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The Frustrating Truth About Sleeping In
After a week of waking at 5:45 am to a blaring alarm, the idea of a leisurely Saturday morning can seem downright therapeutic.
So why the heck do you wake at 10 am feeling as if some cruel person stuffed eight thousand cotton balls into your cranium?
(☝ Might be autobiographical.)
Sleep experts have a name for this frustrating phenomenon.
They call it sleep inertia, also known as sleep drunkenness.
“All of the brain’s timing cues have been disrupted.”
Among those timing cues:
✅ The blaring noise of your alarm clock that triggers the release of cortisol and other alertness chemicals
✅ Overhead and outdoor light that sets your brain’s circadian clock
✅ Conversations with housemates that nudge you to “wake up! think!”
✅ Caffeine
✅ Breakfast
✅ That feeling of being rushed as you gather up your things and race out the door
When you sleep in, you deprive your brain of those cues.
Some of the wakeup signals don’t take place at all, such as the alarm and that mad dash out the door.
Others, like overhead lighting and caffeine, take place hours later than your brain is used to getting them.
End result: You don’t get as big of a dose of alertness chemicals as you’re used to.
Worse, because you slept in, you likely won’t feel tired at your usual bedtime.
Most people need to be awake for about 16 hours before they feel sleepy. If you wake at 10 am Saturday morning (instead of 5:45 am), you’ll probably stay up later than usual.
And that means you’ll most likely compensate by sleeping later on Sunday morning, which means you’ll probably struggle to fall or stay asleep Sunday night.
Which gets us to Monday morning.
To break the cycle, Dr. Winter recommends: Wake at roughly the same time on the weekends as you do during the week.
Um, WHAT?!?!
We get it: This is the last thing you probably want to do.
That said, we’re guessing you’re not exactly looking forward to Monday morning, either.
One way to feel more alert at the beginning of your work week: Pay more attention to your sleep behaviors on the weekend.
Think of it as a gift to Future You.
Here are a few ways to make it happen:
👉🏿 Try not to vary your sleep-wake schedule by more than more than 30 minutes at a time.
So if you normally wake at 6 am during the week, set your alarm for no later than 6:30 on the weekends.
👉🏻 Consider sleeping with the blinds partly open. The morning sunlight will stimulate your body’s natural circadian response, making it easier to get up.
Caveat: This strategy could backfire if those open blinds allow street lights to illuminate your bedroom all night long. (So consider this one with caution.)
👉🏽 Create a weekend morning routine that makes you want to get out of bed. (What would entice you to get your day started on the early side?)
👉 Prioritize getting enough shut eye during the week. That way you won’t feel as tempted to hit snooze come Saturday. For detailed advice on how to do just that, read: A 14-day Plan for a Better Night’s Sleep.
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