Earlier this week, Al Roker overslept for the first time in his 39 years working at “The Today Show.” While he did manage to make it in time for the actual show, he missed his early morning show “Wake Up With Al.” If America’s favorite weatherman whose job literally depends on punctuality can oversleep, then what hope do the rest of us have?

Oversleeping happens to most people at some point for a variety of reasons: you’re running on low sleep, your natural sleep schedule is disrupted, or you have a negative mindset.

If you’re looking to improve your productivity, one area you may want to focus on is sleeping through the night. Although it may seem harmless, oversleeping can actually damage your productivity for the entire day. So that you don’t ruin your day because of oversleeping, we came up with a few tips to help you with this problem.

1. Do Not Hit Snooze!

Did you know that if you hit snooze on your alarm, you’re actually making yourself feel worse? It’s true! According to ASAP Science, when you hit snooze, your brain goes back into the sleep cycle. So if you hit snooze again, your brain goes even deeper into the cycle. When you finally wake up, you’ll feel super groggy instead of energized and ready to take on the day.

2. Be Consistent With Your Wake-Up Times

No matter if you need to roll out of bed at 5 a.m. or 9 a.m., the key is being consistent with your schedule. According to WomentoWomen, the hypothalamus works as an inner clock that regulates adrenal hormone levels–such as cortisol. In other words, our bodies have a system in place that automatically knows when it’s time for us to sleep or wake up based on seasonal changes and light exposure throughout the day and night.

The ACTH hormone and cortisol levels naturally spike when your body is ready to wake up. If you have a set wake-up time, then these hormones will start to give you lots of energy, serving as your personal alarm clock.

3. Accept That You Have To Wake Up

It’s true, all of us can dream about snow days (even though it’s highly improbable in the middle of summer) or our work being canceled for the day, but at the end of the day, those things are mostly out of our control. The one thing you CAN control however is how early you go to bed so that you wake up feeling rested and optimistic for the next day.

According to a study, if you know when you have to wake up ahead of time, it’ll be easier. Researchers took two groups of volunteers and told one group they would be waking up at 6 a.m., then told the other they would be waking up at 9 a.m. The group that knew about their early rising start showed activity in their ACTH levels starting as soon as 5 a.m.–5 hours before their alarm was set to go off! The 9 a.m.-ers were woken up at 6 a.m., too–but even after getting out of bed, their ACTH levels stayed low throughout the day.

4. Make Your Morning Routine As Positive as Possible

These easy tips will help you feel more awake in the morning. First, when you get out of bed, open the curtains to let some light in instead of walking around in the darkness. Your inner circadian rhythm actually responds to changes in light by decreasing melatonin production, which makes you feel less sleepy.

5. Plan your day out

Instead of feeling like you’re doing the same thing day in and day out, mix things up by planning something to look forward to each morning. Whether it’s picking out a cute outfit the night before, asking a friend to lunch, or going on a run in the morning, make sure you have something exciting planned so that you’ll want to get out of bed!

Share with us whether you’re somebody who repeatedly hits snooze or if you spring out of bed!

Ask Daniel Rosensweig, President, and CEO of Chegg, Inc., about his morning routine!

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