks, there is no need to panic, Harvey said.
“I don’t want people to have that sense of anxiety about sleep, because anxiety won’t help sleep,” Harvey said. “But in general, we should all try to (consistently get good sleep) if we do have sleep privilege.”
