I’m a sleep coach — 5 things I do to wake up with energy
It’s hard living with broken sleep and low energy. That was my life for years when I had chronic insomnia, and to a lesser degree in the last three years since becoming a mother.
The good news is, there are plenty of science-backed ways to boost your chances of sleeping through the night and wake up with more energy.
For me, the change came when I stopped chasing ‘the perfect night’s sleep’ and started focusing on what I could control: consistency, sleeping environment, and what I eat and drink. Here’s the nighttime routine (and the sleep hygiene habits) that turned things around for me…
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My routine
Here are the main steps in my evening wind down and bedtime routine that I aim for most nights. (I’ll explain the science behind all of these steps in more detail below.)
I say ‘aim for’, because life happens. My toddler might get sick. I might get sick. An avoidable work crisis might crop up. All of these things are more important than trying to rigidly stick to a nighttime routine.
- 1. I finish eating dinner by 6.30pm most nights so that my body focuses on falling asleep, rather than digesting food, when I’m getting into bed at 10pm.
- 2. I take a warm bath or shower. A water temperature of 104-108.5°F / 40-42.5°C speeds up your natural thermal regulation process, which benefits sleep.
- 3. I limit use of my phone an hour before bed to avoid being sucked into social media scrolling. It’s overstimulating and makes me feel wired, not tired.
- 4. I start my bedtime routine by 9.45pm. Once in bed, I run through a guided sleep meditation or body scan.
- 5. I stick to the same sleep and wake windows at least five nights a week, and aim for seven hours sleep a night (baking in an extra 15 minutes to actually fall asleep). This is known as the 7:1 Sleep Rule, now linked to better life expectancy.
- These habits help me relax before bed. The more relaxed I feel, the more deep sleep (N3) I get. The more deep sleep, the more physically rested I become, and the more energy I have when waking up.
When I wake up each morning, I drink a glass of water immediately, throw the curtains open.
I then aim to get myself and my toddler outside for a blast of natural daylight within 30 minutes of waking to shake off grogginess (sleep inertia).
If it’s too gloomy or rainy, I use a 10,000 lux light therapy lamp at our breakfast table.
The 5 things I do to wake up with energy each day
1. I finish eating dinner by 6.30pm
Having a toddler in the house means we generally eat earlier anyway, but there’s another reason I aim to eat my evening meal three or so hours before the time I want to fall asleep…
I want my body focused on the act of falling and staying asleep, rather than spending energy digesting food.
These include leafy greens, fish, and black beans and other legumes. To stop feeling hungry in bed, around two hours before sleep I usually have a cup of bedtime tea (such as camomile or lavender) and a banana.
Bananas are loaded with tryptophan, an amino acid that aids serotonin and melatonin production.
How this helps me wake up with energy: Blood sugar fluctuations are a common trigger for 3 a.m. wake-ups. Acid reflux and other GI symptoms are common culprits too. So I steer clear of carb-heavy, rich dinners, and instead go for sleep friendly foods.
By reducing the number of overnight wake-ups I have because of digestion issues, I’ll have way more energy in the morning.
2. I take a shower or bath before relaxing
A warm shower is a science-backed way to fall asleep fast. In the hours leading up to bedtime, our core body temperature naturally drops, while the skin temperature on our hands and feet increases.
Researchers analyzed 17 individual studies and found evidence that warm water can speed-up this thermal regulation. However, the temperature of the water is key: researchers say a warm shower or bath temperature of 104-108.5°F / 40-42.5°C is best for sleep.
I also dim all the lights in my house before showering, and use LED candles in my bathroom so that I’m not blasted with bright light while winding down.
Light is a powerful circadian cue. Bright lights suppress melatonin, while darkness increases it.
To avoid falling into the bedtime revenge procrastination trap, I give myself time to hang out with my husband, watch TV or read, or catch up with family or friends.
I then put my phone away until morning – the blue light pollution doesn’t worry me; the overstimulation from social scrolling does.
How this helps me wake up with energy: When I fall asleep easily at night, I don’t worry about the rest of my night’s sleep.
