Why Is It So Hard For Us To Get Up In The Morning?

The alarm clock has become a symbol of the obligations that annoyingly cross our path. We take it for granted that sleeping late would be normal, but this is not the case.

Our body is not programmed for us to wake up late. Although we may not realize it, this is a routine that we learn and that we can modify for our own benefit. In order to do this, we must understand how our biological clock works, also known as the circadian cycle.

A lagged biological clock

As with what happens with clocks created by humans, the biological clock of each body does not have an objective reference to establish when it is to wake up and what is the time to go to sleep.

These phases of the day, which in working hours are arbitrarily set depending on our interests, in our biological clock are established through custom and repetition.

What really happens when we really want to continue sleeping is that our biological clock does not keep pace with the schedule created by our obligations.

This occurs when, for a long time, we cheat on this watch into getting used to an unconventional lifestyle.

How is this deception produced? For example, making the environment in which we move simulate unreal day and night cycles.

For example, if we expose ourselves to powerful light sources (such as computer or mobile screens) until the wee hours of the morning, our body will believe that the sunset has occurred recently and will make it more difficult for us to fall asleep.

In the same way, if during the day we stay at home and do not see too much natural light, the circadian rhythm will be out of adjustment more easily.

Many times, all of this will produce a phenomenon known as phase delay, which consists of the body learning to perform functions related to delayed sleep and wakefulness.

In these cases, an alarm clock set at a reasonable time in the morning is an element that does not fit with everything that our body has learned about our habits.

The role of repetition of habits

The repetition of certain habits, such as going to sleep late and waking up in the middle of the day, causes neurons in the parts of the brain that regulate the circadian rhythm to begin to interact with each other in a different way.

Each time this habit is repeated, the new association between these groups of neurons will grow stronger, as our actions are confirming what these parts of the brain had begun to suspect: that the circadian cycle needs to be modified.

Our biorhythm may have gotten off track of most work hours, but the biological clock obeys the practice of what we do, not the theory of what we should do.

Making it less difficult for us to wake up

The fact that a poorly managed vacation period can create a lag between when we sleep and when we should start to sleep also means that we can go the other way.

It implies that we can “learn” to wake up earlier and go to sleep earlier, but for this we have to act accordingly.

That is, to teach our body that those moments of the day have objective implications on what happens in the body.

Adjusting the circadian cycle

We can get rid of the phase lag by making us go to sleep a little earlier each day and start waking up a little earlier as well.

Also, during the weekends we will not be able to break this progression, so we must avoid staying up late.

We must also bear in mind that in order to start sleeping earlier and wake up without complaints in the morning, the amount of activity we do has to stay high during the morning, noon and afternoon, to disappear during the evening.

Exercising after 6 or 7 in the afternoon is not a very good idea, and neither is taking stimulants such as caffeine at times when it will not take long to go to bed.

To this must be added the control over what we do during the hours before we go to bed. For example, we should avoid looking at screens during the evening.

Sudden changes in the schedule are not recommended, because they will only serve to give us very little sleep for one or two nights.

Having accumulated sleep will not make us fall asleep much easier the next day, and having slept four hours or less will make it very difficult for us to concentrate on routine tasks.

Using melatonin

Melatonin is a substance generated by our body that, when created in large quantities, makes our body prepare to promote sleep.

Its production is regulated in part by our exposure to light; when we are exposed to the sun, for example, its levels are low, and they rise when we haven’t noticed it for a long time.

But melatonin is also used in products sold in the pharmacy to promote the onset of sleep. It is a natural substance that is already present in our body, so using it does not significantly alter the functioning of the body itself and has no side effects.

Using it as a resource to combat phase delay can help us better adjust our biological clock.

Conclusion: learning to love the alarm clock

That we have a hard time waking up is a sign that our biological clock follows a different rhythm than what we should follow to sleep well while fulfilling our responsibilities.

Our circadian cycle depends on our routines and the kind of external stimuli that our body receives during certain times of the day, so making small changes in these two areas will help us correct the situation.