Master Your Morning Depression: Simple Strategies to Wake Up on the Right Side of Your Bed

What sort of mood you wake up in will often shape the sort of day that you are likely to have, so if you often wake up feeling down or in a bad mood, it is time to employ some simple strategies and wake up on the right side of bed instead.

Sleeping on a modern mattress that is designed to give you a comfortable and restful sleep, will be a good starting point, and there are some other things that you can do besides.

What to do when you don’t do mornings

It is often argued that you are either a morning person or not, so you can’t help waking up grumpy if you have decided that you really don’t do mornings.

Whether there is an element of truth about some people coping with getting up early better than others or not, it is not a good idea to ignore this scenario if you constantly waking up feeling down.

There is a chance that you could actually be suffering from morning depression.

The official term for this condition is diurnal mood variation, but most people refer to it as morning depression. It is not yet completely clear what the root cause of this condition is, but the theory is that a disruption to your circadian rhythm, could be the reason.

Addressing the problem

It is possible that you may be suffering from SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder is brought about by the changes in the season and this normally happens when fall comes around and will likely affect some of us throughout the winter months.

One of the ways to combat SAD is to consider phototherapy, which involves providing a greater balance of light, to compensate for those dark mornings and evenings, when the sun disappears too quickly for some of us each day.

Fuel your body to counteract the blues

Breakfast is often heralded as the most important meal of the day, and there is little doubt that if you can eat a good healthy breakfast to start your day on the right note, it will help to lift your mood and get you feeling more like facing the day ahead.

So many of us skip breakfast as we don’t seem to have the time for it in the morning. Try to change your routine so that you get 15 minutes in your schedule to eat breakfast, and it could make all the difference to how you feel.

Add an extra hour in bed

This doesn’t mean hitting the snooze button then rushing around trying to get to work on time, it means committing to go to bed an extra hour earlier so that you wake up feeling more rested and relaxed.

There is a good chance that this strategy will allow you to wake up feeling more energized about the day ahead, and that means you will probably be more productive and have time for breakfast too.

Try these simple strategies and others too, including making sure your mattress is up to date and comfortable, so that you can beat those morning blues and wake up feeling happier.

Noah Kennedy is a self-help coach, or guru, who writes about making small changes in your day for a better life. His useful, inspiring and motivational articles appear around the net.