My brain trusts that it’s safe to sleep, so I’m more likely to have unperceived wakings (you won’t remember you woke up) during the night. I’ll then feel more energized because I had a better quality of sleep.
3. I limit use of my phone before bed
I’ll admit that for years, us sleep nerds were preaching that blue light exposure from smartphones and other devices can make it harder for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.
While it’s still true that blue light does have some impact on melatonin production, newer research argues that the impact of blue light isn’t as great as we once thought.
So why do I still ditch my phone an hour before bed? Social media scrolling. And doom scrolling, for that matter.
Both of these highly addictive behaviours will steal my evening if I let them. Worse, they’ll overstimulate my brain to the point where I’ll feel wired, not tired, heading to be. That’s the last thing I need as a person recovering from insomnia.
How this helps me wake up with energy: Emerging research tells us that if we go to bed thinking bad thoughts, or worrying about conversations and events, they are much more likely to be on our mind when we wake up.
Worry paralyzes me, so I’m more likely to stay in bed, ruminating, when I wake up. I’ll then miss my 30-minute natural daylight window, and I’ll feel like a zombie for longer that morning (and likely have an afternoon slump in energy too).
4. I follow the same bedtime routine every night
By now you probably think I’m the most boring person on the planet. But there’s a big benefit to having a boring, predictable bedtime routine – it teaches your brain ‘sleep cues’.
My bedtime routine is roughly 30 minutes long (experts warn against elaborate bedtime routines). And because I brushed my teeth and got dressed for bed earlier in the evening, I’m not making the bedtime routine mistake of waking myself up again when I’m starting to feel tired.
I program a 15-minute sunset feature on my sunrise alarm clock, turn down my bed, and spritz my pillow with lavender spray. To relax my body and my brain, I’ll either listen to a guided sleep meditation or practise a full body scan with deep breathing exercises for sleep.
How this helps me wake up with energy: Researchers have found that the more stressed and wired people are when going to sleep, the less deep sleep (3 NREM sleep) they get. This stage of your sleep cycle is vital for all the recovery and repair work your brain needs to do.
So the more relaxed I am going to sleep, the more deep sleep I get, and the more physically rested and recovered I feel in the morning. That helps me spring out of bed.
5. I keep a consistent sleep schedule
A huge new study published in January 2026 (based on analysis of 47 million nights’ of sleep tracker data) reported that a consistent sleep and wake schedule not only helps you sleep better at night, it can increase lifespan by four years if you also get the recommended amount of sleep (seven to nine hours for adults) at least five times a week.
This is known as the 7:1 Sleep Rule. The ‘7’ refers to getting at least seven hours sleep, and the ‘1’ refers to going to bed and waking up within the same one-hour window each day.
I like to be asleep by 10.30pm every night, so I aim to be lying in bed with the lights off by 10pm. Sticking to this bedtime anchor as much as I can helps my brain to ‘learn’ when to increase melatonin production (the hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle).
Higher levels of melatonin make it easier for me to fall asleep fast, and to sleep through the night because I have sufficient melatonin to override any wakeful cortisol spikes or blood sugar fluctuations that might otherwise cause me to wake up at 3 a.m.
How this helps me wake up with energy: Sleep consistency aligns your circadian rhythm (your internal body clock). Your body knows when to ramp up melatonin, and it can better predict when to increase wakeful hormones (cortisol) and neurotransmitters (orexin).
This process reduces the amount of grogginess (sleep inertia) I feel, and makes me feel energized faster.
Why I don’t stress about sleep any more
I have a toddler – perfect nights don’t exist for me any more – but I do know that we’re perfectly capable of surviving the odd night of broken sleep.
I don’t worry about sleep debt, I avoid sleep fads like mouth taping, and instead focus on how to make the hours of sleep I do get as high quality as possible.
Here’s my checklist for making that happen:
- Keep a regular wake and sleep schedule
- Aim for seven to nine hours sleep a night
- Avoid carb-heavy dinners late at night
- De-stress and relax as much as possible before bed
- Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet for sleep
- Don’t panic if you wake up in the night – it’s normal – instead try cognitive shuffling, or a deep breathing exercise to get back to sleep
- See a doctor or specialist if your sleep issues persist – there’s help available
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